A Justice Department attorney is said to have schemed with former President Trump to oust the acting attorney general as part of a plan to force lawmakers in Georgia to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.
The New York Times was the first to report on Friday that Jeffrey Clark had plotted with Trump to push out acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen after Rosen refused the former president’s calls to carry out his plans. The Washington Post also later confirmed the previously unknown episode in the deeply-rooted corruption effort.
The bombshell report comes after the House voted to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and hours after the Senate set plans for its own impeachment proceedings against the ex-president to begin during the week of Feb. 8.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned the scheme calling the reported plot to replace the attorney general “another kind of insurrection.”
“Different weapons, same intent: illegally remain in power,” Klobuchar tweeted early Saturday.
Lawmakers, legal experts and Justice Department officials erupted on Twitter at the thickening plot surrounding Trump’s anti-democratic charade to steal the election:
Days before inciting failed physical attack on Congress, Trump plotted another kind of insurrection…this time against the Attorney General. Different weapons, same intent: illegally remain in power.
For colleagues still on the fence on impeachment ? https://t.co/dssUtVonvs
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) January 23, 2021
Democracy was a hair’s width away from falling in this malign Trump plot to seize DOJ power & unseat Georgia officials. Republicans must show spine & break silent complicity—& vote to convict. https://t.co/YKcqXhaFTt
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) January 23, 2021
I keep thinking we have seen the worst. I keep being wrong.
Trump and Justice Dept. Lawyer Said to Have Plotted to Oust Acting AG – The New York Times https://t.co/zIiExD0GhX
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) January 23, 2021
If this doesn’t convince the Senate to convict, nothing will. This silent coup attempt was the precursor to the January 6 violent coup attempt. And the only place Mr. Clark should ever be allowed to practice law again is inside a federal prison. https://t.co/zdjhRAtW4i
— Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) January 23, 2021
This was Trump’s M.O. – enlist & install loyalists in our institutions of government who were willing to break rules, norms & laws for him. That’s what authoritarian dictators do. He must be held accountable. https://t.co/HQU1rrha2u
— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) January 23, 2021
First, this story is utterly insane.
Second, if this kind of plotting was happening at DOJ, it was surely happening elsewhere, too.
We still have no idea just how much impeachable misconduct Trump committed in the past few weeks — let alone the past four years. https://t.co/ndQUgvvyF8
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 23, 2021
SHADES OF NIXON'S SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE! I know you want to put Trump in the past–what sane person doesn't?–but READ THIS. Trump's despicable scheme to overthrow the election was broader than we knew. https://t.co/ZQ4NQBScyT
— Larry Sabato (@LarrySabato) January 23, 2021
A Failed Insurrection Effort: Trump plotted a Justice Department coup with a mid-level attorney that failed to remove Acting Attorney General Rosen. More evidence of Trump’s insurrection moves! https://t.co/DAZ3L1zI08
— John W. Dean (@JohnWDean) January 23, 2021
Omg. The culmination of a lawless Justice Department and lawless President.
Good riddance. https://t.co/S6prZZDnaa
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) January 23, 2021
There is so much impeachable conduct, it’s hard to know where to start. https://t.co/etn6uaKGBl
— Noah Bookbinder (@NoahBookbinder) January 23, 2021
The torrent of new information about his misconduct in the final weeks is just beginning. It will not be possible to just move on. And conviction by the Senate is all the more important. https://t.co/7zMEOQwYlp
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) January 23, 2021
