Top Trump administration officials are growing more alarmed that Donald Trump may abuse the powers of the presidency in an effort to overturn the results of the election, Axios reports.
They are worried that Trump is spending too much time listening to “conspiracy nuts” like Michael Flynn–who has called for Trump to declare marital law and use the military to oversee an election– and conspiracy lawyer Sidney Powell.
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One senior official told Axios, when Trump is “retweeting threats of putting politicians in jail, and spends his time talking to conspiracy nuts who openly say declaring martial law is no big deal, it’s impossible not to start getting anxious about how this ends.”
“People who are concerned and nervous aren’t the weak-kneed bureaucrats that we loathe. These are people who have endured arguably more insanity and mayhem than any administration officials in history,” the official added.
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The New York Times reported on a tense meeting at the White House on Friday including Powell and her client Michael Flynn. Among the topics discussed was, invoking martial law, appointing Powell as special counsel to investigate voter fraud allegations and the possibility of Trump signing an executive order which would allow the government to access voting machines to inspect them.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and counsel Pat Cipollone, reportedly pushed back intensely on the suggestion of naming Powell as a special counsel. Aides present at the meeting also “forcefully push back” on the idea of invoking martial law.
