Trump’s ex-defense secretary says he didn’t ask for 10,000 Capitol troops
Donald Trump has lashed out at reports that he is now the subject of a US Department of Justice investigation into his attempts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said yesterday that the department has no qualms about any political blowback as a result of criminally indicting Mr Trump. The department is reportedly reaching out to January 6 committee hearing witnesses including former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson.
The committee last night released audio from sworn testimony in which Mr Trump’s former acting defence secretary, Christopher Miller, confirms the president gave no order for thousands of National Guard to be deployed in advance of the Capitol riot. The audio contradicts claims made by Mr Trump, ex-staffers — even Mr Miller himself.
Meanwhile, Rep Jamie Raskin told C-Span he believes: “Donald Trump was really engaged in a lot of for-profit money-making activities in his administration, which would also explain his determination to stay in office at all costs.”
In other news, the former president has threatened to sue CNN for branding him a liar and calling his unfounded claims about the 2020 election the “Big Lie”.