Report identifies key players in alleged Trump pardon scheme

A new report has identified several key players involved in the alleged presidential pardon bribery scheme that became the subject of a Justice Department investigation in the final days of Donald Trump’s White House.

The alleged scheme — revealed in explosive news reports earlier this week — involved Abbe Lowell, one of the most influential attorneys in Washington who was hired by a now-deceased billionaire Republican donor, Sanford Diller, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

Mr Diller, a real estate magnate in California, allegedly spearheaded the bribery scheme in an effort to assist his friend, a Berkeley psychologisrt named Hugh Leslie Baras.

Baras, 70, was convicted on tax evasion and theft of government property charges in 2014 and sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, where he remains to date.

Reid Weingarten, an attorney representing Mr Lowell, confirmed his client represented Baras during the 2014 trial while defending him in an interview with ABC News.

“Abbe came to believe there were legitimate arguments to be made that this guy shouldn't do time. Seeking clemency is a completely normal route," Mr Weingarten said. “The fact that he pursued that -- there's nothing wrong with it."

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.