Trump Pressured DOJ To Overturn Election Results ‘By Any Means Necessary’: Senate Report

Former President Donald Trump had repeatedly pressured the Department of Justice to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, the Senate Judiciary Committee found.

In a nearly 400-page report released Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee detailed how Trump had asked senior staff members of the DOJ to overturn the election results on at least nine different occasions using “any means necessary.” This included opening investigations, filing lawsuits and declaring the presidential election “corrupt.”

“The Committee’s investigation to date underscores how Trump’s efforts to use DOJ as a means to overturn the election results was part of his interrelated efforts to retain the presidency by any means necessary,” the report read.

Trump reportedly asked that DOJ “just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the [Republican] Congressmen.”

The report, which concluded the committee’s eight-month investigation, also noted that Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows attempted to pressure Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen into investigating claims of election fraud.

Jeffrey Bossert Clark, who Trump appointed to the DOJ, also allegedly tried to pressure Rosen and another Justice Department official to send a letter to several states urging them to appoint new electors following “election irregularities.”

“The letter would have informed state officials that DOJ had 'taken notice' of election irregularities in their state and recommended calling a special legislative session to evaluate these irregularities, determine who 'won the most legal votes,' and consider appointing a new slate of Electors,” the report read.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, released a statement soon after the report was published where he pushed back against the findings and claimed that Trump listened to his advisors’ recommendations.

“President Trump listened to his advisors, including high-level DOJ officials and White House Counsel and followed their recommendations,” he wrote in a GOP version of the report, which claims the facts stated were part of a narrative that Democrats created.

In Grassley’s report, he also claimed that Trump twice rejected attempts to send Clark a letter recommending that some states should choose different electors following voter irregularities.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday said it is still waiting for the investigation to be completed before they make any recommendations for criminal referrals, according to Forbes.