'Just say that the election was corrupt': Handwritten notes show Trump pushed DOJ to back voter fraud claims

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump urged the Justice Department to say publicly that "the election was corrupt" even as its top officials tried unsuccessfully to convince him that claims of widespread voter fraud were false, according to newly released documents about conversations between the former president and the agency's leadership.

"Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me and the R. Congressmen," Trump said in a December phone call with former Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen, according to handwritten notes of the conversation.

The disclosures provide more insight into how Trump tried to use the country's top law enforcement agency to back claims that the last election had been stolen from him even though the Justice Department had found no evidence of widespread fraud that would've changed the results. The notes, written by Rosen's deputy, were released Friday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which is investigating efforts by Trump to overturn President Joe Biden's win.

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During the phone call on Dec. 27, Trump urged Rosen to take action, saying "people are angry" and blaming the Justice Department for failing to respond to legitimate claims of voter fraud.

"You guys may not be following the internet the way I do," Trump said, according to notes by former Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue.

Rosen pushed back, telling Trump the department had conducted "dozens" of investigations and "hundreds of interviews" but had found no evidence to support the claims.

"We are doing our job. Much of the info you're getting is false," Rosen said.

More: Emails: Trump White House pressured Justice Department to back claims of voter fraud

In the same phone call, Trump dangled the possibility of replacing Rosen with Jeff Clark, the former head of the Justice Department's Civil Division who is sympathetic to his voter fraud claims.

"People tell me Jeff Clark is great, I should put him in," Trump said. "People want me to replace D.O.J. leadership."

In a statement Saturday, Trump accused Democrats of misrepresenting the notes.

"The corrupt and highly partisan House Democrats who run the House Oversight Committee yesterday released documents – including court filings dealing with the rigged election of 2020 – that they dishonestly described as attempting to overturn the election," Trump said. "In fact, it is just the opposite. The documents were meant to uphold the integrity and honesty of elections and the sanctity of our vote."

Rosen, Donoghue and Clark were among former Trump administration officials who will be called to testify before Congress as part of lawmakers' investigation into whether Trump tried to use the Justice Department to subvert the election results in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6. A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol that day, disrupting a congressional session to certify election results.

Earlier this week, the Justice Department notified the witnesses it will not assert executive privilege, which would allow them to provide "unrestricted testimony" to congressional committees about their conversations with the former president.

"These handwritten notes show that President Trump directly instructed our nation’s top law enforcement agency to take steps to overturn a free and fair election in the final days of his presidency,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chair of the House Oversight Committee. “The committee has begun scheduling interviews with key witnesses to investigate the full extent of the former president’s corruption, and I will exercise every tool at my disposal to ensure all witness testimony is secured without delay.”

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Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters Friday he would seek Rosen’s notes from his conversations with Trump. The committee is conducting a parallel investigation into Trump's actions.

Contributing: Bart Jansen

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump pushed Justice Dept. to back election fraud claims, notes show