Supporters of President Donald Trump were divided by his campaign’s move on Sunday to distance itself from attorney Sidney Powell.
The statement: Lawyers for the campaign, Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, issued a statement saying that Powell is not part of their team and does not represent the president.
- “Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own,” they said. “She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.”
Powell had appeared alongside Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, and Ellis at a news conference on Thursday, during which she claimed electronic voting systems had switched millions of ballots to Democrat Joe Biden.
- Trump had referred to Powell as one of his “wonderful lawyers and representatives” in a Nov. 14 tweet.
- He has also promoted the Dominion conspiracy theory as part of his faltering effort to overturn the unofficial results of the 2020 election as “rigged” and remain in the White House despite Biden’s apparent victory.
Powell — a former federal prosecutor who represents Trump’s erstwhile National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in his criminal case — released a statement to CBS News later on Sunday saying she would continue her legal fight on behalf of the voters.
- “I understand today’s press release. I will continue to represent #WeThePeople who had their votes for Trump and other Republicans stolen by massive fraud through Dominion and Smartmatic, and we will be filing suit soon,” she said, referring to companies she has said were part of an international conspiracy to rig the 2020 election and previous U.S. contests.
- “The chips will fall where they may, and we will defend the foundations of this great Republic. #KrakenOnSteroids.”
Although Powell has repeatedly pledged to “Release the Kraken” in the form of bombshell evidence proving her claims, she has yet to do so.
- In an appearance on Newsmax on Saturday night, Powell seemed to allege that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, was paid to participate in the alleged plot against Trump.
- She said she would file proof of her claims in court by Friday.
According to anonymously sourced reports, Trump officials and the president himself have grown displeased with Powell’s rhetoric, for which they have seen no evidence.
The reaction: Some pro-Trump commentators on Sunday welcomed the campaign’s separation from Powell, saying she was distracting from more credible allegations of electoral malfeasance.
- The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh tweeted, “Time to move on from the batshit conspiracy theories guys.”
Others, however, questioned the move, with Fox Nows host Laura Ingraham saying in a tweet, “This is really weird.”
Yet others, like Newsmax host Greg Kelly, urged calm and expressed confidence Powell would prevail on behalf of Trump even if she was no longer formally working for him.
Radio host Rush Limbaugh suggested on his show that the Kraken had better hurry.
- “Now, Sidney Powell is supposedly out — jumped the shark, got out over the skis. But apparently, she’s still going to be working, along with Lin Wood, trying to make the case that she says is there to be made all along,” Limbaugh said, referring to a conservative attorney who has vouched for Powell.
- “Time, of course is of the essence now, as it is speedily vanishing. So they’re going to have to act fast.”
