Donald Trump worked with a Justice Department lawyer to oust the acting attorney general and force Georgia lawmakers to overturn his election loss in the state, says a report.
Mr Trump allegedly plotted with Jeffrey Clark, who led the DOJ’s civil division, to cast doubt on election results in the state and heap pressure on Georgia to help him, according to the New York Times.
The former president was considering firing Jeffrey Rosen after he refused to help Mr Trump reverse his defeat to Joe Biden, and replacing him with Mr Clark.
The plan only failed when senior department officials got on a conference call and agreed they would all resign if Mr Trump went through with it, says the New York Times.
The former president reportedly decided he had to keep Mr Rosen rather than risk the controversy of mass resignations that would overtake his claims of voter fraud.
Officials told the paper that the decision only came after Mr Trump had both men make their rival arguments to him, which they compared to an episode of Mr Trump’s TV show, The Apprentice.
Mr Trump also reportedly pressured Mr Rosen to appoint special counsels, with one investigating Dominion Voting Systems.
Pro-Trump conspiracy theorists, including Sidney Powell, had falsely claimed that the company’s voting machines had flipped votes from Mr Trump to Joe Biden.
“Senior Justice Department lawyers, not uncommonly, provide legal advice to the White House as part of our duties,” Mr Clark told the New York Times.
“All my official communications were consistent with law.”
