A key player in MAGA World’s plot to have the federal government seize voting machines to undo the 2020 election made sure then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows knew about the status of the plan, according to texts obtained by CNN.
The texts reportedly revealed that Phil Waldron — the retired Army colonel who created the notorious PowerPoint detailing strategies to steal the election on behalf of then-President Donald Trump — texted Meadows directly on Dec. 23, 2020 about a judge rejecting Arizona Republicans’ lawsuit demanding that state officials turn over election equipment.
Waldron, a devotee of Trump’s Bie Lie, reportedly complained that the judge’s dismissal of the suit would lead to “delay tactics” from the supposed perpetrators of his baseless election fraud conspiracy theories.
The former Army colonel also reportedly lamented that Arizona was “our lead domino we were counting on to start the cascade” of seizing the equipment in states where Trump was trying to overturn the election (states like Georgia, for instance).
“Pathetic,” Meadows replied, according to CNN.
The reported texts further cement Meadows’ involvement in pro-Trump hardliners’ authoritarian proposal; a scheme that would’ve centered on Trump ordering federal officials to seize voting machines across the country in pursuit of debunked MAGA conspiracy theories that claimed the machines had been hacked.
Waldron’s election steal PowerPoint (which was titled “Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN”) publicly came to light early December last year when the House Jan. 6 Committee revealed that Meadows had turned over an email regarding the 38-page PowerPoint.
It’s unclear how exactly the PowerPoint reached Meadows. However, Waldron told the Washington Post that he met with Meadows “maybe eight to 10 times” in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
The House Jan. 6 panel subpoenaed Waldron several days after the ex-colonel’s interview with the Post.
