On the fifth day of hearings, the Jan. 6 committee will give to America: evidence of former President Donald Trump’s attempt to co-opt the Department of Justice as he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The hearing on Thursday begins at 3 PM ET. A link to the committee’s livestream is available below.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger is expected to lead a portion of the hearing and direct questions to a panel of three witnesses: former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, former Deputy Acting Attorney General Richard Donoghue, and Steven Engel, the former lead at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Rosen, Donoghue, and Engel successfully resisted attempts by Trump and his ally at the Department of Justice, Jeffrey Clark, to have the department disseminate the 45th president’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election.
For more in-depth details, check out the Daily Kos preview in the related link below.
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Background thread on today’s witnesses and their earlier testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee when they disclosed pertinent details about former President Donald Trump’s attempt to pressure them into supporting his baseless claims of election fraud.
There were six key findings in this report:
- Trump repeatedly asked the DOJ to endorse claims of voter fraud despite receiving credible intelligence from members of his administration and at the DOJ determining there was no fraud widespread enough to alter the outcome of the election
- Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows asked acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen multiple times to violate protocols governing White House and DOJ communication by asking him to look into voter fraud in Georgia, New Mexico and elsewhere. He also asked Rosen to investigate conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Machines shopped by Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani
- DOJ official Jeffrey Clark has covert communications with Trump despite receiving a warning about backchannel talk, according to records and testimony, and then has a meeting with Rosen and Rosen’s deputy Richard Donoghue where he asks leadership to issue a statement announcing the department is investigating voter fraud in Georgia and other battleground states. Rosen and Donoghue refuse and Clark threatens to replace Rosen at Trump’s request.
- Members of Congress, including Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, PA State Senator Doug Mastriano and Trump attorney Cleta Mitchell pressure state officials to advance Trump’s bogus “alternate elector” scheme
- Trump forced the resignation of U.S. Attorney BJ Pak in Georgia because Pak would not advance Trump’s meritless claims of voter fraud. With Pak out, Trump skipped over his successor and cherry-picked his replacement, Bobby Christine, who Trump believed was sympathetic to his claims
- Former Attorney General William Barr “weakened” the Department of Justice overall by directing federal prosecutors “not to wait until after certification” of votes to investigate Trump’s fraud claims, thereby putting the DOJ’s finger on the scale of national elections, against longstanding rules
Subverting Justice How the ... by Daily Kos
On Thursday just before 1 p.m. ET and with the committee hearing bearing down where former Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark’s alleged role in overturning the 2020 election will come into focus, ABC News reporter Katherine Faulders reported that Clark’s home in Virginia was searched by federal agents.
According to ABC: “Russ Vought, a former Trump White House official and the president of the Center for Renewing America, where Clark is now a senior fellow, said in a statement that "more than a dozen DOJ law enforcement officials searched Jeff Clark's house in a pre-dawn raid, put him in the streets in his pajamas, and took his electronic devices."
Thursday, Jun 23, 2022 · 7:03:59 PM +00:00 · Brandi Buchman
The committee has commenced its fifth hearing.
During the last hearing, chair Thompson recaps how evidence about his alternate elector scheme unfolded.
“Today, we’ll tell the story of how the pressure campaign also targeted the federal agency in charge of enforcing our laws, the Department of Justice,” Thompson said.
Thursday, Jun 23, 2022 · 7:45:24 PM +00:00 · April Siese
Republicans amplified Trump’s stolen election claims despite there being no evidence that any fraud occurred. Lawmakers like Matt Gaetz, Louis Gohmert, and Mo Brooks all parroted Trump talking points as the then-president continued to push the Big Lie.