Trump's criminal intent exposed: How Jan. 6 plan emerged from military coup plot (MSNBC Pt 1)

Donald Trump only turned to his plan to summon MAGA supporters to D.C. on Jan. 6th, which grew into the criminal insurrection, after the failure of other plots to steal the election. MSNBC Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber charts exactly how Trump shifted to embrace that Jan. 6 plan, and how new the details add to evidence of actual, "criminal intent" by Trump and his aides -- a requirement for any indictment and criminal trial. Melber documents eight different plots to overturn the 2020 election for this MSNBC Special Report, "Inside Trump's Election Plot." The original special, broadcast after the conclusion of the Congressional hearings into Jan. 6, draws on government evidence, testimony, primary documents, independent reporting, and some of Melber's own newsmaking interviews with participants, subjects and one indicted White House aide, Peter Navarro, to show how the effort to overturn the election reflected an attempted conspiracy over several months -- and not only the narrower set of events surrounding January 6, 2021. The distinction could prove pivotal to any criminal conspiracy case against the exposed election plots. (This is the first excerpt from the Special Report; a second excerpt of the conclusion is also available online.)July 29, 2022