Text messages show RNC chair pushed indicted Trump's voter fraud conspiracy with AZ's Kelli Ward: report

02 August 2023

Barely twenty-four hours after United States Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith indicted ex-President Donald Trump for allegedly masterminding a plan to subvert American democracy after the 2020 election, previously undisclosed text messages between high-profile Republican operatives indicate a vastly broader plot than what Smith outlines in his complaint, according to a new report.

The communications were allegedly obtained exclusively by Talking Points Memo investigative reporter Hunter Walker, who on Wednesday reported "paint a picture of what was going on behind the scenes in the White House during the crucial period the special prosecutor has zeroed in on. In particular, they reveal that Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and former Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward were among those who played key roles in elements of the alleged conspiracy from the moment Smith said it began."

The exchanges, which Walker recalled are tied to Trump's final White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, "expose how McDaniel and Ward played a role in elements" of Trumpworld's reputed crimes, although Meadows, McDaniel and Ward have not been charged.

"Meadows' texts," Walker explained, "show McDaniel was among the people promoting" Trump's claims of sprawling ballot box fraud in "seven target states" of "Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin," all of which Trump lost to President Joe Biden.

According to Walker, Arizona, where Trump and his associates proclaimed that "more than 30,000 non-citizens had voted," was a focus of the conversations.

"The messages also show that both McDaniel and Ward were texting him about continuing the challenge in that state as it became more and more far-fetched," wrote Walker. "Ward's role in efforts to reverse the election result has previously drawn the scrutiny of investigators. While McDaniel helped the Trump campaign publicly question the results in the first week after the election, the RNC chairwoman has — prior to the indictment — largely avoided being seen as a key player in the plot. These newly revealed messages provide far greater detail than was previously known about the part these two GOP officials played in the scheme at the very moment the special counsel has pegged as the major turning point."

Walker pointed out that "Smith's indictment noted that Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien and the speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives at the time, Republican Rusty Bowers," having "directly told Trump there 'was no evidence of substantial fraud in Arizona.'"

Walker's report continues at this link.

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