A New York Times review of an email cited in the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump in connection with the efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss suggested that the mystery "co-conspirator 6" in the charging document is longtime Trump aide Boris Ephsteyn.
The indictment described six alleged co-conspirators, five of whom were quickly identified as TrumpWorld lawyers Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Sidney Powell, Jeffrey Clark and Kenneth Chesebro but the sixth has remained a mystery, identified only as "a political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding."
The Times pointed to a December 2020 email from Ephsteyn to Giuliani matching a description in the indictment of an interaction between co-conspirator 6 and co-conspirator 1, whose lawyer has confirmed is Giuliani.
The December 7 email with the subject line "Attorneys for Electors Memo" was sent to Giuliani and his son Andrew.
"Dear Mayor, as discussed, below are the attorneys I would recommend for the memo on choosing electors," listing lawyers in seven states, according to the Times.
Paragraph 57 of the indictment alleges that co-conspirator 1, Giuliani, "spoke with Co-Conspirator 6 regarding attorneys who could assist in the fraudulent elector effort in the targeted states" and received an email from co-conspirator 6 "identifying attorneys in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin."
The report noted that the email does not "eliminate the possibility that someone else" sent Giuliani a similar note, though Ephsteyn's lawyer did not comment on the report.
The indictment also alleges co-conspirator 6 was involved in a conference call organized by Trump's campaign with fake electors in Pennsylvania. When the electors expressed concerns about the scheme, Giuliani "falsely assured them that their certificates would be used only if" Trump won his court challenges, according to prosecutors.
The allegations match previous reporting about Ephsteyn's role in helping to organize the fake elector scheme.
Ephsteyn, who has been at Trump's side since the 2016 campaign, has been the source of a lot of infighting among Trump's legal team and advisers, according to numerous reports.
"He is so deeply, viscerally hated right now," a Trump confidant told The Daily Beast's Zach Petrizzo on Thursday after the news broke.
"So sad!" another Trump adviser wrote, sending a meme of a cat crying with a Kleenex.
"He's the king of the court jesters," the unnamed adviser told the outlet. "All he cares about is being close to Trump, and he'll do or say whatever it takes to accomplish that. Mostly that means sticking his nose in everyone else's business so he can run back to the boss and take credit or lay blame."
Another TrumpWorld operative told Petrizzo that Ephsteyn has "always been loyal to Trump" but "has sharp elbows and a big personality, which can rub some people the wrong way."
Another source argued that there "may be some people who are jealous because Boris is brave enough to throw himself in front of a bus to protect Trump."
An unnamed source previously told The Daily Beast in May that Ephsteyn "pissed off" all of the lawyers working on Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents case.
"People are dropping like flies. Everybody hates him. He's a toxic loser. He's a complete psycho," the source said. "He's got daddy issues, and Trump is his daddy."
Though the unnamed co-conspirators in the indictment have not been charged, legal experts predict they could still face a separate indictment and pressure to cooperate with prosecutors to save themselves.
If co-conspirator 6 is Ephsteyn, wrote New York University Law Prof. Ryan Goodman, "it could spell benefits" for special counsel Jack Smith's Mar-a-Lago investigation as well.
"It'd mean Epshteyn has a lot of criminal exposure in J6 case, and incentives to flip and tell prosecutors all," he tweeted.
twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1686827392705208320
Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman warned that "also, there are any number of people who would pick a number and stand in line to give evidence against him."
twitter.com/harrylitman/status/1686835849692958721
