But the plan was consistent with the stance that Perry had taken since November, when he began to falsely claim that there was rampant fraud in the election, and through it all, Perry remained defiant. Facing calls to resign because of his role in efforts to overturn the election, Mr. Perry issued a one-word response: “No.”
Perry, a retired brigadier general in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and a veteran of the Iraq War, had already been examined for his openness to the conspiracy. He suggested baselessly that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas by a lone sniper could have been influenced by “terrorist infiltration across the southern border”. and refused to support a resolution that condemned QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiracy movement. (Mr. Perry said that he believed the resolution violated individuals’ right to freedom of expression and that he did not personally subscribe to the movement.)
One of the first supporters of the “Stop the Steal” movement,
Perry was one of 126 House Republicans who joined a legal report in December supporting an extraordinary action aimed at overturning Biden’s victory. And he joined more than two dozen of his colleagues who urged Mr. Trump to direct William P. Barr, the attorney general, to “investigate irregularities in the 2020 elections”.
He opposed on behalf of 79 other House Republicans to certify Pennsylvania’s election results, although he later recognized Biden as the elected president.
Perry’s plan with Clark created a crisis at the Justice Department. When Clark approached Rosen with the Georgia letter in late December, Rosen refused to send it, according to four former government officials. On January 3, Mr. Clark notified Mr. Rosen that he would accept the position by order of Mr. Trump.
As Rosen prepared to meet Trump later that day and fight for his post, his key representatives, including acting deputy attorney general Richard P. Donoghue, and his outgoing chief of staff, Patrick Hovakimian, brought the leaders together seniors in the teleconferencing department, according to five former employees with knowledge of the call.
They told department leaders that Rosen’s work was at risk because of Clark’s machinations and said they would resign if Rosen was removed. They ended the call by asking colleagues to consider in particular what they would do if that happened. In the next 15 minutes, everyone sent e-mails or text messages to Mr. Hovakimian, saying they would give up.