Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on new testimony and a Judiciary Committee staff report, “Subverting Justice: How the Former President and his Allies Pressured DOJ to Overturn the 2020 Election,” which the Committee issued today.
“These findings show just how close Donald Trump and his lackeys came to crashing through the guardrails of our democracy. To boost Donald Trump’s election lies, Jeffrey Clark nearly cleared himself a path to control of the Justice Department where he could have done massive, lasting damage. Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue upheld the independence of the Department in the face of that barrage of pressure. But we might not have a Rosen and Donoghue next time around.
“The Committee’s report establishes an important part of the record, but not all of it. We need to know if Jeffrey Clark acted alone, as an ambitious toady seeking approval from the president, or if other forces directed his behavior – like the dark-money groups that organized the January 6 rally, or the one that instantly hired him. The Committee is still examining this question.
“This report is another reason for Congress to act on my legislation limiting political contacts between the White House and the Department, a repeated problem in Republican administrations dating back to the Bush/Rove U.S. Attorney scandal.”
The report and testimony describe intense political pressure by President Trump and his loyalists on the Department of Justice to help him corruptly overturn the 2020 election. They also reveal how, as Acting Civil Division Assistant Attorney General, Jeffrey Clark pursued Trump’s mission, pressuring his colleagues in the Department to join a scheme to corruptly reverse the election results.
Rich Davidson (202) 228-6291 (press office)
