Former President Trump
Donald TrumpNEW: Rep. Perry played a role in the alleged Trump plan to oust the acting AG Arizona GOP, condemning top state republics McCain, Flake and Ducey Biden and the British prime minister to discuss NATO, multilateralism during the MORE call. allegedly pressured the Department of Justice (DOJ) to thwart its attempt to reverse the results of the presidential election to the Supreme Court, but the attempt hit a dead end after opposition from the agency’s leadership.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump wants the DOJ to file a case challenging the outcome of the election before leaving office last week, but a number of senior officials in the agency have refused to propose the case. . Former Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, former Attorney General, reportedly included William Barr
Bill BarrBudowsky: Democracy wins, Trump loses, President Biden inaugurated Two-thirds say election was fair: poll The Hill’s Morning Report – an inauguration like no other and former acting attorney general Jeffrey Wall.
The attempt was also met with opposition from former White House councilor Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin, the former White House lawyer, the Journal noted.
According to the newspaper, an order was drawn up at some point by a lawyer working outside the administration for the attempt.
“He wanted us, the United States, to sue one or more of the states directly in the Supreme Court,” a former administration official told the Journal. The official added that “the pressure has become very intense” after the Supreme Court rejected a bid from Texas in early December, which sought to destroy President Biden’s election victory.
The Journal reports that Trump was considering firing Rosen and replacing him with Jeffrey Clark, a DOJ attorney, after the attempt failed.
The Journal’s report comes a day after The New York Times also reported that Trump was planning to fire Rosen and replace Clark in an effort to block the election results.
However, both newspapers reported that the attempt failed after a number of top officials in the department threatened to resign if Trump continued with the plan.
In a statement last week to the Times, which spoke to four unknown former Trump administration officials for its coverage, Clark pushed back the report.
“Senior advocates, not uncommonly, provide legal advice to the White House as part of our duties,” he told the newspaper. “All my official communication is in accordance with the law.”
He also pointed to his previous role as chief signer last month on a DOJ request to have a federal court dismiss to dismiss a lawsuit that then-Vice President Pence wanted to press to block the election result, as Congress ratified the vote of the Electoral College.
The Department of Justice at the time did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.