Indictment shows White House lawyers struggling for control as Trump fought to overturn election

By FARNOUSH AMIRI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest federal indictment against Donald Trump vividly illustrates the extent to which the former president’s final weeks in office were consumed by a struggle over the law, with two determined groups of attorneys fighting it out as the future of American democracy hung in the balance. The indictment released last week, coupled with evidence compiled in congressional investigations, show how Trump’s attempts to remain in power were firmly rejected by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his deputy, Pat Philbin. Trump, as a result, turned to outside allies including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, among other legal advisers, to launch what federal prosecutors have called a “criminal scheme” to fraudulently overturn the election.