Special counsel prosecutors question witnesses about chaotic oval office meeting after Trump lost 2020 election

Anderson Cooper 360

CNN

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4.1 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

Special counsel Jack Smith and his investigators have a signaled a continued interest on a chaotic Oval Office meeting after then-President Trump lost the 2020 election and his allies allegedly schemed about ways to keep him in power over objections to White House counsel. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton wasn’t in the room for that meeting but is familiar with the players, including the former President. He joins AC360 to react to the CNN exclusive reporting. Plus, Casey DeSantis hit the campaign trail for her first solo event in Iowa for her husband, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is hoping to win the 2024 Republican nomination for President. CNN National Correspondent Kristen Holmes tells Anderson Cooper how Casey DeSantis plans to build her brand.

Guests: John Bolton, Kristen Holmes

Airdate: July 7, 2023

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Tonight on 360, to indict or not with special counsel Jack Smith looking at Trump's meeting
0:05.8	where Marshal Law and seizing voting machines were discussed, we talk with Trump's former
0:10.3	national security adviser about how close we came to a constitutional crisis.
0:14.9	In Ukraine, the latest in the battle around Bacmoud as President Biden decides to send cluster
0:19.2	munitions to the fight, and Florida's new Republican pledge of allegiance, just to get
0:24.4	on the GOP presidential ballot in the state candidates now have to promise in writing
0:28.7	to support the nominee no matter who it ends up being.
0:32.5	Good evening, we begin tonight, digging deeper into the December 2020 Oval Office meeting
0:36.8	that sources tell us special counsel Jack Smith's team has shown a renewed focus on.
0:41.3	Now, there are two reasons for that.
0:42.9	First, we have the perspective tonight of someone who knows the cast of characters in
0:47.1	the meeting and has worked with many of them over the years.
0:49.7	And secondly, it's worth another look simply because of how unprecedented that meeting
0:53.7	was in the Oval Office in terms of what was on the table and what followed just hours
0:58.1	later.
0:59.0	The former president tweeting, quote, big protests in DC on January 6th be there will be
1:03.9	wild.
1:04.9	Now, that tweet, which would later be seen as Exhibit A for allegedly inciting the mob
1:09.1	that day, now looks like the action he chose to take instead of the even more atlandish
1:14.3	ideas that were discussed during the meeting, such as seizing voting machines in the states
1:18.9	he lost and invoking martial law.
1:21.5	Former Trump campaign manager Bill Steppin told the January 6th committee he referred to
	...

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