Trump news – as it happened: Order to seize voting machines revealed as Ivanka ‘isolated’ from Mar-a-Lago

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Former Trump aide says Trump "gleefully" watched footage of the Capitol riot on 6 January

Donald Trump’s order - in which he instructed the defence secretary to seize voting machines - was based on an unfounded conspiracy theory, a new report claims.

A draft of a presidential order to seize voting machines appears to be largely based on blatantly false theories espoused by one of Mr Trump’s attorneys.

The three-page document, dated 16 December 2020, would have ordered the Secretary of Defence to “seize, collect, retain and analyze” voting equipment and electronic records.

The draft “presidential finding,” the contents of which were first reported by Politico, is one of the more than 750 documents that the National Archives and Records Administration turned over to the House select committee investigating the 6 January insurrection on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka is reportedly frustrated at being dragged into the Jan 6 investigation on account of her time working in the White House.

According to a new report in The Daily Beast, Ms Trump’s displeasure stems from the fact that the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, is seeking testimony from her, while the Select Committee Investigating the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol is also asking for cooperation.

“Investigators working very different probes are increasingly looking to pressure the same person: Ivanka Trump,” The Beast noted.

Key points

• Supreme Court allows release of January 6 Trump White House docs
• Trump held secret meetings ahead of capitol riot, former press secretary claims
• Trump defends ‘perfect’ Georgia phone call as prosecutor calls for grand jury
• Hannity urged White House aides to end ‘stolen election talk’
• Ivanka Trump could complete portrait of what happened on 6 January, says Raskin

[21 January 2022 03:30 · Justin Vallejo]

ICYMI: Trump held ‘secret meetings’ in days before riots

Donald Trump held secret meetings in the days before the 6 January Capitol riots, according to former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. Jade Bremner reports.

[21 January 2022 03:42 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Rudy Giuliani led Trump officials in effort to overturn election - report

Rudy Giuliani, former president Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, led campaign officials in an effort in December 2020 to put forward illegitimate electors from seven states where Mr Trump had lost, it has been reported.

Sources told CNN that members of Mr Trump’s campaign team were far more involved than previously known in the plan, a part of the broader initiative to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

The House panel investigating the Capitol riot have issued a subpoena to Mr Giuliani.

[21 January 2022 04:20 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Trump tries to twist Biden’s words to justify his 2020 election claims

Despite failing to support his claim multiple times, Donald Trump tried to twist president Joe Biden’s words to falsely argue that the 2020 election was fraudulent.

“President Biden admitted yesterday, in his own very different way, that the 2020 election may very well have been a fraud, which I know it was,” the former president said in a statement on 20 January, the anniversary of his last day in office.

During his first press conference of 2022, Mr Biden was asked if he believes the upcoming midterms will be fairly conducted.

The president responded saying: “it all depends on whether or not we’re able to make the case to the American people that some of this is being set up to try to alter the outcome of the election”.

Gustaf Kilander has more.

[21 January 2022 04:30 · Justin Vallejo]

Trump defends ‘perfect’ Georgia phone call as prosecutor calls for grand jury

Donald Trump insists he “didn’t say anything wrong” on a phone call with Georgia’s top elections official in which the former president appeared to pressure him to “find” votes that would overturn Joe Biden’s definitive victory in the state.

“My phone call to the Secretary of State of Georgia was perfect, perhaps even more so than my call with the Ukrainian President, if that’s possible,” the former president said in a statement through his spokesperson.

“I knew there were large numbers of people on the line, including numerous lawyers for both sides,” he said. “Although I assumed the call may have been inappropriately, and perhaps illegally, recorded, I was not informed of that. I didn’t say anything wrong in the call, made while I was president on behalf of the United States of America, to look into the massive voter fraud which took place in Georgia.”

The Independent’s Alex Woodward has the full story.

[21 January 2022 04:50 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

ICYMI: Trump did not want to tweet ‘stay peaceful’ during Capitol riot

Former president Donald Trump initially refused to tweet the words “stay peaceful” when his supporters laid siege at the Capitol building on 6 January last year, according to a former aide.

The anonymous source told CNN that Mr Trump was “very reluctant to put out anything when it [the Capitol riot] was unfolding”.

It took Mr Trump almost 20 minutes to urge people to stay peaceful as the unprecedented chaos ensued, in which lawmakers scrambled to save their lives.“Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful,” he finally tweeted.

Shweta Sharma reports.

[21 January 2022 05:27 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Ivanka Trump a critical figure, says Raskin

We are closing in on the target, said Rep Jamie Raskin, hours after the US congressional panel asked the daughter of the former president and one-time White House adviser Ivanka Trump to voluntarily testify about last year’s Capitol riot.

“Ivanka Trump is a critical figure because she was there. We believe she was there when [Donald] Trump was trying to twist Mike Pence’s arm. She was also a key figure to pull Trump back, apparently,” he told MSNBC.

“She could, perhaps, complete the portrait on what happened on 6 January,” Mr Raskin said.

[21 January 2022 06:11 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Hannity urged White House aides to end ‘stolen election talk’

Fox News host Sean Hannity sent a post-Capitol riot text message to then-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany urging her and other top aides to Donald Trump to stop “stolen election talk” and keep “crazy people” away from him.

Mr Hannity’s 7 January message laid out what Ms McEnany called a “playbook” for conversations with the former president during his final days in office.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

[21 January 2022 06:51 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Man charged with sedition jailed until trial

A judge on Thursday refused to release from prison a member of the far-right militia group Oath Keepers.

Eleven members of the group were charged with seditious conspiracy over allegations they helped plan the 6 January insurrection.

Magistrate Judge John Boyle concluded that 63-year-old Edward Vallejo posed a danger to the community and will remain behind bars until his trial.

Prosecutors argued that Mr Vallejo coordinated “quick reaction force” teams that kept guns at a hotel in nearby Arlington, Virginia, and were prepared to bring the weapons into Washington.

[21 January 2022 11:58 · Thomas Fenton]

Lara Trump puts pressure on DeSantis to back Trump in 2024: ‘Give him another opportunity’

Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump has put pressure on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to back the former president if he chooses to run for the White House again in 2024.

After Ms Trump claimed that there’s no “bad blood” between Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis, Fox Business Network host Stu Varney said, “DeSantis says asking him to support Trump in 2024 is too much to ask. He’s denying your father-in-law support”.

“Well, let’s give him another opportunity,” Ms Trump suggested. “Perhaps he did not mean exactly how those words are being interpreted. Let’s wait and see. I have not spoken to Ron DeSantis myself about that.”

Gustaf Kilander reports:

[21 January 2022 13:00 · Thomas Fenton]

ICYMI - Giuliani oversaw state effort to send fake electors to declare Trump victory in 2020

Rudy Giuliani and other Trump campaign officials were involved in overseeing efforts in December 2020 to put forward illegitimate electors in seven states, according to US media reports.

The news comes just days after the House select committee investigating the 6 January Capitol riot issued a subpoena to Mr Giuliani.

CNN and The Washington Post, citing party leaders and campaign officials who wished to remain anonymous, reported on Thursday on the steps the Trump campaign had taken to try and overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 US presidential elections.

An anonymous Trump campaign staffer with knowledge of the matter told CNN that Mr Giuliani was “calling the shots”. The former Mayor of New York City reportedly participated in at least one call between Trump campaign officials and GOP state officials.

Maroosha Muzaffar reports: