Sens. Mitch McConnell and Tom Cotton. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
New book reveals that Mitch McConnell and Tom Cotton plotted to subvert Trump's claims of election fraud.
David Drucker stated that Trump and Drucker both conspired privately to overturn the election.
Drucker stated that Cotton had presented a plan to declare his opposition to Trump's efforts.
A new book claims that Mitch McConnell plotted secretly with Senator Tom Cotton in December, January to stop other senators working with President Donald Trump to reverse Joe Biden’s election win.
McConnell, the Senate majority leader at the time, and Cotton, a Trump supporter, publicly opposed Trump's attempts to overturn the election at that time. The book "In Trump's shadow" by David Drucker describes how they attempted to manipulate the president behind closed doors. A portion of it was published in Vanity Fair on Monday.
Drucker claims that Cotton and McConnell realized Trump was trying to get enough support from Republican legislators to oppose the certification of electoral votes for swing states on January 6. This would have overturned Biden's win.
Drucker stated that Cotton instructed his aides to examine and draft a memo. This memo made it clear that Vice President Mike Pence didn't, as Trump claimed, have the power overturning the Electoral College results. Drucker revealed that Cotton was planning to publish an opinion piece in a Arkansas newspaper explaining why he wouldn't oppose certification of Trump's election-fraud claims.
Drucker stated that "Cotton's strategy was thwarted" by Sen. Josh Hawley who had been closely associated with Trump's political agenda and announced late December that he would back Trump and oppose Biden’s election certification.
According to reports, about 12 congressional Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz at the time, indicated that they would also oppose certification. This situation McConnell later warned would cause US democracy "to enter a death spiral."
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Drucker stated that McConnell had urged Cotton, after some discussion to accelerate his timeline for announcing the opposition.
Cotton issued a statement on January 3 stating that he would not object to the January 6 results being certified. According to the book, this was politically risky because Cotton knew he would upset both his base and that of the president.
On January 6, a pro-Trump mob entered the US Capitol to disrupt the certification process for electoral votes. Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images
Some GOP lawmakers had originally planned to oppose certification after the violence at Capitol on January 6. Seven GOP senators voted in favor of certifying Pennsylvania's electoral vote, while six voted to certify Arizona's.
Drucker wrote that McConnell's team believes Cotton's announcement stopped Trump from seeking further Republican support. McConnell's leadership team shared with Drucker two members who said that Cotton played an "important role" in stopping more Republicans from voting against the result.
Insider reached McConnell and Cotton offices but they did not immediately reply to our requests for comment.
Business Insider has the original article.
