Former President Donald Trump and 18 allies were indicted in Georgia earlier this week on several charges related to the effort to undo his 2020 election loss. The 98-page indictment unveiled Monday evening detailed 41 charges against Trump and others. Thirty other unnamed people were mentioned as unindicted co-conspirators in the alleged criminal enterprise, prompting much speculation about their identities.
One part of the indictment, labeled as “Act 90,” described a chaotic Dec. 18, 2020, meeting in the Oval Office involving Trump and two of his associates who were also indicted, Rudi Giuliani and Sidney Powell. A fourth person involved in that meeting, who was not charged, is only referred to as “unindicted co-conspirator Individual 20.”
“The individuals present at the meeting discussed certain strategies and theories intended to influence the outcome of the November 3, 2020, presidential election, including seizing voting equipment and appointing Sidney Katherine Powell as special counsel with broad authority to investigate allegations of voter fraud in Georgia and elsewhere,” the indictment reads.
Former FBI agent Peter Strzok speculated on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the unnamed “Individual 20″ could be either former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn or former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, who also present during the meeting.
On Wednesday, Byrne said he is not “Individual 20″ from the indictment.
“An unindicted co-conspirator is usually cooperating with prosecutors to avoid imprisonment,” Byrne said in a text message to The Tribune. “Not me.”
Byrne, who testified last year for the House January 6 Committee, resigned from his position at Overstock in 2020 after claiming to be involved in a romantic relationship with a woman convicted of being a Russian agent. Byrne says he took part in the Oval Office meeting but disputed claims that the possibility of martial law or military intervention was discussed.
Last month, Byrne claimed he has a damaging video of Special Counsel Jack Smith but later deleted the social media post making that claim, according to Newsweek.
Last month, CNN reported Smith was scrutinizing the Oval Office meeting as part of his investigation into Trump’s efforts leading up to the attack on Congress by a mob of his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Hi Jack Smith, I take all responsibility,” Byrne posted on social media in response to the CNN report. “Call collect. I’m here to help.”
Byrne tells The Tribune he had no contact with Georgia investigators before Monday’s indictments.
“Never talked to them, never heard from them, but I happily welcome them blaming it on me,” Byrne added.
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