Trump’s ‘murder-suicide’ style pact to overturn election in last days revealed

US President Donald Trump sits at the Resolute Desk during a briefing on Hurricane Michael in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on 10 October 2018 ((AFP via Getty Images))
US President Donald Trump sits at the Resolute Desk during a briefing on Hurricane Michael in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on 10 October 2018 ((AFP via Getty Images))
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Government lawyers threatened to resign en masse if Donald Trump had followed through with plans to use the Justice Department to pursue unfounded claims of election fraud during his last days in office, according to a new report.

A Senate Judiciary Committee interim report examining the then-president’s efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election specifically details a 3 January meeting at the White House at which officials fought with Mr Trump.

Then-acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen and other senior administration figures met with Mr Trump in the Oval Office about the president’s plan to replace Mr Rosen with a loyalist who would pursue the false claims of mass voter fraud.

Officials insisted that they would resign rather than go along with it — this included White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, and his deputy.

According to the report, Mr Cipollone likened the president’s plan to a “murder-suicide pact”.

More follows…