Richard Donoghue testifies about ‘murder-suicide pact’ election fraud letter from Trump loyalist

President Donald Trump’s White House counsel warned officials against a plan for the Department of Justice to tell states it had concerns about election fraud, describing a draft letter as a ‘murder-suicide pact,’ according to testimony presented by the House January 6 committee on Thursday.

The fifth public hearing of the panel is hearing from former Justice Department officials who were pressured by Trump to help him reverse the 2020 election result. 

At its heart, was a plan for Justice officials to tell key states that they had evidence of election fraud.

In video testimony, Richard Donoghue, a top official at the Department of Justice, described a key White House meeting in which a more junior figure, Jeffrey Clark, appealed directly to Trump to be appointed acting attorney general…