Former acting AG Jeffrey Rosen provides 7 hours of testimony before Senate panel investigating election interference
Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, a central witness in multiple investigations into former President Donald Trump's efforts to undermine the 2020 presidential election, spoke with Senate Judiciary Committee investigators for seven hours Saturday.
Rosen, who repeatedly rebuffed Trump's efforts to cast doubt on the election results in the final days of the administration, appeared in a closed session of the committee, a panel spokesperson said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who attended the Saturday session, said he was "struck by how close the country came to total catastrophe.”
Blumenthal said information was presented that hasn’t been publicly revealed before.
“Yeah, there were some very relevant and important facts,” Blumenthal said. “And equally important some good leads about where the investigation can go.
“Of course, the chairman is the one to decide, but there were some highly significant leads that unquestionably the Judiciary Committee should pursue.”
Rosen's testimony comes a week after a House committee released documents showing how Trump urged Rosen to publicly declare that the election was "corrupt" during telephone conversations with the nation's then-acting chief law enforcement official.
Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released notes of Trump's conversations with Rosen, memorialized by a top aide to the former acting attorney general, showing how the former president pressured the Justice Department.
"Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen," Trump said in a December phone call with Rosen, according to handwritten notes of the conversation.
During the phone call on Dec. 27, Trump urged Rosen to take action, saying "people are angry" and blaming the Justice Department for failing to respond to legitimate claims of voter fraud.
"You guys may not be following the internet the way I do," Trump said, according to notes by former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue.
Rosen pushed back, telling Trump the department had conducted "dozens" of investigations and "hundreds of interviews" but had found no evidence to support the claims.
"We are doing our job. Much of the info you're getting is false," Rosen said.
Contributing: Kristine Phillips
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former acting AG Rosen testified for 7 hours before Senate panel
