Chief Justice John Roberts to not preside over Senate impeachment trial



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Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz at the United States Capitol December 18, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz at the United States Capitol December 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. Samuel Corum / Getty Images

Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced on Monday that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was opening “an investigation into whether a former or current DOJ official improperly attempted to ensure that that the DOJ seeks to change the 2020 Presidential Election result, ā€¯according to a statement.

The Office of the Inspector General said it was making the statement, in line with DOJ policy, “to reassure the public that a suitable agency is investigating the allegations.”

The investigation follows reports last week from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal that former President Donald Trump attempted to use his Justice Department to challenge the election results, an effort that included the possibility of ousting Trump’s acting prosecutor. General Jeffrey Rosen.

The Times said in a report on Friday that Jeffrey Clark, a DOJ lawyer, almost convinced Trump earlier this month to impeach Rosen and use the department to overturn the results of the Georgia election.

Clark – who appealed to the former president’s false allegations of electoral fraud – met with Trump earlier in January and told Rosen after the meeting that the then president was going to replace him with Clark. Clark would then take action to prevent Congress from certifying the election results in Biden’s favor, the newspaper said.

Rosen asked to hear the news directly from Trump, the Times said, and arranged a meeting on the evening of Jan. 3 – the same day as Trump’s call with Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump lobbied the state official to find enough. vote for him to win Georgia, came to light.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Horowitz to launch an investigation on Saturday, writing in a tweet that it was “unacceptable that Trump’s Justice Department chief conspires to overthrow the will of the people.”

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