CREW sues for records on Meadows pressure on DOJ to investigate baseless election conspiracy theories

CREW is suing the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence for records on then-President Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows’s pressure campaign on the DOJ to investigate baseless 2020 election fraud conspiracy theories. CREW previously requested records from these agencies which failed either to respond or turn over responsive records.

In one instance, Meadows emailed then-Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to set up a meeting between the FBI and a man pushing the “Italygate” conspiracy theory, which claimed an Italian defense contractor coordinated with the CIA to use satellites to swing votes from Trump to Biden. Rosen declined to broker the meeting, but Meadows’s direct contact raises serious concerns and could have violated rules that forbid White House officials from meddling with ongoing DOJ investigations.

Given that lies about rampant election fraud pushed by top government officials like Meadows helped incite the January 6, 2021 insurrection, the public deserves to know just how deep White House meddling in DOJ investigations about the election went. Accountability for the insurrection means full transparency around the events leading up to it and that includes knowing Meadows’s role in advancing election lies at the highest levels of the government.

Header image by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license.