Trump reportedly directed Giuliani to press officials to seize voting machines

Donald Trump directed Rudy Giuliani to ask the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if it could seize voting machines in three key states, the New York Times reported.

A DHS official told Giuliani it did not have the authority to seize the machines, the Times said.

The paper also said Trump turned to his personal lawyer after considering a plan to have the Department of Defense seize the machines, and after being told by his attorney general, William Barr, that the Department of Justice would not do so.

Executive orders to compel the Pentagon and DHS to act are known to have been drafted.

Trump claims the election was subject to massive voter fraud. It was not.

The DA, Fani Willis, has requested FBI protection after Trump told supporters they should protest her investigation and others into his business practices in New York.

At his Texas rally last Saturday, Trump also promised pardons for January 6 rioters should he be president again. More than 700 rioters have been charged, 11 with seditious conspiracy.

The Times said a retired US army colonel, Phil Waldron, was at the heart of attempts to acquire the authority to seize voting machines in key states, altering the plan to include the DHS when Giuliani said using the military would be too extreme.

Waldron, from Texas, is linked to Michael Flynn, a retired general who was among conspiracy theorists pressing Trump to seize voting machines.

Trump also pressured officials in key states like Michigan and Pennsylvania to seize voting machines. They resisted.

Giulaini is a former mayor of New York and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination but his star has fallen as a result of his work for Trump.

Suspended from practicing law in New York and Washington DC, he is the subject of a subpoena from the January 6 committee.