US President Donald Trump looks on during a ceremony presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to wrestler Dan Gable in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on December 7, 2020. Investigators have also asked multiple witnesses about whether Trump retaliated against top officials for contradicting his narrative about election security, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Investigators seemed particularly interested in understanding Trump’s mindset about election security before he embarked on a monthslong campaign to cast doubt on elections, the source added. In their questions to at least one of those former officials, investigators were interested in how Trump reacted to information from his advisers that US election systems were secure, and whether Trump was well informed on the topic, one of the sources said. Smith’s office has in recent months interviewed multiple former US officials with knowledge of the February 2020 Oval Office briefing, sources said, though not everyone who attended the meeting and has talked to the special counsel was asked about it. Those details offer a stark contrast to the voter-fraud conspiracy theories Trump began spreading publicly just weeks later and continued to use to question the 2020 election results. Trump was so encouraged by federal efforts to protect election systems that he suggested the FBI and Department of Homeland Security hold a press conference to take credit for the work, four people familiar with the meeting told CNN. In the meeting with senior US officials and White House staff, Trump touted his administration’s work to expand the use of paper ballots and support security audits of vote tallies. Special counsel Jack Smith’s office has asked former US officials about a February 2020 Oval Office meeting where then-President Donald Trump praised improvements to the security of US elections, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
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