Conspiracy theories and talk of martial law grip the White House as Trump seeks to undo Biden's win

President Donald Trump on Tuesday touted yet another false claim about the election as he reportedly has rattled close White House advisors by talking with conspiracy-minded allies who have fueled his fantasies of undoing Joe Biden’s victory.

They have floated suggestions including having Trump declare martial law and rerunning the election in states where he narrowly lost; trying to get congressional Republicans to void Biden’s win during a session next month; and seizing voting machines.

Leading the charge has been lawyer Sidney Powell, whom Trump fired as an election attorney last month, and Powell’s client Michael Flynn, the former national security advisor whom Trump recently pardoned for lying to FBI agents.

„People out there talk about martial law like it’s something that we’ve never done,“ Flynn told the conservative news outlet Newsmax last week.

„Martial law has been instituted 64 times,“ said Flynn,a retired Army lieutenant general.

Powell, who was fired from the campaign-reelection challenge team last month because her theories about voting machines being used to swing the election to Biden apparently were too extreme even for other Trump lawyers, has visited the White House three times since Friday.

Trump reportedly has mulled the idea of appointing her as special counsel to investigate purported election fraud. Powell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another person who has pushed Trump to ignore the more-moderate suggestions made by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and other advisors is Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com.

Byrne’s admitted affair with Russian asset Maria Butina while giving the FBI information about her plays a key role in his conspiracy-minded worldview.