The 2020 presidential election is still very much undecided, but an executive order from two years ago may be able to turn the tides in President Donald Trump’s favor.
In 2018, president Trump signed an executive order that would authorize sanctions on foreign countries that interfere in U.S. elections.
This order declared foreign election meddling as a national emergency.
Lawyer Sidney Powell argued on Sunday that President Trump’s 2018 executive order could come into play now.
Powell stated that due to the interference in this year’s election “it’s more than sufficient to trigger” the president’s executive order.
NTD has more on Powell's assessment:
Lawyer Sidney Powell asserted that due to alleged foreign interference in the Nov. 3 election, “it’s more than sufficient to trigger” President Donald Trump’s executive order on foreign interference issued in 2018.
In September 2018, Trump signed an executive order that says “not later than 45 days after the conclusion of a United States election, the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the heads of any other appropriate executive departments and agencies (agencies), shall conduct an assessment of any information indicating that a foreign government, or any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign government, has acted with the intent or purpose of interfering in that election,” according to the text of the order.
Powell told The Epoch Times she believes due to that executive order, it can give Trump “all kinds of power … to do everything from seize assets to freeze things, demand the impoundment of the machines,” referring to voting machines.
“Under the emergency powers, he could even appoint a special prosecutor to look into this, which is exactly what needs to happen,” Powell added. “Every machine, every voting machine in the country should be impounded right now. There’s frankly more than enough criminal probable cause to justify that, for anybody who’s willing to address the law and the facts purely on the basis of truth and not politics, or corporate greed, or global wealth.”
Powell isn't the only one encouraging the president to trigger the order.
General Michael Flynn has also asserted that there is more than enough evidence to move forward.
President Trump signed the executive order back in 2018, which addressed election interference, as well as propaganda efforts.
Fox News covered the story right before the 2018 midterm elections:
President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday authorizing sanctions against any country that interferes with U.S. elections, declaring election meddling efforts a “national emergency.”
The executive order, signed just two months ahead of the November's midterms elections, addresses not only interference with campaign and election infrastructure, but also propaganda efforts.
The order, which is considered a national emergency due to sanctions authority requirements, instructs the Office of National Intelligence and the intelligence community to conduct regular assessments about potential foreign interference in elections.
The process, according to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and White House national security adviser John Bolton, would take a total of 90 days.
Following Election Day, the intelligence community would have 45 days to collect data and assess whether interference had occurred.
At that point, the agencies would pass the findings to the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, where officials would have 45 days to make their assessment based on the intelligence information, and decide whether to pass sanctions on potential actors, countries, or institutions that participated in potential interference.
One thing is for certain.
The president, his allies, and patriotic Americans are not giving up on this fight.
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