Live Updates Politics
“I’m done”
- Trump attorney John Eastman expands his two-page memo on how Vice President Mike Pence can refuse to accept Electoral College votes from Georgia and other states. In the full six-page memo, obtained by CNN, Eastman cites specific ways that elections in Georgia and other states were allegedly conducted illegally. In Georgia, he cites legal arguments that judges had already dismissed in various lawsuits.
- U.S. Attorney Byung “BJay” Pak learns of Trump’s call to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger through media accounts. He later tells senate investigators he was “upset” and “disappointed” by the call and considered resigning that day. He said it was clear the president was ignoring Justice Department reports that there was no significant election fraud, “and, if that’s the case, I didn’t want to be a part of potentially being a tool or a factor in whether or not people should believe in the department,” he told investigators. But Pak worried that his sudden resignation could affect Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff election two days later – that it could give credence to fraud allegations or be used as a “talking point.” So he decided to stick with his original plan – to give two weeks’ notice and leave office on Inauguration Day.
- At an Oval Office meeting with Trump, top Justice Department officials threaten to resign if the president names Jeffrey Clark acting attorney general. Trump eventually backs down. But he continues to fixate on Georgia fraud allegations. He complains about Pak, calling him a “Never Trumper” who failed to find evidence of fraud. Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Richard Donoghue tells Trump he will not fire Pak, but that Pak would submit his resignation the next day. Trump says he won’t fire Pak if Jan. 4 is his last day.
In this July 16, 2019, file photo, Richard Donoghue, then-U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, speaks during a news conference in his office, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A report by the Senate Judiciary Committee's Democratic majority details Donald Trump's extraordinary effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election that he lost. His pursuit of fraud claims brought the Justice Department to the brink of chaos and prompted top officials there and at the White House to threaten to resign. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
- Later that night, Donoghue emails Pak to “call ASAP.” When Pak calls, Donoghue tells him Trump wanted to fire him. He says Trump agreed to accept his resignation rather than fire him, but Pak had to resign quickly. Donoghue offers to let Pak remain in another senior Justice Department role through the end of the administration, but Pak declines. “I told him, ‘Rich, thanks but no thanks,’ " Pak later told Senate investigators. " ‘I’m done.’ "
