{"slug":"trump-justice-dept-independence-attacks","title":"DOJ Independence: Attacking Prosecutors, Demanding Investigations of Political Opponents","date":"2017-07-24","lastUpdated":"2021-01-03","description":"Throughout his first term, Trump made repeated public demands that the Department of Justice investigate his political opponents — Hillary Clinton, the 'deep state,' James Comey, and others — while simultaneously attacking ongoing investigations into himself and his associates. He fired FBI Director Comey, forced out Deputy AG Rosenstein, pressured AG Sessions to unrecuse, attempted to fire Special Counsel Mueller (documented in the Mueller report), and in his final weeks in office made extraordinary demands for DOJ investigations of election fraud claims that his own DOJ leadership had found baseless.","summary":"Trump's attacks on DOJ independence were systematic across four years. He publicly tweeted demands for prosecution of Clinton and others; pressured Sessions to unrecuse and Rosenstein to limit Mueller's investigation; fired Comey; asked Mueller to be fired (stopped only by White House counsel Don McGahn's threatened resignation); demanded investigation of the FBI's origins investigation; and in December 2020–January 2021 pressured acting AG Jeffrey Rosen to pursue election fraud claims after Bill Barr had resigned rather than act on them. The January 3, 2021 Oval Office meeting in which Trump demanded Rosen be replaced with Jeffrey Clark — who would have sent false letters to state officials claiming DOJ had found election fraud — was documented in Senate Judiciary Committee testimony.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/us/politics/jeffrey-clark-trump-doj.html","title":"Trump Sought to Oust Acting Attorney General in Final Days Over Election","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-doj-independence-attacks/2021/01/22/story.html","title":"Trump's systematic attacks on DOJ independence","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-doj-jeffrey-clark-election-fraud-rosen","title":"Trump pressured DOJ to support false election fraud claims","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2021-10-07-DOJ-Staff-Report.pdf","title":"Subverting Justice: How the Former President and His Allies Pressured DOJ","publisher":"U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["DOJ","rule-of-law","independence","first-term","Jeffrey-Clark","obstruction","election-fraud"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-07-24","title":"Trump begins Twitter demands for Clinton prosecution","summary":"Trump tweets demanding the DOJ investigate Hillary Clinton, referencing 'lock her up' rhetoric. He continues making similar demands for the rest of his presidency."},{"date":"2017-06-17","title":"Trump orders Mueller fired — McGahn refuses","summary":"Trump orders White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller. McGahn prepares to resign rather than carry out the order. Trump backs down. Mueller report documents this as a potential obstruction instance."},{"date":"2020-12-01","title":"Barr states publicly: no fraud sufficient to change election","summary":"AG Barr tells the AP that DOJ investigations have found no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the 2020 election outcome. Trump calls him 'a big disappointment.'"},{"date":"2020-12-23","title":"Barr resigns rather than support election fraud claims","summary":"AG Barr resigns effective December 23, 2020. Acting AG Rosen assumes the role. Trump's pressure for DOJ to support election fraud claims intensifies."},{"date":"2021-01-03","title":"Oval Office meeting: Trump demands Rosen replaced by Clark","summary":"In an Oval Office meeting, Trump pressures acting AG Rosen and considers replacing him with Clark to send letters falsely claiming DOJ found election fraud. All senior DOJ officials present threaten to resign. Trump backs down."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Independence of federal law enforcement; political opponents subjected to frivolous investigation demands; public trust in DOJ as institution; democratic norms of non-partisan prosecution","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; systematic public and private demands for DOJ investigations of political opponents; attempts to terminate Mueller investigation; final-weeks pressure on DOJ over election fraud","institution":"White House"},{"name":"Jeffrey Clark","role":"Acting AG Civil Division; drafted letter falsely claiming DOJ had found evidence of widespread fraud; nearly installed as acting AG to send the letter; State Bar of D.C. opened investigation","institution":"U.S. Department of Justice"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2021-01-03","summary":"Documented from Senate Judiciary Committee testimony."}]}}