Trump’s Efforts to Pressure DOJ Over 2020 Election Detailed in New Senate Report

Donald Trump, who earlier this week fell off the Forbes ranking of wealthiest Americans for the first time in 25 years, is at the center of a newly released report from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The report, titled Subverting Justice: How the Former President and His Allies Pressured DOJ to Overturn the 2020 Election, focuses on what the committee describes as Trump’s “repeated efforts” to enlist the department in his “scheme.” In a statement Thursday morning, Senator Dick Durbin—who serves as chair of the committee—said the interim report shows how a “full-blown constitutional crisis” came close to being realized. Durbin also vowed to continue investigating.

“This report reveals that we were only a half-step away from a full blown constitutional crisis as Donald Trump and his loyalists threatened a wholesale takeover of DOJ,” Durbin said. “As Chair of the Committee, I can promise that we will continue to investigate this matter.”

Among the key findings of the interim report are that Trump “repeatedly asked DOJ leadership” to throw their weight behind false claims of the 2020 presidential election having been “stolen,” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows asked Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to launch election fraud investigations multiple times, and allies with ties to Stop the Steal and the Jan. 6 insurrection were also involved in DOJ pressure efforts.

A name that receives special attention in the report is Jeffrey Clark, a lawyer and the former Acting Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Division. At a meeting detailed in the report, Trump is said to have expressed consideration for replacing the aforementioned Rosen with Clark, allegedly telling Rosen he knew he wasn’t “going to do anything to overturn the election.” 

An hours-long conversation reportedly followed, during which it was “made clear” that all of the Assistant Attorneys General would resign should Trump install Clark.

For a look at the full 394-page report, click here. Committee Republicans, meanwhile, have—as expected—also released their own report in an effort to push back against the Democrats.

Earlier this week, Stephanie Grisham—who previously served as White House press secretary under the Trump administration—appeared on Good Morning America to concede that it was indeed a “mistake” to work for the former reality TV personality.

“I now want to, in whatever way I can, educate the public about the behaviors within the White House because it does look like he’s gonna try to run in 2024,” she warned.