Trump lashes out at ‘disinformation’ after report that he is under investigation by Justice Department

Former president Donald Trump on Wednesday took to his own Truth Social platform to air a string of grievances following reports that the Department of Justice is investigating his push to overturn the 2020 election results.

On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that four separate sources familiar with the investigation have said it is homing in on Mr Trump’s conduct in the days between 7 November 2020, when most media outlets called the 2020 election for Joe Biden, to the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Two sources told the Post that prosecutors have questioned witnesses “about conversations with [Mr] Trump, his lawyers, and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won”.

Writing on the platform owned by his nascent Trump Media and Technology Group, Mr Trump assailed the report as “more disinformation by the Democrats” and compared the probe into his post-election conduct to the long-running investigation into his 2016 campaign’s ties to the Russian government, the House impeachment probe into his 2019 attempt to blackmail Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and his second impeachment over the January 6 attacks.

“People forget, this is all about a Rigged and Stolen Election. But rather than go after the people that Rigged and Stole it, they go after the people that are seeking Honesty and Truth, and have Freedom of Speech, and many other defenses, on their side,” he wrote.

There is no evidence that suggests that his defeat at the hands of Joe Biden was tainted in any way. Mr Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, called the myriad allegations of fraud floated by the disgraced ex-president and his allies “bulls***” in sworn testimony before the House January 6 select committee.

Nonetheless, Mr Trump suggested the non-existent evidence is “massive and irrefutable” and said the DoJ should instead be investigating the false allegations, which he called “the crime of the century”.

In a separate post, the former president again complained about the ongoing investigation into his attempt to pressure Georgia officials into overturning Mr Biden’s victory there.

He described a now-infamous phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — during which he urged the Peach State’s top election official to “find” sufficient votes to overturn his loss — as “perfect”.

“Many people and lawyers, on both sides, were knowingly on the one call, I assumed the call was taped, there were Zero complaints or angry ‘how dare you’ charges made during the call, and no “hang ups” by anyone aggrieved or insulted at what was said,” he said. He added that he was “just doing [his] job as President, and seeking Fairness and the Truth” by attempting to strong-arm state officials into reversing his loss.