The Trump campaign’s attorney abruptly cut ties with lawyer Sidney Powell late Sunday evening days after a controversial press conference featuring Powell. What caused the split?
Summary
In a statement from the Trump campaign quoting lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, clarified the function attorney Sidney Powell is playing in the legal battle over several states’ election results, saying “Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own” and that she is not representing Trump personally or the campaign.
- Powell participated in a press conference last week with Giuliani, Ellis, and others in which Powell offered blockbuster allegations of a criminal conspiracy to fraudulently change the results of the 2020 presidential election.
- In an interview last week, Sidney Powell said she was preparing a lawsuit in Georgia accusing several Republican state officials of participating in a conspiracy to use voting machines to hurt Trump’s election results.
- When pressed by Fox News host Tucker Carlson for evidence of any of her claims, Powell was uncooperative.
- Trump supporter and former Republican Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie recently criticized Powell and the legal efforts of Trump’s lawyers, calling them “a national embarrassment.”
- Reacting to the Trump campaign statement, Powell did not disagree with its contents or sentiment, adding that she intends to continue her efforts to expose voter fraud.
- Senior Republicans have begun to voice concern about Powell’s allegations and rhetoric according to Politico.
- One official, who believed her involvement and accusations were causing damage to the President, said “She was too crazy even for the president.”
- Reporting in The New York Times called the clarification of Powell’s role a “repudiation of Ms. Powell”, and reporting on conservative criticism (such as that from Chris Christie) of Powell’s claims.
- Noted in reporting from Business Insider was the fact that none of Powell’s claims have been used in the dozens of legal filings by the Trump campaign regarding the election.
- Newsweek made a clear connection between Powell’s comments on Georgia and the decision to sever ties. Both of Georgia’s seats in the U.S. Senate are in middle of a hotly contested, nationally watched run-off election, set for early January.
- Powell came under fire from Fox News host Tucker Carlson last week for failing to provide any evidence of her claims and alleged she was combative and hostile when pressed for details.
- In reporting on the split, the New York Post called Powell’s claims of fraud “audacious,” and (similar to outlets across the ideological spectrum) emphasized her claims have been made “without providing proof.”
- Rich Lowry of National Review lambasted Powell and her “lunatic conspiracy theories” while praising Fox News’ Carlson, who he said “didn’t fail his audience” by being skeptical of Powell.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2020
