The attempt was part of Trump’s pressure on the Department of Justice in his last weeks in office to overthrow his election loss, which also included plans to fire then-acting Attorney General Jeffery Rosen with a relative unknown Justice Department lawyer who was willing to use the department to support Trump’s false allegations of election fraud in Georgia, two people told CNN.
The attempt eventually failed as Trump was appointed to the Department of Justice, according to the Journal. Rosen, along with former Attorney General William Barr and former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Wall, refused to file the Supreme Court case, citing that there was no basis to dispute the outcome of the election, and that the federal government had no legal interest in whether Trump or Biden held the presidency.
Trump also withdrew during the New Year’s weekend effort after top Justice Department officials, including Trump’s own Senate-appointed appointees and other political staff, promised to resign if Trump fired Rosen.
The move would have represented Trump’s most notable burglary in the Justice Department’s case, after years of breaking with the decades-long presidential tradition of clearly trying to limit political activity by the department.
An outside lawyer working for Trump has drawn up an order the then president wanted the Justice Department to file, people familiar with the case told the Journal, but officials refused.
Jeffrey Clark, the Senate-confirmed head of the Division of Environment and Natural Resources Department of Justice, who has taken over the leadership of the DOJ’s civil division during the last months of the Trump administration, has his bosses, both Rosen and acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, advised that he had met with Trump to send a letter to officials in Georgia and falsely stated that the department was investigating serious fraud claims and to withhold the final certification of Biden’s victory.
Rosen and others rejected the idea because it was not true and because Rosen, and Barr before him, rejected Trump’s pressure to appoint a special council to investigate voter fraud.
Clark denies any plans to oust Rosen, he told the Times on Friday or that he made any recommendations based on internet conspiracy theories.
“My practice is to rely on sworn evidence to adjudicate disputed factual claims,” Clark told the Times. “There was an open discussion of options and pros and cons with the president. It is unfortunate that those who were part of a privileged court hearing would publicly comment on such internal deliberations, while also distorting any discussions. “
CNN has released former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller for comment. Trump declined to comment to the Times.
CNN’s Evan Perez contributed to this report.