‘A deliberate, orchestrated campaign’: the real story behind Trump’s attempted coup

A startling memo, a surreal Oval Office encounter - just some of the twists in the unfolding story of Trump's bid to cling to power, which critics say was no less than an attempted coup

On 4 January, the conservative lawyer John Eastman was summoned to the Oval Office to meet Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence. Within 48 hours, Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election would formally be certified by Congress, sealing Trump's fate and removing him from the White House.

The atmosphere in the room was tense. The then US president was fired up" to make what amounted to a last-ditch effort to overturn the election results and snatch a second term in office in the most powerful job on Earth.