We Identified the Key Unnamed Figures in Jack Smith’s New Trump Brief

On Wednesday, new evidence was filed in the federal case against former President Donald Trump over his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss. In a massive brief, special counsel Jack Smith offered a blow-by-blow of Trump’s many calls, tweets, and meetings with key figures like Rudy Giuliani and attorney John Eastman.

The 165-page document is a page-turner, but it can be hard to follow. Many names are redacted and replaced with pseudonyms like “CC1,” short for “Co-Conspirator 1,” and “P76,” short for “Person 76.”

We’re here to help. Below is the core cast of characters, plus some bit players who have received little attention until now.

CC1 — Rudy Giuliani

The brief introduces Giuliani as a “private attorney” who was “willing to falsely claim victory and spread knowingly false claims of election fraud.” Giuliani, who has since been disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., is also notably bad at dialing phone numbers, the brief notes, including a misdial to one Michigan lawmaker and two U.S. senators. The brief also cites one of Trump’s tweets naming Giuliani.

CC2 — John Eastman

The brief describes Eastman as a “professor and lawyer” who represented Trump in various capacities. Earlier this year, a California judge ruled Eastman should be disbarred, which he is currently appealing. Eastman is identifiable through references to certain cases in which he represented Trump, plus references to his appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast.

CC3 — Sidney Powell

The brief describes in detail Powell’s obsession with bogus theories about voting machines, plus Trump’s private views about her, including that Powell appeared “unhinged” at a press conference and that Tucker Carlson (“P51” in the brief) “eviscerated” her on Fox News. Powell took a plea deal last year in the Georgia election case and was sanctioned by federal courts, but she kept her Texas law license. The brief also cites one of Trump’s tweets naming Powell.

CC4 — N/A

There is no CC4 in the latest brief, likely thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision over the summer to grant Trump broad immunity for “official” acts. In the original indictment, Co-Conspirator 4 referred to Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department attorney who is currently facing disciplinary charges and is indicted along with Trump in Georgia.

CC5 — Ken Chesebro

The brief describes Chesebro as “an attorney who volunteered to assist” the Trump campaign “in lawsuits challenging the election in Wisconsin.” He’s identifiable based on the brief’s description of memos he drafted that laid the foundation for the fake elector strategy. Chesebro took a plea deal in the Georgia case last year and faces additional charges in Wisconsin. The brief emphasizes that on January 6, Chesebro “marched with the crowd to the Capitol” and “breached the restricted area surrounding the building.”

CC6 — Boris Epshteyn

The brief describes Epshteyn as a “private political operative” who communicated extensively with Giuliani and Eastman, including in texts that have been partially published. Like Giuliani and Eastman, Epshteyn can also be identified based on an appearance on Bannon’s podcast. The evening of January 6, he tracked down contact information for certain members of Congress that Trump directed Giuliani to call.

The Other Players

Besides the unindicted co-conspirators, there are dozens of other individuals left unidentified.