![](https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/08/04/09/newFile-2.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp)
Dick Cheney brands Donald Trump ‘greatest ever threat to our Republic’
Attorneys representing former president Donald Trump are reportedly in contact with the Department of Justice in hopes of shielding conversations with his former advisers from the criminal probe into his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Earlier, investigators leading the federal probe filed a lawsuit against former White House adviser Peter Navarro to recover emails relevant to its investigation into Mr Trump’s role. The emails in question were sent from Mr Navarro’s personal email account, but have been determined to be presidential records – and thus US government property.
The probe has also subpoenaed former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and his deputy Patrick Philbin. The counsel’s office is thought to have been crucial in refusing to let former president Donald Trump politicise the executive branch’s legal apparatus to secure a second term.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s children Donald Jr and Ivanka have both been deposed in another investigation, this time the New York attorney general’s long-running probe into the Trump Organization’s real estate dealings.