President Trump, isolated and watching the White House time countdown, spent part of it on Friday with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who brought some notes with him.
In photos taken by Jabin Botsford, a photographer for The Washington Post, Lindell held notes in his hand as he stood outside the door to the west wing lobby before meeting the president mid-afternoon on Friday. The notes included a mention of Sidney Powell, the lawyer and conspiracy theorist whom Trump, at one point, wanted to offer a job at the White House.
They were only partially visible, but there was also a suggestion about invoking the Insurrection Law, by which a president can send active military troops to the streets and “martial law, if necessary”. One line seemed to suggest transferring Kash Patel, currently the Defense Department’s chief of staff and loyal to Trump, as “CIA Performance,” which seemed to indicate the main job.
White House press officers were taken by surprise by the photos that circulated on Twitter and said they had no idea what had happened. Mr. Lindell did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Lindell has been one of the few Trump supporters in corporate America who stayed with him after the rebellion of Trump supporters at the Capitol complex on January 6, which left five people dead and included screams calling for the death of Vice President Mike Pence. Lindell appeared on Newsmax, the conservative cable network, on the day of the riot and pushed back the claim now dismissed that “antifa” protesters disguised themselves as Trump supporters to do harm.
And even after President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory was certified, Lindell continued to insist that Trump will be sworn in for a second term next week.
There was no move to fire Gina Haspel, the CIA director, on Friday or to get Patel to arrive at CIA headquarters to take control, according to people familiar with the matter. And Washington had already become a militarized fortress before Biden took office, in order to suppress the threats of new violence that are being planned for the day of the ceremony.
But Lindell’s ability to enter the Oval Office and meet Trump has underscored the kind of conspiracy theorists who still appeal to Trump, as long as they say what he wants to hear. It is unclear whether Mr. Lindell wrote the notes or whether he was transmitting someone else’s thoughts.
Mr. Trump sometimes considered Mrs. Powell to be very conspiratorial, as she preached falsehoods about a global conspiracy to defraud the 2020 election. On other occasions, he welcomed her contribution.
Right-wing journalists resumed demands for declassification and disclosure of documents related to the 2016 election, including material created by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, where Patel worked.
Ms. Haspel opposed the release of these documents. However, both Mr. Trump and John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, have the authority to declassify the documents, and the White House would not have to force Mrs. Haspel to make the material public.