At an infamous press conference shortly after the 2020 election, Powell stood alongside Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani, as his hair dye apparently dripped down his face, and baselessly insisted voting machines were corrupted due to foreign influence. Powell claimed that machine software was “created in Venezuela” at the direction of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013.
Trump, surrounded by allies, spoke on the phone to Powell in the Oval Office the following day, Hicks told the committee.
“During the call, Powell repeated the same claims of foreign interference in the election she had made at the press conference. While she was speaking, the President muted his speakerphone and laughed at Powell, telling the others in the room, ‘This does sound crazy, doesn’t it?’” Hicks testified, according to the committee’s report.
Neither Powell nor Trump could be reached for comment.
