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Donald Trump directed Rudy Giuliani to ask the Department of Homeland Security if it could seize voting machines in three key states, the New York Times .
A DHS official told Giuliani it did not have the authority to seize the machines, the Times .
The paper also 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.
But the newly revealed DHS call, the Times , “show that Mr Trump was more directly involved than previously known in exploring proposals to use his national security agencies to seize voting machines”.
Trump claims the election was subject to massive voter fraud. It was not.
His efforts to overturn the election – an outcome he seeking in a statement on Sunday – are being investigated by and by a district attorney in Georgia.
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.
The Times 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.
to send “alternate electors” to Congress from battleground states are the subject of a Department of Justice investigation as well as subpoenas from the January 6 committee.
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 from the January 6 committee.