As the House select committee continues to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the chairman of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, shared he has spoken with former Attorney General William Barr about an alleged plan under former President Donald Trump to use military might to seize voting machines.
Thompson said investigation of the alleged plot is already well under way.
"We've had conversations with the former attorney general already. We have talked to Department of Defense individuals," Thompson shared with CNN.
A draft executive order was reportedly given to former President Donald Trump, which would have directed the Secretary of Defense to lead the charge in seizing the voting machines, Politico reported.
The committee received several documents from the National Archives, including the draft executive order. However, Trump's lawyers sued to try and prevent the release of several of the documents, including the draft order.
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The author of the draft executive order is not known. It is dated Dec. 16, 2020, but was never issued.
Still, despite never being issued, Thompson and the committee think that it is important for the public to know of any plans to use the military in this capacity.
"We are concerned that our military was part of this big lie on promoting that the election was false," Thompson said. "So, if you are using the military to potentially seize voting machines, even though it's a discussion, the public needs to know."
The committee has yet to find evidence that the Trump administration had action plans to put the draft order through. Still, Thompson said that the draft existing "is reason enough to believe that it was being proposed."
"Our job is to get to the facts and circumstances of, 'How far did they go?'" Thompson said.
Additionally, Politico reported the draft order would have given the defense secretary 60 days to write an assessment of the 2020 election. "That suggests it could have been a gambit to keep Trump in power until at least mid-February of 2021," they reported.
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