Trump post on Jan. 6 investigation renews questions about what took place in Palm Beach

An indictment against former President Donald Trump in the federal Jan. 6 investigation could shed more light on his unusual 2020 Christmas stay at Mar-a-Lago.

It was an atypical holiday trip because Trump truncated the length of his scheduled visit, then largely stayed out of sight before he abruptly left Palm Beach on Dec. 31, skipping his annual New Year's Eve bash.

Late last year, as the Jan. 6 congressional ended its own probe, chairman U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Mississippi, said Trump essentially led a post-2020 election coup attempt in which he "devised" what the panel found was "a multistep effort" in which the objective was to "overturn the 2020 election and block transfer of power."

Part of that plan, the committee stated, took place at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's residence and private club.

Here are three things to know, and consider.

Trump's 2020 Christmas vacation at Mar-a-Lago central to big piece of Jan. 6 puzzle

As The Palm Beach Post reported at the time, Trump stayed out of public view during his abbreviated 2020 Christmas stay at his Palm Beach club.

The committee's report pulled back the curtain on that week or so between the time Trump arrived at Mar-a-Lago on Dec. 23 and his hastily announced Dec. 31 departure. Specifically, the report said Trump sought to "corrupt" the Justice Department and planned "to use the Justice Department to aid in his efforts to overturn the election outcome."

In a six-page section, the report details what a mid-summer committee hearing first disclosed: That Trump badgered top Justice Department officials throughout that Christmas holiday to support his baseless election fraud allegations, and then sought to fire them when they didn't.

More: Donald Trump target in Jan. 6 investigation, predicts arrest and indictment in Jack Smith probe

Additional details: Trump's 2020 Christmas in Palm Beach focused on 'last-ditch' effort to overturn election results

The campaign included Trump allegedly telling one of the Justice officials to: “Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen." The officials reported they were also consistently peppered with debunked and frivolous election fraud allegations by Trump and others throughout the week.

Trump also pressed Justice Department leaders to sign a letter to Georgia officials citing untrue "irregularities" in voting, and suggesting state lawmakers "call a special session to evaluate" the non-existent fraud. The pressure campaign failed even after Trump flew back to Washington on New Year's Eve precisely to seek capitulation from Justice officials.

When the Jan. 6 panel issued its report late last year, Trump issued a series of posts on his Truth Social platform blasting the panel's conclusions saying they were "fake charges by the highly partisan" committee. He added: "These folks don't get it that when they come after me, people who love freedom rally around me. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger."

What did Rudy Giuliani mean by more "challenges" coming?

Traveling with the president on Air Force One from Washington to Palm Beach International Airport that Dec. 23 was Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. The former New York mayor was a key advocate and proponent of Trump's failed legal challenges to the 2020 election results. And he was a major proponent of false claims of election fraud and irregularities.

As he exited the airport tarmac, Giuliani was walking toward a black SUV when he was asked about his presence in Palm Beach. Giuliani said he was in town to continue discussions on "challenges" to the Nov. 3 election as well as the Dec. 14 Electoral College balloting.

Asked about the remaining options, Giuliani confirmed more "challenges" would be forthcoming, but declined to discuss specifics. "I can't tell you that," he said when asked what the next move would be.

Trump had arrived in Palm Beach just four days after issuing a tweet calling on supporters to gather in Washington on Jan. 6 saying it would be "wild," but the congressional committee's report did not reveal details about potential planning for the Jan. 6 rally outside the White House or the ensuing march by Trump supporters and militia groups to the Capitol during Trump's holiday visit to Palm Beach.

More: Florida connections to the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot: A Top 10 list

Florida has led the nation in Jan. 6 arrests. Why?

Why Florida has led the country in the number of Jan. 6 arrests remains an issue driven by theorizing and speculation. Is it simply demographics — the state is one of the most populous — and therefore would have a larger share of people who participated in the Capitol siege that day?

Or is it the fact that Florida is one of the more hard-right states in the country and it would have a more disproportionate share of participants?

Or is it that, as Trump's home state, there was more planning and organization that took place here? In fact, leaders of the vanguard militia groups that played a major role in the attack on the Capitol, including the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, were based in Florida.

Two heads of those organizations have already been convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Florida Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs of Dunnellon has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio of Miami and three other members of the group were convicted of seditious conspiracy in May.

Both Meggs and Tarrio were cited in the Jan. 6 committee report for their roles in the insurrection on Capitol Hill that day.

Other Floridians, however, also were named in the report but have not been charged or accused of wrongdoing.

They are Fort Lauderdale resident Roger Stone, a longtime Trump political adviser, Mike Flynn, a former military officer who served as Trump's first national security adviser, and businessman Patrick Byrne.

Stone, who was pardoned by Trump for offenses unrelated to Jan. 6, has said "any claim or assertion that I knew about, in advance, participated in or condoned any act" about violence that day "is categorically false."

Flynn, who was also pardoned by Trump after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI almost six years ago, lives in Englewood. Byrne, former head of Overstock.com, resides in the Sarasota area.

A third set of criminal charges against Trump?

An indictment related to Jan. 6 events would be the third set of criminal actions filed against Trump this year.

Trump, who according to polls is the leading candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, faces felony charges in New York state court related to an alleged hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 presidential election.

He was later charged in June by Smith and federal prosecutors for violations of the Espionage Act on accusations he illegally kept and stored classified documents, and then obstructed the government's efforts to retrieve them.

It is not known what charges Trump could face in the Jan. 6 case. However, a congressional panel that investigated the violence at the U.S. Capitol that day, and the events leading up to it, issued criminal referrals against Trump for his actions.

The committee voted to recommend charges against Trump on conspiracy to defraud the United States, his role in obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to make a false statement, and aiding an insurrection.

Trump also faces potential legal jeopardy in Georgia where authorities are investigating allegations he pressured election officials there to "find" enough votes to overturn the state's 2020 election results.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump target of Jan. 6 probe, a look at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach