Durbin: What Was Happening at DOJ Under Trump Was ‘Frightening’

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that what was going on at the Department of Justice in the final days of former President Donald Trump’s administration was “frightening.”

Anchor Dana Bash said, “Your committee interviewed Jeffrey Rosen who is, was the acting attorney general for Donald Trump at the end of his presidency. Rosen was reportedly getting calls from Trump nearly every day about overturning election results. What did he tell you?”

Durbin said, “He told us a lot. Seven hours of testimony. I might quickly add, this was done on a bipartisan basis, Democratic staff and Republican legal staff asking questions during this period of time. Mr. Rosen appeared voluntarily, which says a lot and cooperated with us. The Justice Department had set it up for us and said we are waving any privilege. He can speak to any issue. We’re not holding back. I thought he was very open. There’s a lot there, an awful lot there. You can imagine seven hours of testimony. It really is important that we ask these questions because what was going on in the Department of Justice was frightening from a constitutional point of view. To think that Bill Barr left, resigned after he had announced he didn’t see irregularities in the election, and then his replacement was under extraordinary pressure, the president of the United States, even to the point where they were talking about replacing him.”

Bash said, “When you were listening to that testimony yesterday, what was the most shocking to you?”

Durbin said, “Just how directly personally involved the president was, the pressure he was putting on Jeffrey Rosen. It was real, very real, and it was very specific. This president is not subtle when he wants something. The former president is not subtle when he wants something. It’s a good thing for America we had a person like Rosen in that position, who withstood the pressure.”

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