Ex-Trump aide Meadows pushed DOJ to probe multiple election theories: report

Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows pushed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to probe multiple unfounded theories about the 2020 presidential election in the weeks leaking up to President Biden’s inauguration, according to newly obtained emails reported by The New York Times.

The Times said that it obtained five emails from December and January between Meadows and Jeffrey Rosen, the acting attorney general at the time, showing Meadows pressing the DOJ head to look at multiple election fraud claims that were circling on the internet.

The debunked theories Meadows reportedly asked Rosen to investigate in the emails included one that said voting machines were remotely controlled by people in Italy with military technology that were able to switch votes from former President Trump to Biden.

According to the emails cited by The Times, Rosen said he refused to entertain the theories and refused to set up a meeting between the FBI and a man who was pushing the Italy conspiracy theory, known as “Italygate.”

The former White House chief of staff also reportedly asked the acting DOJ head to look into claims of electoral fraud in New Mexico despite the local secretary of State’s office maintaining that its election was secure.

The Times reported that the emails and people close to Rosen indicated he did not investigate the claims Meadows asked him about. The emails were reportedly found during a Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into whether officials in the DOJ participated in efforts to overturn the election.

A spokesperson for Meadows declined to comment for The Times report. The Hill has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.

Trump and some of his supporters have continued to push false claims about widespread election fraud, while The Times noted Meadows was involved in other previously publicized efforts to undermine the election results.

Meadows was on a call with Trump and Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) where Trump told Raffensperger to find the fraud he believed occurred in the election.

Sources familiar with the matter told The Times that Rosen is in negotiations with the Justice Department on what he can tell a government watchdog and Congress about the pressure the DOJ received to investigate election fraud.

He is also reportedly speaking to the House Oversight and Reform Committee about talking to investigators regarding the election fraud pressure and Jan. 6 Capitol riot, sources told the outlet.