![]() Attorney General was challenged in multiple lawsuits, and questioned by legal scholars, commentators, and politicians. The legality of Whitaker's appointment as acting U.S. On December 7, 2018, Trump nominated William Barr for Attorney General. He later wrote opinion pieces and appeared on talk-radio shows and cable news as the executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a conservative advocacy group. Whitaker ran in the 2014 Iowa Republican primary for the United States Senate. From 2004 to 2009, he served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, where he was known for aggressively prosecuting drug traffickers. In 2002, Whitaker was the candidate of the Republican Party for Treasurer of Iowa. While attending the University of Iowa, Whitaker played tight end for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team, including in the 1991 Rose Bowl. Whitaker had previously served as Chief of Staff to Sessions from October 2017 to November 2018. He was appointed to that position by President Donald Trump after Jeff Sessions resigned at Trump's request. When asked if Trump engaged in an attempted coup, Durbin said: "It was leading up to that process."ĭurbin declined to say whether Trump should face criminal charges for his efforts to subvert the election, saying it was too early in the investigation to answer that question.Matthew George Whitaker (born October 29, 1969) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and politician who served as the acting United States Attorney General from November 7, 2018, to February 14, 2019. "He was the heir apparent in Trump's mind if Rosen was not going to do his bidding. "I would like to bring in Jeffrey Clark, for example," Durbin said. Multiple courts, state election officials and members of Trump's administration rejected those claims as unfounded.ĭurbin said he also wants to hear from former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, who reportedly plotted with Trump to try to oust Rosen so he could take over the Justice Department. 3 election result had been tainted by widespread fraud. The notes showed Rosen told Trump the department could not and would not "change the outcome of the election."ĭurbin said in the CNN interview that his committee also wants testimony from former Attorney General Bill Barr, who Rosen replaced during the final weeks of Trump's presidency.īarr stepped down in December, shortly after the Electoral College confirmed Trump’s loss to Biden.īarr had angered Trump by not supporting his false claims that the Nov. 27 phone call, according to handwritten notes taken by a Rosen aide. Congressmen," Trump told Rosen, referring to Republicans, in a Dec. "Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Rosen's testimony came a week after a House of Representatives committee released Justice Department documents showing Trump had urged top officials last year to falsely claim his election defeat was "corrupt." I was wrong," Durbin said, adding: "It's a good thing for America we had someone like Rosen in that position." When he was initially appointed, I didn't think that was the case. "I have to say history is going to very kind to Mr. ![]() "The former president is not subtle when he wants something."ĭurbin, a Democrat from Illinois who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised Rosen, a conservative lawyer, for his voluntary cooperation with the committee's ongoing investigation into Trump's actions after the election. And it was very specific," Durbin said of Trump's pressure on Rosen. Justice Department to overturn his election defeat in his final weeks in office, the department's head during that time testified to lawmakers, a senior Senate Democrat said on Sunday.įormer Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen provided "invaluable" testimony during seven hours of closed-door testimony on Saturday, in which he implicated Trump in an attempt to subvert the election result, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin told CNN's "State of the Union."Īccording to Durbin, Rosen testified that Trump directly pressured him to falsely assert that continuing election fraud investigations cast doubt on President Joe Biden's victory. WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump mounted an intense pressure campaign on the U.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |