Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has signaled a continued interest in a chaotic Oval Office meeting that took place in the final days of the Trump administration, during which the former president considered some of the most desperate proposals to keep him in power over objections from his White House counsel.
Multiple sources told CNN that investigators have asked several witnesses before the grand jury and during interviews about the meeting, which happened about six weeks after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. Some witnesses were asked about the meeting months ago, while several others have faced questions about it more recently, including Rudy Giuliani.
Last month, for two consecutive days, Giuliani sat down with investigators for a voluntary interview about a range of topics, including the tumultuous December 2020 meeting that he attended, sources said.
Prosecutors have specifically inquired about three outside Trump advisers who participated in the meeting: former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, sources said.
Giuliani’s lawyer, Robert Costello, declined to comment.
A lawyer for Powell declined to comment, as did a lawyer for Byrne. CNN has also reached out to an attorney for Flynn for comment.
Both Powell and Byrne previously spoke at length under oath about the meeting and other topics to the House committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Flynn declined to answer questions in his committee interview, by asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
The special counsel’s sustained interest in the chaotic episode comes as Smith’s team appears to be nearing charging decisions in the investigation into efforts to overturn the election results. Investigators are still gathering…
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