[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Mark Meadows, the last chief of staff for former U.S. President Donald Trump, pressured the Department of Justice to investigate baseless conspiracy theories in an attempt to overturn the election results, according to newly revealed evidence.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 5th (local time) that it obtained five emails sent by former White House Chief of Staff Meadows to Jeffrey Rosen, then Acting Attorney General, in the last week of December last year and early January this year.
The emails, disclosed for the first time, are part of materials submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
According to the report, in an email sent on January 1st to Acting Attorney General Rosen, Meadows pressured the Department of Justice to investigate allegations of fraudulent voting in Fulton County, Georgia.
Meadows, a former Republican hardline conservative congressman, also sent Rosen an email regarding claims of election fraud in Georgia written by Trump campaign lawyer Cleta Mitchell.
The NYT reported that two days after the emails were sent, lawyer Mitchell participated in a call between former President Trump and Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Secretary of State. During the call, Trump demanded Raffensperger overturn the election results.
Additionally, Meadows sent Rosen a list summarizing election fraud allegations in New Mexico and demanded that the Department of Justice investigate the so-called "Italy Gate," a somewhat absurd claim.
"Italy Gate" is a conspiracy theory alleging that someone in Italy remotely manipulated U.S. vote-counting machines using military technology and satellites to alter votes.
Meadows also sent Rosen a YouTube link in which former CIA employee Brad Johnson explains this conspiracy theory and requested that Johnson be arranged for an interview with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Rosen, in an email to a Department of Justice official, stated that after he refused these demands, he was pressured to "reconsider."
The NYT assessed that the newly disclosed emails clearly demonstrate how desperately former President Trump and his aides tried to overturn the election results until the very end of his term.
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