DOJ Report Reveals Trump Officials Allegedly Sought to Influence 2020 Election Through Leaks and Investigations
Trump, debates Democratic presidential nominee, for the first time during the presidential election campaign/Win McNamee/Getty Images
A new report from the Department of Justice’s inspector general reveals that three Trump administration officials may have attempted to influence the 2020 election from within the DOJ. The findings shed light on alleged efforts to use investigations as political tools and to leak confidential details to conservative media outlets.
According to ABC News, which obtained the report, top officials in Donald Trump’s Justice Department allegedly sought to sway the election by pressuring investigations into Democratic governors and leaking private information about those inquiries to right-wing news sources.
The inspector general’s report identified one senior member of the DOJ’s public affairs team as the originator of the plan. “The upcoming election was the motivating factor,” the report stated, as quoted by Reuters. Text messages revealed that, in mid-October 2020, the official discussed a potential leak to a major New York tabloid regarding COVID-related deaths in nursing homes in New York and New Jersey. One message read: “Our last play on them before [the] election, but it’s a big one.”
While the report did not specify the outlet, the New York Post—owned by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch—published an article on October 27, 2020, titled “DOJ seeks more NY nursing home data after finding COVID death undercount,” which cited “federal sources.”
Last week, the DOJ’s inspector general released a vague summary of the findings, stating that certain officials violated policies by leaking “non-public DOJ investigative information” to “select reporters days before an election.” However, further investigation by ABC News, prompted by a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed a more detailed 55-page report, albeit heavily redacted.
Among the revelations was pressure exerted by the Civil Rights Division on the Civil Division to send a letter to New York demanding nursing home data. Civil Division officials expressed reluctance but felt “led to believe” the directive originated from then-Attorney General William Barr.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz wrote that the actions of these senior DOJ officials raised “serious questions about partisan political motivation.” He concluded that “the then-upcoming 2020 election may have been a factor in the timing and manner of those actions and announcing them to the public.”
Despite clear violations of DOJ policies and possible breaches of the Hatch Act, no penalties are expected, as enforcement depends on presidential discretion. The revelations add to ongoing concerns about the politicization of the Justice Department during the Trump administration.
