The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for Oct. 23, 2025
A lawyer who had multiple phone calls with President Donald Trump the day of the January 6th insurrection has been appointed by the President to investigate debunked allegations that widespread fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 election. He has 130 days as a “special government employee” to complete his assignment.
The Wall Street Journal reported October 17th that Kurt Olsen, a product liability attorney turned Trump 2020 election lawyer, was appointed to look into President Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen. According to the January 6th Select Committee report, it was Olsen who drafted a memo on January 2nd, entitled “The Role of the VicePresident in Receiving Votes from the Electoral College,” and he spoke with Trump three times on January 6th.
The Detroit News reports that Olsen has recently been involved in defending another Trump election lawyer, Stephanie Lambert, from accusations she and others tampered with Michigan electronic vote tabulators. He defended U.S. Senate and Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in her baseless challenges to the 2022 election. A judge sanctioned Olsen for QUOTE, “false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions,” though his fines were later dismissed.
Two good government groups, States United Democracy Center and Lawyers Defending American Democracy later, later filed ethics complaints in Maryland and Washington, DC for an alleged QUOTE “Pattern of unethical conduct.”
We’ve linked to more at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol –
Final Report of the Select Committee
Select Committee – Select Committee Demands Information from Witnesses Who Promoted Unsupported Claims of Election Fraud
CNN – New York Times: Conservative lawyer suggested to Trump he take steps akin to declaring ‘martial law’ to overturn election results
Kansas Reflector (Opinion) – Trump’s lawyers in suits claiming he won in 2020 are getting punished for abusing courts
Detroit News – (Paywall) – 2 Trump-tied lawyers step into 2020 Michigan election cases
Michigan Advance – Proceedings again postponed for Michigan attorney charged in tabulator tampering case
States United Democracy Center and Lawyers Defending American Democracy – Ethics Complaint Against Kurt Olsen
Groups Taking Action:
States United Democracy Center, Lawyers Defending American Democracy
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – How to Register And Vote in Your State
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