John Demers, head of the Justice Department’s national security division, said the sole time in his three-year tenure he considered resigning came when the agency fell under pressure from then-President Donald Trump to pursue baseless claims of election fraud.
In early January, Mr. Trump was threatening to fire the acting attorney general over the sought-after election investigation, and, Mr. Demers recalled Monday, he was trying to figure out who would sign foreign intelligence surveillance requests and conduct other agency business if he resigned in protest along with other leading officials.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen, I thought that there was a real chance that would be my last day in the department,” Mr. Demers said in an interview in his last week on the job before stepping down as assistant attorney general.
Mr. Demers ultimately didn’t resign over the election issue, after the acting attorney general at the time, Jeffrey Rosen, resisted the White House pressure.
“I was relieved, pleased, glad that it didn’t happen,” Mr. Demers said.