“In the aftermath of the 2020 election, some of Donald Trump’s closest allies embarked on an unprecedented effort to get the Department of Defense to chase down outlandish voter fraud conspiracy theories in hopes of helping Trump retain power, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl writes in his new book. In ‘Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,’ scheduled to be released today, Karl reports that former national security adviser Michael Flynn and attorney Sidney Powell tried to enlist a Pentagon official to help overturn the election. According to the book, Flynn – who had just received an unconditional pardon from President Trump after pleading guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI during the Russia probe – made a frantic phone call to a senior Trump intel official named Ezra Cohen-Watnick, who previously worked under Flynn at both the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Security Council.”

“‘Where are you?’ Flynn asked the DoD official, who said he was traveling in the Middle East. ‘Flynn told him to cut his trip short and get back to the United States immediately because there were big things about to happen,’ according to the book. Karl writes that Flynn told Cohen, ‘We need you,’ and told the DoD official that ‘there was going to be an epic showdown over the election results.’ Flynn urged Cohen that ‘he needed to get orders signed, that ballots needed to be seized, and that extraordinary measures needed to be taken to stop Democrats from stealing the election.’ ‘As Flynn ranted about the election fight, [Cohen] felt his old boss sounded manic,’ Karl writes in the book. ‘He didn’t sound like the same guy he had worked for.’ ‘Sir, the election is over,’ Cohen told Flynn, according to the book. ‘It’s time to move on.’ Flynn, according to Karl, fired back: ‘You’re a quitter! This is not over! Don’t be a quitter!’ Karl writes that after a heated few minutes, Flynn hung up the phone – and that was the last time the two men talked” – ABC News.