Pressuring The Department Of Justice To Declare The Election Corrupt

Between November 2020 and January 2021, President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured senior officials within the Department of Justice to publicly declare the 2020 presidential election “corrupt,” despite being told by DOJ leadership that there was no evidence of widespread fraud capable of changing the election’s outcome.

Trump’s efforts focused primarily on then–Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue. According to contemporaneous notes taken by Donoghue and later released by Congress, Trump told DOJ leaders to “just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.” DOJ officials consistently refused, explaining that the department had investigated Trump’s claims and found them to be unsupported by evidence.

Trump also directed DOJ personnel to pursue numerous baseless fraud allegations involving voting machines, ballot dumps, and foreign interference. Internal DOJ communications later revealed that department lawyers viewed many of these claims as “patently false,” “not credible,” or based on internet rumors rather than admissible evidence.

As DOJ leadership continued to resist Trump’s demands, Trump considered replacing Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, a DOJ official who had expressed willingness to send letters to state officials falsely claiming that the department had identified serious election irregularities. Senior DOJ leaders warned Trump that installing Clark would prompt mass resignations, leading Trump to abandon the plan.

Investigators later concluded that Trump’s pressure campaign sought to misuse the authority and credibility of the Department of Justice to legitimize false claims of election fraud and create a pretext for overturning certified election results.

How the Laws May Apply

18 U.S.C. § 371 — Conspiracy to Defraud the United States
Urging DOJ officials to make knowingly false statements about election integrity may constitute a conspiracy to interfere with lawful government functions.

18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) — Obstruction of an Official Proceeding
Attempting to use DOJ authority to fabricate grounds for overturning the election could qualify as obstruction of Congress’s electoral certification process.

18 U.S.C. § 241 — Conspiracy Against Rights
Pressuring DOJ to undermine or invalidate legitimate votes may implicate protections for voters’ constitutional rights.

Sources

https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/us/politics/trump-election-justice-department.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/02/trump-justice-department-election/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/30/politics/donoghue-notes-trump-doj-election/index.html
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-J6-REPORT/pdf/GPO-J6-REPORT.pdf