Documents released by the House Oversight Committee show how former President Donald Trump and his allies pressured the Department of Justice (DOJ) to back his baseless claims that the 2020 election was rigged late last year.
The documents, which were made public Tuesday, show Trump and several allies, including his former chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, pressuring senior DOJ officials to investigate voter fraud claims last December and January. One email with the subject line “From POTUS” urged then-Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to investigate alleged fraud in Antrim County, Michigan, even though the claims had already been debunked. Others discussed DOJ officials possibly filing a lawsuit before the Supreme Court seeking to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.
The email to Rosen came approximately 40 minutes before Trump announced his promotion via Twitter, and included materials alleging widespread voter fraud in the county, which Trump handily won.
Part of email claimed that “a Cover-up is Happening regarding the voting machines in Michigan” and that “Michigan cannot certify for Biden,” the documents show.
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen during a press conference last September. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Meadows also asked Rosen to investigate additional baseless election-related claims, including one that alleged that people linked to an Italian defense contractor used satellite technology to take remote control of American voting machines.
The documents also revealed how Trump urged his DOJ to file suit before the Supreme Court, asking it to void the Electoral College tallies in six states that he lost and request a new presidential special election. (RELATED: Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Suit Seeking To Overturn Biden’s Win In Pennsylvania)
“These documents show that President Trump tried to corrupt our nation’s chief law enforcement agency in a brazen attempt to overturn an election that he lost,” New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who chairs the Oversight Committee, said in a statement. “Those who aided or witnessed President Trump’s unlawful actions must answer the Committee’s questions about this attempted subversion of democracy.”
The extensive document was first reported by The New York Times, and was made public just hours before the committee holds another hearing into the Jan. 6 attack.
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