High drama as Jan. 6 hearing details Trump's effort to corrupt Justice Department

Former DOJ officials described how they resisted Trump's relentless pressure.

Last Updated: August 4, 2022, 5:37 PM EDT

Thursday's hearing of the Jan. 6 committee focused on the pressure then-President Donald Trump and his allies put on the Justice Department to help overturn the 2020 election.

Jun 23, 2022, 2:14 PM EDT

Federal agents search home of former Trump Justice Department official

Federal agents searched the Virginia home of former Trump Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark on Wednesday morning, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the activity told ABC News.

It was unclear which federal agencies conducted the search, just hours before the House Jan. 6 committee was set to hold a hearing on then-President Donald Trump's effort to corrupt the Justice Department in what it says was his plot to overturn the election, but one neighbor who witnessed the law enforcement activity said they saw officials entering the residence early Wednesday.

Clark, a former assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources, emerged as a key player in Trump's efforts to pressure the Justice Department in the wake of the 2020 election. He previously pleaded the Fifth Amendment in an appearance before the Jan. 6 committee and has declined to comment through an attorney when asked about specific details regarding his alleged coordination with Trump and others.

-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin, Luke Barr and Mike Levine

Jun 23, 2022, 1:56 PM EDT

Hearing to detail Trump pressure campaign on DOJ

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and what led up to it is set on Thursday to bring into focus Trump's relentless post-Election Day efforts to enlist the Justice Department in his failed bid to overturn his election loss.

The committee's fifth hearing this month will feature testimony from three former top officials in the department who say they resisted Trump and his allies' repeated entreaties, former acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen, former deputy acting attorney general Richard Donoghue and former top DOJ lawyer Steven Engel.

A video featuring former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen is played during a hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, June 13, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

All three have previously confirmed that they joined a group of top White House lawyers in threatening a mass resignation if Trump didn't back away from plans to oust Rosen and replace him with another obscure official in the top echelons of the department who was sympathetic to the Trump's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.

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-ABC News' Alexander Mallin

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