About
Katherine Friess, an attorney and former lobbyist, was part of Trump’s team based at the Willard Hotel prior to the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to The Washington Post. Earlier, she also played a role in “laying the groundwork” for the purported “forensic report” claiming to prove that Dominion Voting Systems in Antrim County, Michigan had “rigged the election.” The report relied on copies of the company’s hard drives, which she had reportedly witnessed in early December.
Friess previously directed BKSH & Associates, a lobbying firm formed after a merger with BMSK, which was founded by Trump loyalists Paul Manafort and Roger Stone. Manafort was in charge of Trump’s 2016 campaign for a short time and Stone was also affiliated with that campaign and with helping to overturn the 2020 election results in order to keep the ex-president in office. Both were indicted during the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and were later pardoned by Trump.
January 6, 2021
- On March 1, 2022, the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol subpoenaed Friess saying that she “was reportedly involved in efforts to draft an executive order for then-President Trump that would have directed federal agencies to seize voting machines and at one point traveled to Michigan in an attempt to obtain voting machine data directly from local officials.”
The Big Lie
- Friess’ name appears on the cover of a report about alleged voter fraud facilitated by Dominion Voting Systems machines and the whistleblowers who supposedly spoke out about it. The report was sent to numerous state legislators.
- Friess claims that this report was shared with the Trump campaign’s legal team.
- Emails among key Trump allies working intensely to subvert the election results indicate that Friess was party to the plan to seize voting machines.
- Friess visited northern Michigan shortly after the November 2020 election along with other members of Trump’s team to investigate a claim of fraud in Antrim County’s results. At the time, she claimed to have had dinner with Trump the evening before the Michigan trip.
- Friess is named as the author of a report dated Nov. 4, 2020 (the day after the election) and another from mid November that focus on alleged fraud, supposed whistleblowers, and people who would help with the investigation.
- Friess is reportedly one of the Trump team members who met at the Willard Hotel prior to the attack on the Capitol.