Carol Leonnig

I'm impressed, Dave.

That is a good find in the book and a scoop that Aaron and I were both really struck by when we came across it in reporting for this book.

Well, Leska McClellan was a top investigator in a little-known inspector general's office for the National Archives.

And in December of 2020, after Donald Trump has lost the election to Joe Biden, she is presented with a series of certificates from people that are not the Secretary of State and various states, swing states, in which...

Unusual signatures are given that suggest there are alternate electors who are going to challenge whether Biden actually won the election in their swing state.

And she begins to review these with her fellow investigators and then decides the best thing to do is to go to the Justice Department, a prosecutor team that she knows.

And ask them, doesn't this look funny to you?

Doesn't this look coordinated?

Because all of the certificates kind of have a boilerplate, ticky tacky similarity, and they are not official.

And she's wondering, is this a conspiracy?

Is this a crime?

She goes to a prosecutor that she knows from a previous briefing named J.P.

Cooney.

And he says, sorry, sorry, I've been busy.

I'll connect you with one of my team.

And the prosecutor underneath J.P.

Cooney tells her.

Well, Leska McClellan, you know, this just doesn't seem like something that we would pursue.

Of course, that office of prosecutors in DC are completely slammed with what?

Investigating the violent attack on the Capitol and pursuing hundreds of people who were engaged in either breaching the Capitol and also violence, violent acts against police officers that day.