Donald Trump tried in December last year to have the elections he lost declared illegal and corrupt. Notes from a conversation with interim Justice Minister Rosen show this. The conversation notes were released by a Congressional committee investigating Trump influence.
“Just say the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen,” the Department’s second man, Richard Donoghue, noted during the conversation. “We have an obligation to tell the people that this was an illegal, corrupt election.”
Trump told the two men that the people were “furious” about what he called voter fraud. When told there was no evidence of that, Trump countered that “you may not be following the internet as closely as I am”.
No proof
Donoghue and Rosen “blatantly told that most of the info he was given is false”. They emphasized, according to the notes, that several allegations had been investigated, but no evidence of malpractice had been 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 false.”
The phone call took place on December 27, three days after Justice Minister Barr had left. Shortly after the election, he had already publicly reported that no irregularities had been identified in the election, much to Trump’s dismay.
Rosen repeated that same message to the president. “We can’t snap our fingers to change the outcome of the election. And we won’t. It doesn’t work that way.”
Confidential Conversations Released
In general, talks between the president and his cabinet members are confidential, but Trump’s successor Biden has made an exception in this case as Trump’s criminal offenses in the aftermath of the election are currently being investigated.
For example, a special House Committee of Inquiry is examining his role in inciting the mob that stormed the Congressional Building on Jan. 6. Rosen and Donoghue may still be called to testify before that committee.
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