Trump conspired to pick loyalist as acting AG to help overturn election



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  • Trump has reportedly worked with a Justice Department lawyer to try to oust the acting attorney general.
  • He wanted to replace Jeffrey Rosen with attorney Jeffrey Clark, The New York Times reported.
  • Trump backed down after a group of senior DOJ leaders said they would step down if Rosen was fired.
  • Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Donald Trump is said to have conspired with a Justice Department lawyer to oust Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen so he could place a loyalist who would pressure Georgia lawmakers to overturn the election in his favor, reported Friday the New York Times.

The story recalls Trump’s last efforts to hold onto power in the days leading up to President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

According to The Times’ Katie Benner, Trump and Jeffrey Clark were working on ways to raise doubts about the election results. Rosen had not cooperated with Trump’s alleged plan, which prompted him to seek out a willing participant in Clark, the Times reported.

Senior Justice Department officials threatened to resign if Rosen was fired, forcing Trump to drop the idea, but not before Clark and Rosen made their case against Trump, the newspaper reported.

Trump and his Republican allies have lost several dozen lawsuits in an attempt to overturn the election results.

Read more: Trump’s threat to withdraw from the Republican Party could spark a serious legal battle over his “ goldmine ” list of supporters who helped fill GOP coffers with billions of dollars

Allies, including pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, have advanced a baseless conspiracy theory that Dominion Voting Systems changed votes for Trump against votes for Biden in the election. Dominion filed a $ 1.3 billion libel suit against Powell earlier this month.

The Times reported that Trump also pressured Rosen to appoint special counsels, particularly one who would investigate Dominion.

Insider was unable to reach Clark, and the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Clark told The Times that his report, based on interviews with four former Trump officials, contained inaccuracies but did not specify what it was.

“Senior Justice Department attorneys provide legal advice to the White House as part of our duties,” said Clark. “All my official communications were in accordance with the law.”

In December, Rosen and Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue reportedly rejected Clark’s request for the department to hold a press conference and said they were investigating the fraud allegations.

Trump had focused on the state of Georgia, where Biden had won by a small margin. The Trump administration lobbied and attacked the then US attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Byung J. “BJay” Pak. Pak resigned from his post on January 4 and the Justice Department replaced him the next day.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that the Inspector General is now investigating Pak’s sudden departure.

Pak is not the only Georgian official Trump has tried to pressure. Trump also pleaded with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” additional votes to help him win.

Additionally, the Times reported that Clark asked Rosen and Donoghue to send Georgian officials a letter incorrectly stating that the department was investigating the state for voter fraud and that they should overturn Biden’s victory. On December 31, Rosen and Donoghue told Clark he was wrong because there was no evidence of fraud.

Read more: SCOOP: Trump uses his former chief of staff and impeachment attorneys as guardians of his papers during his post-presidency

Over the weekend, Clark met with Trump and returned to tell Rosen he would replace him before Jan.6, when Congress met to certify the votes.

Rosen refused to resign and worked with White House attorney Pat Cipollone to schedule a meeting with Trump later that night, the Times reported.

Rosen, Donoghue, and Clark met Trump, Cipollone and his deputy Patrick Philbin. Cipollone ultimately convinced Trump that it would not be wise to fire Rosen.

Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud have been criticized as the spark that fueled the Jan.6 insurgency attempt on Capitol Hill. Trump supporters entered the building and clashed with law enforcement, interrupting the joint session of Congress as lawmakers prepared to formalize Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. The riot resulted in the death of five people.

The House impeached Trump for inciting insurgency. The Senate will soon hold a trial and vote on whether to convict the former president. This is Trump’s second indictment in his four years in office.

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