Co-Conspirator Four and the Justice Department's Attempt to Use Deceit to Get State Officials to Replace Legitimate Electors With the Defendants

The defendant's attempt to leverage the Justice Department to use deceit to get state officials to replace legitimate electors and electoral votes with the defendants. In late December, 2020, the defendant attempted to make knowingly false claims of election fraud to officials in the targeted states through a formal letter under the acting Attorney General's signature. On January 2, 2021, just four days before Congress's certification proceeding, co-conspirator four tried to coerce theacting Attorney General and acting Deputy Attorney General to sign his draft letter. He told them that he was considering making co-Conspirator four the new acting Attorney General but would decline the offer if they did so. The next morning, on January 3,