Assault on the Capitol: the commission denounces a “shameless” manipulation by Trump

During this fifth public hearing, the nine elected officials – seven Democrats and two Republicans repudiated by their party – detailed the pressure exerted by Mr. Trump on the department and his efforts to appoint one of his faithful, ready to lead. interference in the results of a presidential election.

Donald Trump didn’t just want the Justice Department to investigate. He wanted the Justice Department to help him legitimize his lies and groundlessly claim the election was riggednoted the chairman of the commission, Bennie Thompson.

The elected officials returned to the tensions within the department the days preceding January 6, 2021, when the beaten president had encountered an internal revolt while trying to install one of his relatives at the head of the institution. .

It was a brazen attempt to use the Justice Department to advance the President’s personal political interests.added Mr. Thompson.

Former acting Assistant Justice Secretary Richard Donoghue testified that he repeatedly told the former US president that his allegations of voter fraud were unfounded.

Mr. Trump simply repeated that he had won the presidential election.: “Just say the election was rigged and leave the rest in my hands and those of the elected Republicans””,”text”:”The President said: “Just say the election was rigged and leave the remains in my hands and those of the elected Republicans””}}”>The President said, “Just say the election was rigged and leave the rest in my hands and those of the elected Republicans”said Mr. Donoghue, based on his notes taken during a telephone conversation with Mr. Trump and former acting Justice Secretary Jeffrey Rosen.

Trump wanted to name someone close to him

Seeing that the highest officials of the Department of Justice refused to bend, the beaten president tried to install one of his relatives at the head of the institution. Jeffrey Clark, a mid-ranking official who espoused the president’s theories of a rigged election, was to overrule the department’s findings – which found no evidence of fraud that could have changed the outcome of the November ballot.

Jeffrey Clark was also to intervene on behalf of the department to refuse to certify the result of the election in the key state of Georgia, where Joe Biden had won with only 12,000 votes in advance.

The commission heard that Mr. Clark had prepared a letter for Georgia’s elected officials, in which he claimed the department had uncovered evidence of massive fraud in Georgia, which was untrue. But other Justice Department officials refused to sign the letter, and one of the White House legal advisers, Eric Herschmann, revealed that he told Jeff Clark that sending the letter would have been a crime.

Mr. Trump told Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue that he was being advised to fire them and appoint Jeffrey Clark as acting secretary.

« I answered him […] Mr. President, you need to have the right leaders for you, but you need to understand that the Department of Justice operates on the basis of facts, evidence and laws. And that won’t change. »

— A quote from Richard Donoghue, former Acting Assistant Secretary of Justice

The former assistant secretary also said he warned Jeffrey Clark that his efforts to substantiate allegations of fraud were nothing less than Department of Justice interference in the results of a presidential election.

Threat of resignations

Jeffrey Rosen, Richard Donoghue, Steven Engel, a senior department official, and Pat Cipollone, a White House attorney, threatened to resign during a meeting with the president on Jan. 3, warning him they would take the best federal prosecutors in the country.

Donald Trump has given up naming Jeffrey Clark, who refused to testify before the commission of inquiry.

The commission of inquiry announced on Wednesday that two additional sessions would take place in July.

The Congress interrupts its work on July 4 for two weeks.

After a year of investigation, the commission wants to present its conclusions before the end of the summer, which place Donald Trump at the heart of a coup attempt. This culminated in the assault of hundreds of his supporters on the Congress building in Washington on January 6, 2021, as elected officials certified the victory of Joe Biden.

The images of chaos in and around the Capitol had gone around the world and shaken American democracy for a few hours.