LANSING, Mich. — Supporters of former President Donald Trump privately discussed ways they could gain access to the Michigan Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, when the battleground state's presidential electors met, according to four sources with knowledge of the planning.
The conversations reveal some of Trump's Michigan backers were considering further escalating their unsuccessful effort to overturn Democrat Joe Biden's victory by getting inside the building where the state's true 16 electors were scheduled to meet to solidify the result. The building was closed that day to the public.
Multiple sources said a group of Trump supporters contemplated working with a Republican lawmaker who had a Capitol office to get the 16 Trump electors inside or finding a way inside before the building was sealed off. The idea was to attempt to comply with a legal requirement that Michigan's presidential electors meet inside the Capitol at 2 p.m. on Dec. 14.
