Sidney Powell: Trump Could Trigger 2018 Executive Order on Foreign Election Interference

Lawyer Sidney Powell asserts that alleged foreign interference in the Nov. 3 election was "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."

Powell told The Epoch Times she believes that in the current situation, the executive order could 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 said. "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."

For the past month, Powell and Trump's lawyers have alleged that Dominion Voting Systems' machines allowed for votes to be switched from Trump to Democrat candidate Joe Biden. Dominion has pushed back, saying that it's not possible to change votes---while asserting it has no ties to foreign governments, doesn't allow its employees to engage in vote-tabulation efforts, and it has added that its employees have faced threats in the wake of the allegations.

Powell noted that Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has only a few days left until he is to prepare his report to the president, according to the September 2018 executive order. It's not clear when—or if—Ratcliffe will issue the report, as no public confirmation has been given so far. Little mention has been made of the executive order since it was issued more than two years ago.

Should Ratcliffe issue his report, "it's going to blow the mind of every citizen in the country who's willing to look at the truth and the facts," Powell said, "because there's never—we've never witnessed anything like this in the history of this country. And it's got to be stopped right now or there will never be a free and fair election."

The order also stipulates that "within 45 days of receiving the assessment and information," the heads of the Department of Justice and Homeland Security and "any other appropriate agencies" shall deliver a report evaluating the U.S. general election.

That includes "the extent to which any foreign interference that targeted election infrastructure materially affected the security or integrity of that infrastructure, the tabulation of votes, or the timely transmission of election results; and if any foreign interference involved activities targeting the infrastructure of, or pertaining to, a political organization, campaign, or candidate, the extent to which such activities materially affected the security or integrity of that infrastructure, including by unauthorized access to, disclosure or threatened disclosure of, or alteration or falsification of, information or data," it says.

The order also allows for the imposition of "any recommended sanctions" against entities that are believed to have interfered in the election.

These may include "blocking and prohibiting all transactions in a person’s property and interests in property subject to United States jurisdiction," "exclusion of a person’s alien corporate officers from the United States," and "any other measures authorized by law," among other provisions.