Trump won't block DOJ officials from testifying to Congress about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election

Trump won't block DOJ officials from testifying to Congress about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election
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Former president Donald Trump won't sue to block former Department of Justice officials from testifying about his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election, the New York Times reported Tuesday morning.

Trump's attorney, former Georgia Republican Congressman Doug Collins, sent letters to six DOJ officials on Monday informing them of the decision.

"By allowing his former Justice Department officials to speak with investigators, Mr. Trump has paved the way for new details to emerge about his efforts to delegitimize the outcome of the election," the Times reported. "Even though department officials, including (former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey) Rosen and the former Attorney General William P. Barr, told him that President Biden had won the election, Mr. Trump pressed them to take actions that would cast the election results in doubt and to publicly declare it corrupt."

House and Senate committees are expected to interview Rosen and Richard P. Donoghue, a former acting deputy attorney general, as soon as this week, as part of their investigations into the Trump administration's potentially illegal efforts to delegitimize Joe Biden's victory.

Last week, the DOJ delivered a "significant" blow to Trump when it said department officials can give "unrestricted testimony" to the committees, because the former president's efforts to overturn the election to promote his "personal political interests" represented an "extraordinary circumstance" that is not protected by executive privilege.

In his letter to the DOJ officials, Trump's attorney Collins slammed the DOJ's decision, saying the Biden administration should have first consulted with Trump before waving executive privilege. Collins also said while Trump will not attempt to block their testimony outright, he may take undisclosed legal action if congressional investigators seek "privileged information" related to his administration.

"The committees have also received a slew of emails, handwritten notes and other documents from the Justice Department that show how Mr. Trump, Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff, and others pushed the Justice Department to look into voter fraud allegations that were investigated and not supported by evidence, to ask the Supreme Court to vacate the election results and to publicly cast doubt on the outcome," the Times reports.

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