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DOJ Independence: Attacking Prosecutors, Demanding Investigations of Political Opponents

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.

Record summary

Grade

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Systematic actions that undermine fundamental constitutional or international legal protections at the structural level. Scale and definitions

Status
Concluded
Incident date
Record updated
Location
Washington, D.C.
Category
Rule of Law
Legal posture
Reported
War-crime classification
Enabling conduct
Verification
Independently verified
ICC relevance
No
Sources
4 cited
Stable ID
trump-justice-dept-independence-attacks
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
Alleged responsible parties
  • Donald Trump, 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— White House
  • Jeffrey Clark, 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— U.S. Department of Justice

Key points

  • Trump made at least 50 public demands via Twitter for DOJ to investigate or prosecute political opponents, including 'lock her up' references to Clinton, demands to investigate Comey, demands to investigate the origins of the Russia investigation, and demands that the DOJ act on election fraud claims
  • The Mueller report documented that Trump ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller; McGahn prepared to resign rather than carry out the order; Trump backed down when McGahn refused; Trump later asked McGahn to draft an internal memo falsely claiming he hadn't ordered the firing
  • In late December 2020 through early January 2021, Trump pressured acting AG Rosen and his deputy Richard Donoghue in repeated calls and meetings to open investigations into election fraud claims that DOJ had already investigated and found without basis; Donoghue and Rosen refused
  • Jeffrey Clark, the head of DOJ's Civil Division, drafted a letter for Rosen's signature that would have falsely told Georgia officials that DOJ had 'identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome' of the election — a claim DOJ investigations had not established; Clark proposed sending similar letters to six other states
  • At an Oval Office meeting on January 3, 2021, Trump indicated he wanted to replace Rosen with Clark; all four remaining senior DOJ officials present told Trump they would resign if he did; White House Counsel Cipollone and his deputy also threatened to resign; Trump backed down
  • AG William Barr resigned December 23, 2020, rather than support Trump's election fraud claims; he publicly stated before resigning that DOJ investigations had found no evidence of fraud sufficient to change the election outcome; Trump called him 'a big disappointment'

Overview

The Oval Office meeting on January 3, 2021, was the clearest summary of four years. The President of the United States was trying to replace his acting Attorney General with an official who would send false letters to state governments claiming the DOJ had found widespread election fraud — fraud that the DOJ's own investigations had found did not exist.

Every senior official in the room threatened to resign. He backed down.

The Pattern

Fifty public demands for prosecutions of political opponents. The Comey firing. The Mueller firing order (that McGahn refused to execute). The pressure on Sessions to unrecuse. The pressure on Rosenstein. The pressure on Rosen and Donoghue.

The pattern was consistent: the DOJ was being treated as an instrument for protecting the president's political interests and attacking his political opponents, rather than as an independent law enforcement institution.

Jeffrey Clark

Clark had drafted a letter that would have told Georgia — and six other states — that the DOJ had "identified significant concerns" about the election outcome. The DOJ had not identified such concerns. The letter would have been false.

He was prepared to sign it if Rosen would not. The plan was that he would be installed as acting AG and would send the letters, creating the predicate for state legislatures to appoint alternative electors.

Four DOJ officials and the White House Counsel's Office threatened mass resignation in a single meeting to stop it.

Barr's Verdict

William Barr — who had given Trump more protection from the Mueller investigation than almost any figure in the administration — resigned rather than endorse the election fraud claims. He told the AP before resigning that DOJ investigations had found no fraud sufficient to change the outcome.

When even Barr will not support the claim, the claim has no factual basis.

Update log

  1. Documented from Senate Judiciary Committee testimony.

Sequence of events

  1. Trump begins Twitter demands for Clinton prosecution

    Trump tweets demanding the DOJ investigate Hillary Clinton, referencing 'lock her up' rhetoric. He continues making similar demands for the rest of his presidency.

  2. Trump orders Mueller fired — McGahn refuses

    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.

  3. Barr states publicly: no fraud sufficient to change election

    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.'

  4. Barr resigns rather than support election fraud claims

    AG Barr resigns effective December 23, 2020. Acting AG Rosen assumes the role. Trump's pressure for DOJ to support election fraud claims intensifies.

  5. Oval Office meeting: Trump demands Rosen replaced by Clark

    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.

Sources

  1. Trump Sought to Oust Acting Attorney General in Final Days Over Election — The New York Times
  2. Trump's systematic attacks on DOJ independence — The Washington Post
  3. Trump pressured DOJ to support false election fraud claims — The Associated Press
  4. Subverting Justice: How the Former President and His Allies Pressured DOJ — U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee

How this record was published

Manually curated This entry was added directly and does not carry an automated audit trail.

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