Rep. Kinzinger's questions to Richard Donoghue, continued:
- Q: The president said "Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressman." So, Mr. Donoghue, that's a direct quote from president Trump, correct?
- A: That's an exact quote from the president, yes.
- Q: Even though he had been told there was no evidence of fraud, the president keeps saying the DoJ was obligated to tell people that this was na illegal, corrupt election.
- A: That's also an exact quote from the president, yes.
- Q: Let me just be clear. Did the DoJ find any evidence to conclude that there was anything illegal or corrupt about the 2020 election?
- A: There were isolated incidents of fraud. None of them came close to calling into question the outcome of the election in any individual state.
- Q: And how would you describe the president's demeanor during that call?
- A: He was more agitated than he was on December 15th. The president, throughout all of these meetings and telephone conversations, was adamant that he had won and that we were not doing our job. But, it did escalate over time until ultimately the meeting on January 3rd, which was the most extreme of the conversations.
Rep. Kinzinger: I want to make sure we don't gloss this over. "Just say it was corrupt and leave the rest to us." The president wanted the top DoJ officials to declare that the election was corrupt. Even though he knew there was absolutely no evidence to support that statement. The president didn't care about actually investigating the facts. he just wanted the DoJ to put a stamp of approval on the lies. Who was going to help him? Jeff Clark.