There was no legal basis for appointing a special Justice Department adviser to investigate voter fraud in 2020, although President Donald Trump requested it, a senior ministry official said Thursday.
Stephen Engel, who was head of the Justice Department’s Legal Advice Service, which provides legal advice to the executive, described the saga in a testimony before the January 6 selection committee.
“It was not legally available,” Engel said.
CNN and other news outlets reported in December 2020 that Trump had proposed appointing Sidney Powell as special adviser, but this was met with considerable opposition from senior White House officials. Powell is a well-known conspiracy theorist who represented former Trump adviser Michael Flynn during his criminal trial and popularized fantastic and false theories of mass voter fraud.
The commission released a video of Powell’s testimony describing Trump’s desire to appoint her to the post.
“He asked me to be a special adviser on electoral matters and to gather evidence, and I was extremely disappointed by the lack of, I would call it, law enforcement by any of the government agencies that must act to protect the rule of law. in our republic, “she said in the video.
Then-Attorney General Bill Barr refused to appoint a special lawyer, and after Bar resigned in December 2020, Trump continued to urge senior Justice officials to name a special lawyer, including Bar’s successor, Jeffrey Rosen, who also refused.
“Neither Bar nor Rosen believed that (a special lawyer) was appropriate or necessary in this case,” Engel said.
Representative Adam Kinsinger, an Illinois Republican who led much of Thursday’s interrogation, condemned Trump for even considering a special lawyer.
“An investigation by a special prosecutor will simply create the illusion of legitimacy and false cover for those who want to ‘object’ to the 2020 election, ‘including those who stormed the Capitol on January 6,” he said.
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