President Trump, isolated and watching the clock count down to his time in the White House, spent some of it on Friday with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who brought along some notes.
In photos captured by Jabin Botsford, a photographer for The Washington Post, Mr. Lindell held notes in his hand as he stood outside the door to the West Wing foyer before meeting with the president on Friday afternoon. The notes contain a mention of Sidney Powell, the lawyer and conspiracy theorist that Mr. Trump at one point wanted to offer a job in the White House.
They were only partially visible, but there was also a proposal on the call for the Insurrection Act, through which a president could deploy active military troops in the streets, and ‘martial law if necessary’. One line suggested that Kash Patel, currently the chief of staff of the Department of Defense and a Trump loyalist, be moved to ‘CIA Acting’, which apparently indicates the best position.
White House press assistants were caught off guard by the photos as they circulated on Twitter, saying they had no idea what had happened. Mr. Lindell did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Lindell was one of the few supporters of Mr. Trump from America, who stayed with him after the riot by Trump supporters in the Capitol complex on January 6, which left five people dead and includes hymns mourning the death of Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Lindell appeared on Newsmax, the conservative cable network, on the day of the riot and printed the now-defunct allegation that protesters of “antifa” challenged themselves as Trump supporters to inflict damage.
And even after the election of Pres. Joseph R. Biden Jr. ratified, Mr. Lindell still insisted that Mr. Trump will be inaugurated for a second term next week.
There was no plan to fire Gina Haspel, the director of the CIA, on Friday, or Mr. Patel arrived at CIA headquarters too late to take over, according to people familiar with the matter. And even before the inauguration of Mr. Biden became a militarized stronghold to threaten to threaten new violence for the day of the ceremony.
But the ability of Mr. Lindell to enter the Oval Office and with Mr. Trump to meet, the type of conspiracy theorists who are still appealing to Mr. Trump has, he stressed, as long as they say what he wants to hear. It is unclear whether Mr. Lindell wrote the notes and whether he passed on someone else’s thoughts.
Mr. Trump has Mrs. Powell is sometimes considered too conspiratorial because he falsified allegations of a global conspiracy to target the 2020 election. At other times, he welcomed her input.
Right-wing journalists have resumed demands for the declassification and release of documents related to the 2016 election, including material created by Republicans in the House Intelligence Committee, where Mr. Patel worked.
Me. Haspel opposed the release of these documents. However, Trump and John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, have the authority to declassify the documents, and the White House does not have to force Ms Haspel to release the material.