Hearing 5 on the Capitol Hill attack will focus on Trump's pressure on the Justice Department

Three senior officials who have led the Justice Department in the last days of the Trump administration will testify about the way Trump and his allies tried to recruit the firm to support the false allegation of election fraud, and how Trump considered replacing the incumbent attorney general with believing his lie

News agencies

23/06/2022

Thursday, 23 June 2022, 14:21 Updated: 14:29

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The House today (Thursday) hearing of the House Committee investigating the attack on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, will focus tonight on pressure ex-President Donald Trump exerted on the U.S. Department of Justice as part of his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results.

Three senior officials who have led the Justice Department in the last days of the Trump administration will testify about the way Trump and his allies tried to recruit the firm to provide credibility to the false allegation of election fraud, and how Trump considered replacing the incumbent senior prosecutor with the president's claims.

The hearing, according to CNN, will also focus on discussions within the White House regarding the appointment of a special adviser who will investigate Trump's allegations of fraud, culminating in a stormy meeting in the Oval Office in December 2020, with Sydney Powell and National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

Testimony of former Attorney General William Barr (Photo: Reuters)

Former Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and his deputy, Richard Donahue, as well as the head of the law firm, Stephen Engel, will testify today.

Rosen was appointed acting attorney general in December 2020 following the resignation of William Barr, who publicly said the Justice Department had not found significant evidence of voter fraud.

Trump began pressuring him ahead of Jan. 6, and considered replacing him with Jeffrey Clark, then the Justice Department attorney who promoted Trump's claims in the office.

On January 3, 2021, Justice Department employees met with attorneys at the White House Legal Advice Office, in the Oval Office with Clark and Rosen.

At the meeting, Trump withdrew from his plan to appoint Rosen as head of the Justice Department - after Rosen, Donahue and Engel threatened to resign in protest.

"Some have argued before the former president that the election was stolen. That view was wrong then and is wrong today, and I hope our presence today will confirm that fact," Rosen said in a written statement.

The attack on Capitol Hill (Photo: Reuters)

Clark's behind - the - scenes attempts to help Trump's campaign to undermine the election will be the focus tonight.

The hearing will focus on the role Clark has played in the Justice Department in advancing Trump's false allegations.

Clark planned to "reverse the conclusions of the Justice Department investigation into the election fraud," according to the commission's aides.

He wanted to send letters to the various countries claiming that a scam had been committed there.

Clark appeared before the committee in February and maintained his right to remain silent.

The hearing today will be led by Congressman Adam Kinsinger, a Republican from Illinois.

This is the committee's fifth hearing this month, and most likely, last month, after the last hearings were postponed to July due to new information.

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