Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/412

 look at the illegal aliens voting—don't need to. It's so obvious." The President complained that the "FBI will always say there's nothing there," because while the Special Agents ("the line guys") supported him, the Bureau's leadership supposedly did not. This was inconsistent with Donoghue's view. But President Trump complained that he had "made some bad decisions on leadership" at the FBI.

President Trump also "wanted to talk a great deal about Georgia, [and] the State Farm Arena video," claiming it was "fraud staring you right in the face." President Trump smeared Ruby Freeman, a Georgia election worker who was merely doing her job, as a "Huckster" and an "Election scammer." President Trump said the "networks," meaning the television networks, had "magnified the tape and saw them running them [ballots] through repeatedly." The President repeated the lie that Democrats had "[c]losed the facility and then came back with hidden ballots under the table." He suggested that both Rosen and Donoghue "go to Fulton County and do a signature verification." They would "see how illegal it is" and "find tens of thousands" of illegal ballots.

President Trump "kept fixating" on the supposed suitcase in the video. But Acting Deputy Attorney General Donoghue debunked the President's obsession. "There is no suitcase," Donoghue made clear. Donoghue explained that the DOJ had looked at the video and interviewed multiple witnesses. The "suitcase" was an official lock box filled with genuine votes. And election workers simply did not scan ballots for former Vice President Biden multiple times. All of this was recorded by security cameras.

In response to what President Trump was saying during the conversation, Rosen and Donoghue tried to make clear that the claims the President made weren't supported by the evidence. "You guys must not be following the internet the way I do," the President remarked. But President Trump was not finished peddling wild conspiracy theories.

The President pushed the claim that Pennsylvania had reported 205,000 more votes than there were voters in the state. "We'll look at whether we have more ballots in Pennsylvania than registered voters," Acting Attorney General Rosen replied, according to Donoghue. They "[s]hould be able to check that out quickly." But Rosen wanted President Trump to "understand that the DOJ can't and won't snap its fingers and change the outcome of the election. It doesn't work that way."

"I don't expect you to do that," President Trump responded. "Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen."

Donoghue explained this "is an exact quote from the President."