The Internal Oversight Office of the US Department of Justice will investigate whether any official in the department sought to support former President Donald Trump in overturning the results of the presidential election.
The Oversight Office confirmed in a statement that Inspector General Michael Horowitz has launched an inquiry into whether any former or current officials in the Department of Justice participated in an inappropriate attempt to have the department pursue changing the results of the 2020 presidential election. The American network "CNN" reported that the Internal Oversight Office will investigate whether any official in the department aimed to support former President Trump in reversing the election outcomes.
This investigation comes in the wake of reports from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal indicating that former President Trump attempted to use the department to challenge the election results. The New York Times quoted sources within the Trump administration stating that in recent weeks, Trump had planned with Jeffrey Clark to replace then-Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with someone more loyal in order to change the presidential election results in Georgia. The New York Times indicated that one of the main reasons Trump reconsidered his decision not to fire the Attorney General was the decision of Justice Department officials to resign en masse if Rosen were dismissed.
Trump did not accept his defeat in the November presidential election and declared himself the winner, attempting to challenge the results in court. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Horowitz to open an investigation into this matter, writing in a tweet that "it is untenable for a leader in the Trump Department of Justice to conspire to undermine the will of the people."
