The White House pushed the US Attorney General from Georgia to resign because he angered President Trump for not working to overturn the results of the presidential election, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to unidentified sources cited by the paper, a senior Justice Department official called Pak on January 3 to inform him that Trump wanted to fire him. The next day, Pak, the first Korean American ever to hold the position of US Attorney, left his post.
Byung J. Pak submitted his resignation January 3 shortly after recordings came out in which President Trump identified Pak as a “never Trumper.”
“You have your never-Trumper U.S. attorney there,” Trump said in his call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Trump urged Raffensperger during the call to find enough votes to overturn the election results so he could get Georgia’s 16 electoral votes.
According to WSB, Pak immigrated from Seoul to the United States at the age of 9. He formally served as a State Representative from Georgia from 2011 to 2017. Trump appointed him to the position of US Attorney in 2017.
The Journal reports Pak gained favor with supporters of the president for his early support of him. He thanked Trump by name during his swearing-in ceremony.
“I am grateful to President Trump and the United States Senate for the opportunity to serve, and to Attorneys General [Jeff] Sessions and [William] Barr for their leadership of the department,” Mr. Pak said in his resignation letter.
Three recounts of the vote in Georgia found no irregularities. In fact, dozens of court rulings rejected Trump’s repeated allegations of voter fraud in the election.
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