Acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen declined requests from President Donald Trump to investigate ItalyGate according to a report published by the New York Times. The request to investigate was made through President Trump’s Chief of Staff at the time Mark Meadows.
According to the Times’ report published Saturday Meadows sent Mr. Rosen a link to a video posted on YouTube by former CIA station chief Brad Johnson.
A video posted by Mr. Johnson in late December detailed Italian media reports that said the U.S. presidential election was hacked by intelligence operatives acting out of Italy, among other countries. That video, since removed by YouTube, served as the catalyst for U.S. coverage of the scandal which would come to be known as ItalyGate for many independent media outlets including this one.
According to the Times Mr. Rosen wrote in an email to another Justice Department official that he was asked to set up a meeting between Mr. Johsnon and the FBI, had refused, and was then asked again.
The Times, dismissive in its reporting on ItalyGate, paints the request as a brazen attempt by Trump officials to nullify the results of an otherwise free and fair election. The piece refers to ItalyGate as “fantastical” and “outlandish,” and attempts to conflate it with the violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Several other mainstream media outlets have also called ItalyGate a “debunked” theory. ITN has repeatedly reached out to those outlets with information uncovered and to request they update their articles. We have received no responses.
We have also reached out to the New York Times with similar information, including the name of the State Department employee that reportedly participated in the plot.
Mr. Johnson, who now serves as president of Americans for Intelligence Reform, an organization that works to depoliticize U.S. intelligence agencies, echoed the sentiment that claims that election interference have been proven false are themselves incorrect.
“I can confirm that Mr. Meadows and Mr. Rosen did indeed discuss the viral video I did for Americans for Intelligence Reform. I don’t know for sure if Mr. Rosen ever viewed the video but my understanding is that he did not. Mr. Rosen did refuse to consider doing an investigation regarding the 2020 presidential election results,” Mr. Johnson told ITN.
“However, the NYT article goes on to state that any theories which suggest the outcome of the presidential election was impacted by corruption has been debunked. This is factually incorrect. The election corruption charges have never been investigated and passed through the US court system to be proven or disproven. As a result, any claims that sufficient corruption existed to change the presidential election outcome has been debunked or conversely has been proven to be true are both premature. The audit taking place in Arizona is the first state wide look at the 2020 elections and will likely be the initial indicator of just how big of a problem exists within our election system if indeed there is a problem at all,” he added.
Mr. Rosen was installed shortly after former Attorney General Bill Barr was asked to resign. In December Barr declared, despite numerous credible reports of election irregularity, that no sufficient evidence exists that would have affected the results of the election.
Rosen is apparently in talks with Congressional Democrats to come before Congress and speak about efforts of former Trump administration officials to ask the DOJ to conduct investigations into election fraud.
Mr Rosen and others behave as if this were some petty property line dispute between two antagonistic neighbors. The massive refusal of courts to hear any cases brought forth by the Trump administration denies the American people closure on this contentious election. One has to wonder who benefits from this appalling lack of transparency.