Donald Trump in December last year tried to hold an election he lost and declared it illegitimate and corrupt. Notes from a conversation with this provisional Minister of Justice Rosen appear. The conversation notes were released by a congressional committee investigating Trump’s influence.
“Just say the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the Republican members of Congress,” the department’s second man, Richard Donoghue, said during the conversation. “We have an obligation to tell the people that this was a corrupt and illegitimate election.”
Trump told the two men that people were “outraged” at what he called voter fraud. When told there was no evidence of this, Trump replied, “Maybe you don’t follow the internet as closely as I do.”
no proof
Donoghue and Rosen “blatantly reported that most of the information he was given was wrong.” They confirmed, according to the notes, that several allegations were investigated, but no evidence of misconduct was found.
“Sir, we have conducted dozens of investigations, interviewed hundreds of people, but there is no evidence for the main allegations,” Donoghue noted. “We looked into it, but it turned out to be wrong.”
The phone call took place on December 27, three days after Attorney General Barr resigned. Shortly after the election, he publicly announced that no election irregularities had been identified, much to Trump’s dismay.
Rosen repeated the same message to the president. “We can’t get our fingers crossed to change the outcome of the election. We won’t. It doesn’t work that way.”
Secret chats released
Generally speaking, conversations between the president and members of his cabinet are confidential, but Trump’s successor Biden is an exception in this case as Trump’s post-election criminal offenses are currently under investigation.
For example, a House special investigative committee is looking into his role in abetting the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6. Rosen and Donoghue may still be called to testify before that committee.
Zombie specialist. Friendly twitter guru. Internet buff. Organizer. Coffee trailblazer. Lifelong problem solver. Certified travel enthusiast. Alcohol geek.