In the final weeks of his one term in office then-President Donald Trump mounted a massive pressure campaign on top officials at the Dept. of Justice, demanding they issue false statements supporting his election fraud lies so Trump’s allies in Congress could use those falsehoods to overturn the election he lost.
“Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me” and to his congressional allies, Trump told the Acting United States Deputy Attorney General, Richard Donoghue, on December 27, according to Donoghue’s notes obtained by The New York Times.
Trump “did not name” his congressional allies, “but at other points during the call, he mentioned Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, whom he described as a ‘fighter’; Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who at the time promoted the idea that the election was stolen from Mr. Trump; and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, whom Mr. Trump praised for ‘getting to bottom of things.'”
Donoghue refused, telling Trump, “Much of the info you’re getting is false.” Donoghue told Trump DOJ had conducted “dozens of investigations, hundreds of interviews,” finding zero evidence to support his wild claims.
“Mr. Trump castigated the officials, saying that ‘thousands of people called’ their local U.S. attorney’s offices to complain about the election and that ‘nobody trusts the F.B.I.’ He said that ‘people are angry — blaming D.O.J. for inaction,'” The Times adds.
“You guys may not be following the internet the way I do,” Trump also told his top DOJ officials, according to notes taken during that call.
Read the full report here.