Trump news – latest: Former president reportedly under DoJ investigation in Jan 6 probe

Advisors to Donald Trump who were involved in the former president’s scheme to overturn the 2020 election appeared to recognise that their plan was legally dubious, according to emails revealed by The New York Times.

The Times said it had reviewed and authenticated dozens of emails that show a frantic effort by aides to Mr Trump and a coterie of lawyers and supporters outside of the White House to send fake electors to the Electoral College certification of the 2020 election.

The emails frequently refer to “fake” electors, and those involved seemed aware that their efforts had no legal standing, the Times reported.

Richard Hall has the story.

Skylar Baker-Jordan writes:

My grandmother gave me a Bible and a note telling me that I was going to hell for my graduation. It tore my family apart — but then we reconciled. I can guess why Glenn Thompson acted like he did.

A Washington, DC man has been sentenced to 63 months in prison after he attacked several police officers with a weapon during the Capitol riot on January 6.

Mark Ponder, 56, from northwest DC, is one of only a few DC residents to have been charged in the Capitol riot. He now faces more than five years behind bars.

He was arrested on the day of the insurrection but he was released because the authorities were too overwhelmed to process him, WUSA9 reported.

Federal prosecutors are seeking a 30-day jail sentence for a Capitol rioter accused of having dozens of images that reflect Nazi and white supremacist sentiments on his phone.

Twenty-two-year-old Elliot Bishai, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, pleaded guilty in April to charges stemming from his involvement in the Jan 6 attack to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.

American naval officer who recently began serving a three-year sentence for his role in an accidental car crash which claimed the lives of two Japanese nationals.

Lieutenant Ridge Alkonis on Tuesday reported for the start of his sentence, which was imposed on him by a Japanese court earlier this year after he was convicted of negligent driving charges stemming from a May 2021 car accident.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

The former president busied himself repeating lies about the 2020 election on his Truth Social platform, even as it was revealed his attempts to subvert the outcome were the subject of the reported Justice Department probe.

A review of dozens of emails from Trump’s allies reveal a frantic effort by his aides and legal team to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election with a bogus alternate electors scheme, which would send state electors loyal to Trump tothe Electoral College certification.

The emails frequently refer to “fake” electors, and those involved seemed aware that their efforts had no legal standing, according to The New York Times report.

“We would just be sending in ‘fake’ electoral votes to Pence so that ‘someone’ in Congress can make an objection when they start counting votes,” wrote Jack Wilenchik, a lawyer who helped organise pro-Trump electors in Arizona, in an email sent on 8 December, 2020, according to theTimes. The email was sent to Boris Epshteyn, a strategic adviser for the Trump campaign.

In another post on Truth, the former president shared another clip from his remarks from earlier this afternoon in which he falsely claimed he “won a second time” and “did much better a second time” in the 2020 election.

“And a lot better,” he said. “Very corrupt. I always say, I ran the first time and I won, and I ran the second time and I did much better … We may just have to do it again.”

Minutes after The Washington Post published its report revealing federal prosecutors are probing his efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, Trump posted a 34-second clip of himself from today’s remarks saying “we should not allow men to play in women’s sports … so crazy” on his Truth account.

The US Department of Justice has opened a criminal probe into Donald Trump’s attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the investigation.

Federal prosecutors questioning witnesses before a grand jury have reportedly asked about their conversations with the former president and his allies about his pressure campaign against Mike Pence to overturn the results, and his attempts to use fake electors loyal to him during the certification of electoral college votes, according to the report.