US Attorney General William Barr, one of US President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is departing amid lingering tension over the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into president-elect Joe Biden’s son.
Barr on Monday went to the White House, where Trump said the attorney general submitted his letter of resignation.
“As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Photo: Reuters
Trump has publicly expressed his anger about Barr’s statement to The Associated Press (AP) earlier this month that the US Department of Justice had found no widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Trump has also been angry that the Justice Department did not publicly announce it was investigating Hunter Biden ahead of the election, despite department policy against such a pronouncement.
Barr told the AP that US attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up specific complaints and information they have received, but “to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”
Barr’s resignation leaves Trump without a critical ally as he winds down his final weeks in office, and it throws into question open Justice Department investigations, especially the probe into Hunter Biden’s taxes.
In his resignation letter, Barr said he on Monday updated Trump on the department’s “review of voter fraud allegations in the 2020 election and how these allegations will continue to be pursued.”
He added that his last day on the job would be Wednesday next week.
Trump said that US Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, whom he labeled “an outstanding person,” would become acting attorney general.
As the current second in command at the Justice Department, Rosen’s appointment is not likely to change much in the final weeks before the administration departs.
Trump spent much of the day watching the US Electoral College tally and calling allies, but broke away to meet with Barr.
His tweet about the attorney general’s exit was a sober message from a president who is notoriously cold to his departing staff, and quick to name-call and deride them once they say they are leaving.
Trump said on Fox News over the weekend that he was disappointed that the Hunter Biden investigation had not been disclosed.
Hunter Biden himself announced it last week.
“Bill Barr should have stepped up,” Trump said.
One senior administration official not authorized to speak publicly and speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity said that Barr had resigned of his own accord and described the meeting as amicable.
Barr, who was serving in his second stint as attorney general, sought to paint himself as an independent leader who would not bow to political pressure.
However, Democrats have repeatedly accused Barr of acting more like the president’s personal attorney than the US attorney general, and Barr had proved to be a largely reliable Trump ally and defender of presidential power.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican leader of the US Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters at the Capitol that he was surprised by the news.
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