A U.S. congressman from Pennsylvania is downplaying his role in reports of an attempted ouster of former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen in a bid to overturn the 2020 election.
Rep. Scott Perry confirmed in a Monday statement to WGAL News 8 that he introduced former Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark to former President Donald Trump, but he didn’t specify that he had any particular reason for doing so other than fulfilling a request by the president.
“Throughout the past four years, I worked with Assistant Attorney General Clark on various legislative matters,” he said. “When President Trump asked if I would make an introduction, I obliged.”
On Friday, the New York Times published a report that said Clark informed Trump that not enough was being done by the Justice Department to investigate allegations of election fraud. After a conversation with the president, Clark called Rosen to inform him that he would be replacing him as acting attorney general. After a debate later that day in the Oval Office, the president was persuaded against the move.
The outlet reported the next day, citing unnamed sources, that Perry was the person who first introduced Clark and the president.
The New York Times reported that Perry discussed with Clark and Trump the possibility of sending a letter to Georgia lawmakers wrongly informing them that the DOJ was investigating voter fraud in their state that could invalidate the election results.
Rosen reportedly previously informed the president that the department had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud, same as his predecessor, William Barr, before he departed in December.
“My conversations with the President or the Assistant Attorney General, as they have been with all whom I’ve engaged following the election, were a reiteration of the many concerns about the integrity of our elections, and that those allegations should at least be investigated to ease the minds of the voters that they had, indeed, participated in a free and fair election,” Perry added.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s office announced on Monday that it is opening an investigation into “whether any former or current DOJ official engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election.”
