Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows pushed DOJ to investigate baseless election fraud allegations
Meadows sent five emails in late December and early January to then Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, asking him to review allegations of electoral fraud in Georgia and New Mexico and other disproved theories that Trump had won the election, according to emails obtained by CNN.
Meadows’ emails add to Trump’s blatant attempts to pressure the Justice Department to reverse its electoral defeat, an extraordinary overshoot to force the department to take partisan political action for its own benefit. There is no evidence of widespread electoral fraud that would nullify the 2020 election results, and it is extremely inappropriate for White House officials to order the DOJ to investigate specific political issues, such as Meadows. apparently did.
The emails were discovered this year as part of a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into whether Justice Department officials were involved in efforts to reverse Trump’s electoral loss, according to the New York City. Times.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told CNN in a statement that “the new evidence underscores the depth of the White House’s efforts to co-opt the department and influence the certification of the electoral vote.” It is a fire of five alarms for our democracy.
He added: “I will demand all proof of Trump’s efforts to arm the DOJ in his plan of electoral subversion. Our democracy cannot bow to the deception of Donald Trump’s big lie.
A spokesperson for Meadows said Trump’s former chief of staff would not comment on the matter.
Rosen did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times. CNN was unable to reach Rosen immediately for comment.
There is no indication in the emails that Rosen has agreed to initiate investigations. Rosen said there was no widespread fraud in 2020, and reports say he has resisted pressure from Trump and others to get involved in the cancellation of the election.
In one of the emails he sent to Rosen, Meadows urged the Justice Department to look into a baseless claim that signature match anomalies in Atlanta were enough to undo Joe Biden’s victory. and reverse the results for Trump, the Times reported, along with a list of unproven allegations about potential wrongdoing in New Mexico.
Meadows also asked Rosen to investigate an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory known as “Italygate” which claims people in Italy used military technology and satellites to remotely transfer Trump’s votes. to Biden on American voting machines. One of the emails appeared to indicate that Rosen had refused to set up a meeting between the FBI and a man who was promoting Italian conspiracy theory in videos online.
Online conspiracy theories and Trump’s promotion of lies about the 2020 election prompted a group of his supporters to violently attack the United States Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying electoral victory by Biden.
The Senate Judiciary Committee inquiry is one of three inquiries into the previous administration’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the dying days of Trump’s tenure, the Times reported. The House oversight committee and the Justice Department’s inspector general are also investigating, according to the Times.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
CNN’s Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.
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