That exchange appeared to put then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen into a defensive mode, recording events in writing for posterity and the very kinds of investigations congressional committees are now pursuing.
“Yes,” Rosen replied. “After this message, I was asked to have FBI meet with Brad Johnson, and I responded that Brad Johnson could call or walk into FBI’s Washington Field Office with any evidence he purports to have.”
Rosen goes on to relate that Johnson was collaborating with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The acting attorney general seems to revel in his refusal to engage with Giuliani.
“On a follow up call, I learned that Johnson is working with Rudy Giuliani, who regarded my comments as ‘an insult.’ Asked if I would reconsider, I flatly refused, said I would not be giving any special treatment to Giuliani or any of his ‘witnesses’, and re-affirmed yet again that I will not talk to Giuliani about any of this,” Rosen wrote.
In another email, Meadows asked Rosen to have the acting Civil Division chief Jeffrey Clark “immediately” look into “allegations of signature match anomalies" in Fulton County, Ga.
“Can you believe this? I am not going to respond to message below,” Rosen wrote to Donoghue.
Donoghue replied: “At least it’s better than the last one, but that doesn’t say much.”
The newly-released emails also disclose that a lawyer urging the Justice Department to file a case at the Supreme Court to overturn the election results, Kurt Olsen, drove from Maryland to Washington, D.C., in an effort to meet with Rosen over the issue but was apparently rebuffed.
“The President of the United States has seen this complaint, and he directed me last night to brief AG Rosen in person today to discuss bringing this action,” Olsen wrote to John Moran, chief of staff to Donoghue, on Dec. 29.
Moran said he told Olsen that Rosen was tied up in meetings at the White House, but Olsen later said he was on his way to Washington to see Rosen without any scheduled appointment.