CNN published nearly 100 text messages from Lee and Texas lawmaker Chip Roy to the Meadows following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election. White House that plan could fail. Lee’s efforts to help Trump began on November 7, the day Democrat Joe Biden was declared the winner. He sent a message to Mindous, signed by the leaders of several prominent conservative groups, urging Trump to “exhaust all legal and constitutional solutions” to challenge the results. “Use it as you see fit,” Lee wrote. “And if it helps to leak it, do not hesitate to do so.” Lee also pressured the Meadows to help attorney Sidney Powell gain access to Trump. Powell claimed that a secret theft, including George Soros, the late Hugo Chavez, the CIA and thousands of election officials, conspired to steal votes from Trump in 2020. “Sydney (sic) Powell says she has to come in to see the president, but they keep her away. He obviously has a strategy to keep things alive and bring several states back into the game. Can you help her get in? ” Lee wrote to Meadows on November 7. Two days later, Lee returned to Meadows on Powell’s behalf. “Sidney told us that the campaign lawyer he does not know does not focus on this and hinders progress. “I have no way of confirming or denying it on my own, but I have found it to be a straight shooter,” Lee wrote. Powell’s allegations of conspiracy led to defamation by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. Powell faces multiple disciplinary actions, including expulsion, in many states for her actions after the 2020 election. On November 19, Lee realized that his support for Powell might have been wrong after a disastrous press conference in which he described bizarre allegations about a global communist conspiracy to rig Trump’s election. “I’m worried about Powell ‘s press conference,” Lee wrote in the first of a series of text messages. “Unless Powell can support everything he said, which I doubt he can.” Over the next three days, Lee arrived at Meadows several times, asking for marching orders. “Please give me something to work with. “I just need to know what to say,” Lee wrote on November 19. “Please tell me what to say,” Lee asked the next day. On November 23, Lee brought in lawyer John Eastman for the first time, suggesting some irregularities in many states and proposing scrutiny. “Eastman has some really interesting research on that. “The good news is (sic) that Eastman is proposing an approach that, contrary to what Sidney Powell (sic) has proposed, could be considered very quickly,” Lee said. Eastman was behind a plan to overturn the election results by submitting a handful of states with Biden with alternative voter lists. Competitive lists would allow the Vice President to reject the results from these states, possibly throwing the House of Representatives election to keep Trump in the White House. Lee claimed he first learned of the Eastman plan on Jan. 2 when he received a copy of a confidential note from the White House. He told writers Bob Woodward and Robert Costa that he was “surprised” by the plan and made “phone after phone” to see if any state was ready to certify alternate voters, but found none. In fact, Lee knew about the gambit almost a month before he claimed it. On December 8, Lee sent a message to Meadows, “If a very small handful of states had to nominate alternate delegates from the legislature, there could be a plan,” Lee wrote. “I have been working on this since yesterday,” Meadows replied. Eastman invoked his rights in the Fifth Amendment when questioned by a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. Eastman was asked about his communications with Lee, but also pleaded with Fifth. On Dec. 16, Lee asked Meadows if senators wanted to oppose the certification of ballots, which was part of Eastman’s plan to reject the results. But Lee seemed to be chilling about the plan, realizing that such a move might not be legal. “Also, if you want senators to object, we need to hear from you that ideally you will receive some guidance on the arguments you need to make,” Lee wrote. “I think we have overcome the point where we can expect someone to do it without any direction and strong argument,” Li added. The next available message to Meadows came Jan. 3, when he warned of the efforts of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and others to oppose the election results. (Patrick Semansky | AP) The then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows walks on the White Lawn south lawn in Washington, October 30, 2020. “I have serious concerns about the way my friend Ted is making this effort,” Lee wrote. “This will not be in the president’s favor.” However, Lee still hoped that some states would certify alternative voter lists, making objecting to the results much easier. “Everything changes, of course, if the swing states submit competing voter lists under state law,” Lee said. Lee warns Meadows that trying to give Congress victory over Trump could boomerang on the president. “I know that only this will end badly for the president, unless we have the Constitution on our side. “And if these states do not submit new Trump voter data under state law, we will not do so,” Lee wrote. The next day, Trump publicly shot Lee during a rally in Georgia, after Lee announced that he did not support opposition to the election results. “Mike Lee is here, but I’m a little angry with him,” Trump said. Lee was not happy that the president publicly shouted at him and fired him at Meadows. “I spend 14 hours a day for the last week trying to figure it out. “Getting him to shoot me like that in such a public environment without even asking me about it is quite discouraging,” Lee said. Lee explained that he was calling on lawmakers in several states to try to develop a way to defend Congress by working for Trump. In a text, Lee suggested he was trying to persuade these state legislators to create a pretext for Congress to act. “We need something from the state legislatures to make it legal and to have hopes of winning. “Even if they can not come together, it may be enough if the majority of them are willing to sign a statement showing how they would vote,” Lee wrote. In the end, Lee did not run with other Republicans to oppose the results. The Tribune contacted Senator Lee’s office for comment. Lee faces Republicans Becky Edwards and Ally Isom in the June primary as he seeks a third term in Congress. In a statement to The Tribune, Edwards kidnapped Lee for his involvement in plotting to overthrow the election results. “The Japanese minute. Mike Lee was investigating the overthrow of legitimate, democratic elections for partisan and political gain. By the time Lee realized the seriousness of Trump’s efforts to undermine the 2020 election, he should have stopped investigating the legitimacy of such actions. “He should have stopped pressuring local lawmakers,” Edwards’s campaign said in a text message. “Lee owes it to himself to protect and defend our Constitution and the democratic process, as he vowed to do when he took office. “On the contrary, it has allowed the situation to continue and enable those who seek to remain in power, regardless of the consequences,” Edwards added. Isom has not responded to comments requesting comments. Independent U.S. Senate nominee Evan McMalin also overheard Lee’s text messages, suggesting that Lee was trying to hide his involvement in the election. Why did Sen. Mike Lee advise false legal efforts to overthrow the 2020 election? And why did he hide these plans from both the public and the FBI in the days before January 6? – Evan McMullin 🇺🇸 (@EvanMcMullin) April 15, 2022 “Why did Senator Mike Lee advise false legal efforts to overthrow the 2020 election? And why did he hide these plans in the days before January 6? McMalin said on Twitter, linking his post to a call for funds. To stay up to date on Utah political news and more, sign up for The Salt Lake Tribune newsletters here. Correction: 10:51 a.m. April 15: This article has been updated with the correct spelling of Sidney Powell.
