Prepared Floor Remarks by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Transcripts from Judiciary Committee Investigation Don’t Comport with Democrats Narrative
Thursday, October 7, 2021

 
I’d like to address Chairman Durbin’s Trump investigation, examining the period of December 14, 2020 through January 3, 2021. We released our respective reports today.
 
This truncated investigation doesn’t support the long-running Democratic narrative that Trump used the Justice Department to try to overturn the 2020 election.
 
And it’s truncated because we don’t have all the records and this committee only interviewed three witnesses.
 
The available evidence shows that President Trump didn’t use the Department of Justice to subvert the 2020 election.
 
For example, one witness testified that President Trump had “no impact” – I repeat “no impact” – on what the Department did to investigate election allegations.
 
In fact, the evidence shows that President Trump listened to his advisors and their recommendations, and he followed them.

The witnesses also testified that President Trump didn’t fire anyone at the Justice Department relating to the election.
 
Records indicate that President Trump’s focus was on “legitimate complaints and reports of crimes.”
 
Witnesses testified that President Trump’s main focus was on making the Department aware of the potential criminal allegations and to ensure the Department did its job. It wasn’t to direct or order specific investigative steps.
 
Witnesses also testified that it wasn’t unreasonable for President Trump to ask the Department what it was doing to investigate election fraud and crime allegations.
 
Now, with respect to the other core issues in the Democratic narrative, the available evidence shows three facts:
 
  1. President Trump rejected sending the letter drafted and advocated by Assistant Attorney General Clark to various states contesting the election.
  2. President Trump rejected firing Acting Attorney General Rosen. Indeed, after Bill Barr submitted his resignation, President Trump apparently considered Richard Donoghue as a replacement, showing his displeasure with Rosen.
  3. President Trump accepted Acting Attorney General Rosen’s position that the Department not file a lawsuit against states with reported voter issues.
 
The Democrats’ report makes much of efforts by individual lawyers to push the Department to take these steps.
 
But the fact is, none of these steps were taken because President Trump made the ultimate decision not to.
 
At each of these critical decision points, the President asked his advisors for their candid views and recommendations, and he followed them.
 
Ask yourself this, where would we be now if President Biden followed the advice and recommendations of his advisors regarding Afghanistan?
 
Again, I’m not sure why the Committee is releasing transcripts and an investigative report when the investigation doesn’t seem to be complete.
 
I run investigations differently.
 
I collect the records and run all the necessary interviews.
 
I gather the full set of facts.
 
Then, I release the material publicly.
 
So far, the narrative the Majority has been spinning here just isn’t borne out by the facts.

Don’t take my word for it. Just read the transcripts.