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547:"But I'm telling you what's going to happen. You're going to lose your entire department leadership. Every single AAG will walk out on you. Your entire department leadership will walk out within hours. And I don't know what happens after that. I don't know what the United States attorneys are going to do. We have US attorneys in districts across the country, and my guess would be that many of them would have resigned."
515:
And I began to explain to him what he had to lose and what the country had to lose and what the department had to lose, and this was not in anyone's best interest. That conversation went on for some time. Everyone essentially chimed in with their own thoughts, all of which were consistent about how
511:
And everyone in the room I think understood that that meant that letter would go out. So, that was the focus. It was about a two and a half hour meeting after I entered. And so, there were discussions about the pros and cons of doing that. Early on, the president said what do I have to lose? And it
477:
The draft letter was addressed to officials in the state of
Georgia, saying that the Justice Department had evidence that raised "significant concerns" about the election results in multiple states, contradicting what Barr had publicly announced weeks earlier. The letter suggested the Georgia
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441:. In addition to testimony, Donoghue provided contemporaneous notes memorializing conversations with President Trump. The notes directly quote Trump ordering Donoghue to "just say the election was corrupt, and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen."
38:
414:
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or
Pennsylvania or whatever. We had discussed those repeatedly and the converse — that was backdrop to the conversation. But the conversation at this point was really about whether the president should remove Jeff Rosen and replace him with Jeff Clark.
392:
On
December 14, 2020, President Trump announced via Twitter that Barr would be resigning from his post as attorney general, effective December 23. Barr further confirmed his resignation in a letter to Trump on the same day. It was announced that
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609:"Attorney General William P. Barr Announces the Appointment of Richard P. Donoghue as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General; Designation of Seth D. DuCharme as Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York"
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for a meeting with
President Trump. Testifying about the meeting with the January 6 Committee, Donoghue recounted confronting Trump after he implied he could overcome Rosen's resistance to signing the Georgia letter (and
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553:
And I said, "Mr. President, within 24, 48, 72 hours, you could have hundreds and hundreds of resignations of the leadership of your entire
Justice Department because of your actions. What's that going to say about
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legislature should "call itself into special session for he limited purpose of considering issues pertaining to the appointment of
Presidential Electors". Both Rosen and Donoghue refused to sign the letter.
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309:. From 2000 and 2011, he was Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York's United States Attorney's Office. From 2011 to 2018 he was chief litigation counsel for CA Technologies.
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433:(also known as the "January 6th Committee") for its fifth public hearing. They testified about the pressure campaign by Trump and surrogates in the days between the
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A brief quote from former Deputy
Attorney General Richard Donoghue's testimony to the counsel of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
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And I said, "Mr. President, I would resign immediately. I'm not working one minute for this guy," who I had just declared was completely incompetent.
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Donoghue recalled that Trump then declined to move forward on the replacement of Rosen with Clark. He did not, however, fire
Jeffrey Clark.
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From 1993 to 2000, where he was a military magistrate judge, prosecutor, defense counsel, and contract litigator. He also served in the
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which he reportedly had discussed with Perry, requesting they sign it. The letter had been emailed to Clark twenty minutes earlier by
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581:"Attorney General Jeff Sessions Appoints Richard P. Donoghue as Interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District Of New York"
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371:
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1309:
Transcribed
Interview of Donoghue by Chief Oversight Counsel for the Judiciary Committee, conducted via Zoom on Friday August, 2021
544:
And — and then I said, "And we're not the only ones. No one cares if we resign. If Steve and I go, that's fine. It doesn't matter.
528:
And along those lines, said, "So suppose I do this. Suppose I replace him, Jeff Rosen, with him, Jeff Clark? What would you do?"
177:
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716:"Ex-Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota and top aide convicted in attempted cover-up of inmate beating by ex-police chief"
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1054:"Richard Donoghue: The Justice Department's No. 2 official told Trump that his voter fraud claims had no merit"
1028:
1318:
Video of the June 23, 2022 Public
Hearing of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
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474:. Klukowski joined the Department of Justice in December 2020, with less than a month left of Trump's term.
402:
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924:"... Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General"
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damaging this would be to the country, to the department, to the administration, to him personally.
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879:
850:
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833:"US Attorney Richard Donoghue to Leave Eastern District of New York for Role at Main Justice"
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1198:"Trump DOJ official Jeffrey Clark pushed acting AG to interfere in Georgia election: report"
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announced that Donoghue would leave the Eastern District of New York to serve as principal
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was actually a good opening because I said, Mr. President, you have a great deal to lose.
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The conversation at this point had moved beyond the specific allegations, whether it was
472:
The Blueprint: Obama’s Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency
1362:
1224:"Pennsylvania Lawmaker Played Key Role in Trump's Plot to Oust Acting Attorney General"
521:
466:
359:
Donoghue also led the District in the controversial decision to decline prosecution of
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on behalf of the Department. On December 28, 2020, Clark emailed Rosen and Donoghue a
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on the first set of federal charges for which he was tried and ultimately convicted.
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And that would then have led to resignations across the department in Washington.
401:'s resignation took effect. As a result of the shuffle, Donoghue took the role of
635:"Sessions names 17 interim U.S. attorneys, including in premier Manhattan office"
1248:"Here's every word from the fifth Jan. 6 committee hearing on its investigation"
1005:"Deputy attorney general who will replace AG Barr has no prosecution experience"
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Chowdhury, Maureen; Hammond, Elise; Vogt, Adrienne; Wagner, Meg (2022-06-23).
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United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack public hearings
388:
United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack public hearings
352:. It was also under Donoghue that the Eastern District of New York indicted
261:
from December 2020 to January 2021. Previously, he served as the principal
1179:"Inside the explosive Oval Office confrontation three days before Jan. 6"
541:
And he said "Absolutely I would, Mr. President. You leave me no choice."
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742:"R. Kelly Denied Bail; His Lawyer Says Accusers Have 'Groupie Remorse'"
453:
486:
On Sunday, January 3, 2021, Donoghue was unexpectedly summoned to the
1303:
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In their accounts, Donoghue and Rosen recounted their dealings with
1136:"Jan. 6 hearings: Ex-DOJ officials who resisted Trump plot testify"
452:
who, outside the Department's chain-of-command, pursued several of
397:
would become acting Attorney General on December 24, the day after
269:
from 2018 to 2020. Donoghue was appointed interim U.S. Attorney by
977:"Jeffrey Rosen Takes Reins of a Justice Department Under Pressure"
412:
311:
493:
attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election
1112:
Watch: See the notes DOJ official took on Trump call - CNN Video
946:"William Barr To Step Down As Attorney General Before Christmas"
257:
is an American attorney and prosecutor who served as the acting
1029:"Fifth Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack | C-SPAN.org"
1405:
United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York
464:, senior counsel to Clark and a legal analyst for far-right
431:
United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack
1272:"Takeaways: Trump risked provoking 'constitutional crisis'"
338:
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York
320:
U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue announces the conviction of
267:
United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York
115:
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York
495:
more generally) by simply replacing Rosen with Jeff Clark:
774:"Statement by United States Attorney Richard P. Donoghue"
666:"Notorious drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman convicted"
603:
601:
691:"Self-help guru convicted in lurid sex-trafficking case"
538:. And he said, "Steve, you wouldn't resign, would you?"
340:. He led this office in the successful prosecutions of
800:"Newly Appointed U.S. Prosecutors Inherit Major Cases"
534:
And so, the president immediately turned to — to Mr.
1222:
Benner, Katie; Edmondson, Catie (January 24, 2021).
975:Ballhaus, Rebecca; Tau, Byron (December 24, 2020).
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450:United States Department of Justice Civil Division
303:Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army
470:; Klukowski had co-authored a 2010 book titled,
1313:United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
281:Donoghue earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from
429:Alongside Rosen, Donoghue appeared before the
740:Gold, Michael; Moynihan, Colin (2019-08-02).
633:Zapotosky, Matt; Horwitz, Sari (2018-01-03).
524:to elaborate on the damage, Donoghue replied:
74:December 24, 2020 – January 20, 2021
8:
798:Weiser, Benjamin; Feuer, Alan (2018-01-04).
855:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
831:July 02, Jane Wester |; PM, 2020 at 04:58.
382:Aftermath of the 2020 Presidential Election
326:Theodore Roosevelt United States Courthouse
1395:St. John's University School of Law alumni
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36:
25:
872:"William Barr Is Out as Attorney General"
454:Trump's false claims of a stolen election
363:for the death-in-custody of Eric Garner.
448:, Acting Assistant Attorney General for
567:
409:Pressure to declare election fraudulent
1166:. JustSecurity.org. December 28, 2020.
956:from the original on December 14, 2020
911:. Letter to President Donald J. Trump.
904:Barr, William P. (December 14, 2020).
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336:selected Donoghue to serve as interim
1349:United States Deputy Attorney General
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259:United States deputy attorney general
127:January 2018 – July 10, 2020
53:United States Deputy Attorney General
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870:Benner, Katie (December 14, 2020).
482:Oval Office Meeting January 3, 2021
376:United States Department of Justice
291:St. John's University School of Law
1177:Kranish, Michael (June 14, 2022).
332:In January 2018, Attorney General
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1196:Brown, Matthew (August 8, 2021).
439:2021 United States Capitol attack
372:associate deputy attorney general
263:associate deputy attorney general
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16:American attorney and prosecutor
647:from the original on 2018-01-03
1400:Trump administration personnel
366:In July 2020 Attorney General
1:
1052:Lai, Stephanie (2022-06-23).
922:Trump, Donald (2020-12-14).
1161:"Jeffrey Clark draft letter"
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435:2020 presidential election
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1385:Hofstra University alumni
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342:Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán
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19:Not to be confused with
982:The Wall Street Journal
403:Deputy Attorney General
301:Donoghue served in the
42:Official portrait, 2018
1246:N; P; R (2022-06-23).
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307:82nd Airborne Division
147:Bridget Rohde (acting)
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197:St. John's University
837:New York Law Journal
1183:The Washington Post
720:New York Daily News
1311:, provided by the
1228:The New York Times
1058:The New York Times
1003:Journal, A. B. A.
876:The New York Times
804:The New York Times
746:The New York Times
722:. 17 December 2019
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283:Hofstra University
243:United States Army
188:Hofstra University
21:Richard O'Donoghue
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1360:Succeeded by
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1142:. 23 June 2022
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1280:. Retrieved
1278:. 2022-06-23
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1117:, retrieved
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958:. Retrieved
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780:. 2019-07-16
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697:. 2021-04-20
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674:. Retrieved
672:. 2021-04-20
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615:. 2020-07-10
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587:. 2018-01-03
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1357:2020–2021
1282:2022-06-24
1257:2022-06-25
1207:August 10,
1146:2022-06-24
1119:2022-06-24
1096:2022-06-23
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1038:2022-06-23
1014:2022-06-25
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