"DOJ Watchdog Probes If Staff Tried to Alter Election Outcome"

"The Justice Department’s inspector general has opened an investigation into whether department staff members sought to use the agency to alter the outcome of the 2020 election and overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.

The department didn’t say what prompted Inspector General Michael Horowitz to open the inquiry, but it came after the New York Times reported that Jeffrey Clark, the acting head of its civil division, had discussed a plan with former President Donald Trump to pressure politicians in Georgia to overturn the state’s results.

Clark’s name wasn’t mentioned in the department’s two-paragraph release on Monday. He resigned from the Justice Department on Jan. 14, less than a week before the end of Trump’s presidency, and didn’t have a new job lined up at the time. The Times reported on Friday that Clark’s efforts included an attempt to remove then acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who had deflected Trump’s attempts to use the Justice Department in a baseless attack on the election results.

The inspector general’s office “is making this statement, consistent with DOJ policy, to reassure the public that an appropriate agency is investigating the allegations,” spokeswoman Stephanie Logan said in a statement Monday."

Nick Wadhams reports for Bloomberg Environment January 25, 2021.

SEE ALSO:

"Inspector General Will Investigate Whether Any Justice Dept. Officials Improperly Sought To Help Trump Overturn The Election" (Washington Post)

Source: Bloomberg Environment, 01/26/2021