National security reporter Ken Klippenstein is hearing from more sources inside President Donald Trump’s administration that his Justice Department is trying to craft a “contingency plan” to possibly intervene in the Nov. 3 election.
Three officials with knowledge of the discussions inside the administration revealed that there is a “doomsday” scenario that some think is “improbable but not impossible.”
Recently, Trump has even hinted that Trump might do something major if there are things like foreign interference, claims that noncitizens voted or other chaos at the polls, said Klipperstein.
“Nobody knows what the president might do if the midterms don’t go his way,” said one intelligence official who served in the first Trump administration.
Axios reported Monday that Trump’s new lawsuit in Alaska is only one of the lawsuits Attorney General Todd Blanche plans to file. So far, he’s also attacked California, trying to remove 20,000 voters from the rolls at the last minute. This is happening while the DOJ is also trying to indict Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook; after the FBI raided Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) Washington residence; after the DOJ indicted Virginia state Sen. Louise Lucas (D), a big Trump critic; and as the department is making a third go at indicting former FBI Director James Comey.
Blanche has even admitted openly that he could move to block a state from certifying the election results.
“Yes, of course there’s scenarios that we could all come up with hypothetically, you know, some doomsday scenario, for example, right?” he told reporters.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon told “60 Minutes” that everything would remain normal “absent some shocking contingency that is unexpected.”
“These remarks, sources explain to me, are not just rhetoric. There really are contingency plans,” said Klippenstein.
Foreign cyberattacks by pro-Trump hackers in Russia, for example, could spark action from the Justice Department.
“If we need to put in federal controls as opposed to state controls,” Trump said way back in February. “If they can’t do it honestly and it can’t be done properly and timely, then something else has to happen.”
Trump went on to say that there is a need for federal controls over elections and not leave it up to the states, despite the role of the states being outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
A few weeks after that interview, Trump met with state governors about the possible “doomsday plan.” The DOJ began preparing scenarios that would trigger federal action.
“Under the law, the Attorney General may seek a temporary restraining order or injunction when a violation has occurred or there are reasonable grounds to believe that one is imminent,” Klippenstein warned. “The Justice Department could also ask a court to delay finalization of a particular election as part of its argument that the law has been broken.”
“Reasonable grounds,” he noted, is a judgment call that will depend on which court and which judge is overseeing the case.
“There is no general presidential or attorney-general power to suspend elections or veto a state’s results simply by alleging fraud,” one government lawyer says. “The administration would need to identify some statutory violation, present supporting evidence, and justify whatever particular remedy it is requesting.”
Even if the DOJ can come up with something, the lawyer said, “There is no law covering a federal government takeover.”
The former Trump intelligence official asked whether Trump could even sign a classified emergency order to justify intervention.
“Could Doomsday involve some continuity of government argument? You just never know with Donald Trump,” he said. “If all else fails,” Trump could put “pressure on officials, undertake unsupported litigation, or even issue unlawful executive orders.” That could then provoke a riot like Jan. 6.
Still, the planning inside the DOJ continues, the government lawyer said.