During the last weeks of his presidency, Donald Trump and his allies pressured the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate unsubstantiated claims of widespread 2020 election fraud, despite his former Attorney-General declaring there was no evidence of it, newly released emails show.
The emails, released Tuesday by the House Oversight Committee, reveal in new detail how Mr. Trump, his White House chief of staff and other allies pressured members of the U.S. government to challenge the 2020 election over false claims, even though officials at Homeland Security and Justice, as well as Republican election leaders across the country, repeatedly said there had been no pervasive fraud. Former Attorney General William Barr, a longtime Trump loyalist, was among those who said there was no evidence of such fraud.
The emails also show the extent to which Trump worked to enlist then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen in his campaign’s failing legal efforts to challenge the election result, including suggesting filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.
The ones sent to Mr. Rosen include debunked conspiracy theories and false information about voter fraud.
Mr. Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, asked about investigating allegations of voter fraud caused by satellites from Italy. Mr. Meadows tried to have Mr. Rosen investigate the conspiracy theories and pushed the acting Attorney General to meet with an ally of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani who was pitching unfounded election conspiracies.