In the light of day, we need to make sure everyone understands the seriousness of the Trump plan for ousting the Attorney General of the United States as reported by the New York Times.
Unlike the Capitol riot which was easy to forecast, given Trump’s months of bombastic behavior, the insurrection in the Department of Justice was carried out in secret and shows his desperation to change the election results regardless of the price.
In case you haven’t read the outstanding reporting by Katie Benner in the New York Times, here’s the headline:
The Times reports that Trump plotted with Jeffrey Clark, a Department of Justice lawyer, to oust the acting Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen. The plan was for Clark to replace Rosen and “wield the department’s power to force Georgia state lawmakers to overturn its presidential election results.”
“Before the insurrectionist assault on the US Capitol, there was an attempted coup at the Justice Dept. — fomented by the President of the United States,” former Justice Department official David Laufman wrote on Twitter.
Where did Mr. Clark get his information? The Times writes that he “spent a lot of time reading on the internet.”
The articles of impeachment against Donald Trump are to be delivered to the Senate on Monday. The trial will being two weeks later. One wonders what else we will learn about the former administration in that time? Note it was only a couple of days after Trump decided not to fire Rosen that the former president delivered his infamous speech to the insurrectionists.
For the record, Mr. Clark has denied the allegations. From The Times:
Mr. Clark categorically denied that he devised any plan to oust Mr. Rosen, or to formulate recommendations for action based on factual inaccuracies gleaned from the internet. “My practice is to rely on sworn testimony to assess disputed factual claims,” Mr. Clark said. “There was a candid discussion of options and pros and cons with the president. It is unfortunate that those who were part of a privileged legal conversation would comment in public about such internal deliberations, while also distorting any discussions.”
Will this help convict Trump in the Senate? A former inspector general at the Department of Justice thinks it should.
