Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/376

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CHAPTER 3

with this stuff."[60] He explained that Giuliani "really bought into Ken's theory on this," and that the two of them "were kind of the main ones driving this" from that point forward.[61] Clark told the Select Committee that ". . . my understanding of who was driving the process . . . was Mayor Giuliani and his team."[62] On December 10th, when Kenneth Chesebro emailed one of the State party officials involved in organizing the fake elector effort in Nevada, he reported that "I spoke this evening with Mayor Guiliani [sic], who is focused on doing everything possible to ensure that that [sic] all the Trump-Pence electors vote on Dec. 14."[63]

In the days that followed this handoff, Chesebro would draft and distribute documents intended for use in the Trump team's fake elector ceremonies that were then shared with key contacts in Arizona,[64] Georgia,[65] Michigan,[66] Nevada,[67] New Mexico,[68] Pennsylvania,[69] and Wisconsin.[70] He also gave some of the groups step-by-step logistical guidance, such as when and where they should convene, how many copies each person would need to sign, and to send their fake votes to Congress via registered mail.[71] "Pretty Simple!" he commented in some of these emails.[72]

A campaign operative named Michael Roman was also tapped for a major operational role in the fake elector effort. When Findlay sent his email handing off certain responsibilities for the initiative, he also wrote that Giuliani's team had designated Roman "as the lead for executing the voting on Monday" December 14th.[73] Roman was the Trump Campaign's Director of Election Day Operations (EDO), with team members who specialized in political outreach and mobilization in battleground States where the Trump team now urgently needed the fake electors to meet on December 14th.

With help from his EDO staff, as well as Giuliani's team and RNC staffers working alongside the Campaign as part of the Trump Victory Committee, Roman ran an improvised "Electors Whip Operation."[74] For example, Roman sent an email on December 12th directing an aide to create "a tracker for the electors" with tabs for Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, listing contact information, whether they had been contacted, whether they agreed to attend on December 14th, and names of "[s]ubstitute electors" to replace any reticent or unavailable participants as needed.[75] Roman referred to others on this email as the "WHIP TEAM" and directed them to fill out the spreadsheet, to update him on "what you have and what you need," and to plan on a call that evening.[76]

In the days that followed, this group focused on tracking which Republicans previously named as President Trump's nominees to the electoral college would be willing to show up for fake elector ceremonies, finding