Trump Pressed Justice Dept. to Declare Election Results Corrupt, Notes Show

WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump pressed apical Justice Department officials precocious past twelvemonth to state that the predetermination was corrupt adjacent though they had recovered nary instances of wide fraud, truthful that helium and his allies successful Congress could usage the assertion to effort to overturn the results, according to caller documents provided to lawmakers and obtained by The New York Times.

The demands were an bonzer lawsuit of a president interfering with an bureau that is typically much autarkic from the White House to beforehand his idiosyncratic agenda. They are besides the latest illustration of Mr. Trump’s wide-ranging run during his last weeks successful bureau to delegitimize the predetermination results.

The speech unfolded during a telephone telephone connected Dec. 27 successful which Mr. Trump pressed the acting lawyer wide astatine the time, Jeffrey A. Rosen, and his deputy, Richard P. Donoghue, connected elector fraud claims that the section had disproved. Mr. Donoghue warned that the section had nary powerfulness to alteration the result of the election. Mr. Trump replied that helium did not expect that, according to notes Mr. Donoghue took memorializing the conversation.

“Just accidental that the predetermination was corrupt + permission the remainder to me” and to legislature allies, Mr. Donoghue wrote successful summarizing Mr. Trump’s response.

Mr. Trump did not sanction the lawmakers, but astatine different points during the call, helium mentioned Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, whom helium described arsenic a “fighter”; Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who astatine the clip promoted the thought that the predetermination was stolen from Mr. Trump; and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, whom Mr. Trump praised for “getting to bottommost of things.”

The notes link Mr. Trump’s allies successful Congress with his run to unit Justice Department officials to assistance undermine, oregon adjacent nullify, the predetermination results.

The lawmakers did not instantly respond to requests for comment. Mr. Jordan ultimately voted to overturn the predetermination results successful cardinal states, but has downplayed his relation successful the president’s unit campaign. Mr. Perry continues to asseverate Mr. Trump won, but has not been tied straight to the White House effort to support him successful office. And Mr. Johnson, whom Mr. Trump precocious endorsed arsenic helium weighs whether to question a 3rd term, maintains that it is tenable to person questions astir the integrity of the election, though helium has recognized Joseph R. Biden Jr. arsenic president.

The Justice Department provided Mr. Donoghue’s notes to the House Oversight and Reform Committee, which is investigating the Trump administration’s efforts to unlawfully reverse the predetermination results.

Typically, the section has fought to support concealed immoderate accounts of backstage discussions betwixt a president and his furniture to debar mounting a precedent that would forestall officials successful aboriginal administrations from candidly advising presidents retired of interest that their conversations would aboriginal beryllium made public.

The section reasoned that legislature investigators were examining imaginable wrongdoing by a sitting president, an bonzer circumstance, according to letters sent to the erstwhile officials. Because enforcement privilege is meant to payment the country, alternatively than the president arsenic an individual, invoking it implicit Mr. Trump’s efforts to propulsion his idiosyncratic docket would beryllium inappropriate, the section concluded.

“These handwritten notes amusement that President Trump straight instructed our nation’s apical instrumentality enforcement bureau to instrumentality steps to overturn a escaped and just predetermination successful the last days of his presidency,” Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said successful a statement.

Mr. Trump’s speech with Mr. Rosen and Mr. Donoghue reflected his single-minded absorption connected overturning the predetermination results. At 1 point, Mr. Trump claimed elector fraud successful Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Arizona, which helium called “corrupted elections.” Mr. Donoghue pushed back.

“Much of the info you’re getting is false,” Mr. Donoghue said, adding that the section had conducted “dozens of investigations, hundreds of interviews” and not recovered grounds to enactment his claims. “We look astatine allegations but they don’t cookware out,” the officials told Mr. Trump, according to the notes.

The section recovered that the mistake complaint of ballot counting successful Michigan was 0.0063 percent, not the 68 percent that the president asserted; it did not find grounds of a conspiracy mentation that an worker successful Pennsylvania had tampered with ballots; and aft examining video and interviewing witnesses, it did not find grounds of ballot fraud successful Fulton County, Ga., according to the notes.

Mr. Trump, undeterred, brushed disconnected the department’s findings. “Ok good — but what astir the others?” Mr. Donoghue wrote successful his notes describing the president’s remarks. Mr. Trump asked Mr. Donoghue to question to Fulton County to verify signatures connected ballots.

The radical “saying that the predetermination isn’t corrupt are corrupt,” Mr. Trump told the officials, adding that they needed to act. “Not overmuch clip left.”

At different point, Mr. Donoghue said that the section could rapidly verify oregon disprove the assertion that much ballots were formed successful Pennsylvania than determination are voters.

“Should beryllium capable to cheque connected that quickly, but recognize that the DOJ can’t and won’t drawback it’s fingers and alteration the result of the election, doesn’t enactment that way,” Mr. Donoghue wrote successful his notes.

The officials besides told Mr. Trump that the Justice Department had nary grounds to enactment a suit regarding the predetermination results. “We are not successful a presumption based connected the evidence. We tin lone enactment connected the existent grounds developed,” they said.

Mr. Trump castigated the officials, saying that “thousands of radical called” their section U.S. attorney’s offices to kick astir the predetermination and that “nobody trusts the F.B.I.” He said that “people are aggravated — blaming D.O.J. for inaction.”

“You guys whitethorn not beryllium pursuing the net the mode I do,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document.

In a infinitesimal of foreshadowing, Mr. Trump said, “people archer maine Jeff Clark is great, I should enactment him in,” referring to the acting caput of the Justice Department’s civilian division, who had besides encouraged section officials to intervene successful the election. “People privation maine to regenerate D.O.J. leadership.”

“You should person the enactment you want,” Mr. Donoghue replied. But it “won’t alteration the dept’s position.”

Mr. Donoghue and Mr. Rosen did not cognize that Mr. Perry had introduced Mr. Clark and Mr. Trump. Exactly 1 week later, they would beryllium forced to fight Mr. Clark for their jobs successful an Oval Office showdown.

During the call, Mr. Trump besides told the Justice Department officials to “figure retired what to do” with Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son. “People volition knock the D.O.J. if he’s not investigated for real,” helium told them, violating longstanding guidelines against the White House interfering successful transgression investigations oregon different instrumentality enforcement actions.

Two days aft the telephone telephone with Mr. Trump, Mr. Donoghue took notes of a gathering betwixt Justice Department officials: Mr. Trump’s main of staff, Mark Meadows; the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone; and the White House lawman counsel Patrick Philbin met to sermon a conspiracy mentation known arsenic Italygate, which asserts without grounds that radical successful Italy utilized subject exertion to remotely tamper with voting machines successful the United States.

The Justice Department officials told the White House that they had assigned idiosyncratic to look into the matter, according to the notes and a idiosyncratic briefed connected the meeting. They did not notation that the section was looking into the mentation successful bid to debunk it, the idiosyncratic said.

Nicholas Fandos contributed reporting.