Sources claim that Barr and Trump had a contentious ‘White House’ rendezvous this week
“This week in White house’s west wing, the Attorney General William Barr and incumbent President Donald Trump had a lengthy yet controversial rendezvous after Barr addressed The Associated Press during an interview that the Department of Justice never found a single proof of any wrong doing that would alter the election result” – a person acquainted to CNN disclosed under the condition of anonymity.
Several people acquainted with his reaction said the interview had caused his boss to explode. Trump wouldn’t say on Thursday whether he had confidence in Barr.
“Ask me that if they will be investigating this wrongdoing after some weeks from now”- Trump told after pausing a moment to answer the question raised by reporters in the Oval Office during Medal of Freedom event.
Trump also reiterated baseless allegations of “massive fraud” and Thursday’s “rigged election” William Barr and state have asserted that there is no proof of state election fraud.
“He didn’t do anything. He didn’t search (for fraud in the Georgia election)” – Trump spoke about Barr and his administration’s Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice refused to comment Thursday on the relationship between Trump and Barr.
But on Tuesday, hours after the attorney general’s statements to The Associated Press, a spokesman seemed to attempt to reverse the damage, releasing a statement saying that the department had not completed its election fraud investigation and thus had not “announced any affirmative finding of no fraud in the election.”
While Kayleigh McEnany, White House press secretary, said Wednesday that she was unaware of whether Trump and Barr met while he was at the White House on Tuesday, the source described the meeting as tense, but said the President was not shouting at Barr.
Long before the interview, Trump was profoundly upset with Barr, but claimed that it only added to his frustration. Two White House officials said that while Trump had definitely contemplated firing Barr, several individuals were urging him against it.
If he actually does (fires) is the guess of everyone.
After the fallout he encountered from firing FBI Director James Comey, Trump is still sensitive about firing someone in a capacity like Barr’s. Once he’s out of office, Trump has been concerned about legal consequences and firing the attorney general could cause more problems for him.
The remarks made by Barr to the AP were the latest official rebuke by Republicans of the President’s accusations of systemic fraud in his defeat to Joe Biden.
Barr told everyone present that they have never witnessed fraud at a level that could have affected a different election outcome till date.
Barr, who had repeated Trump’s statements before the election that mail-in voting was not secured, said both the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security investigated fraud claims and came up empty.
Attorneys Jenna Ellis and Rudy Giuliani claimed in a statement that Barr’s “opinion appears to be without any investigation or knowledge of the substantial evidence and irregularities of systemic fraud.”
So far, the lawyers have not provided any evidence to support their claims, which have been dismissed by numerous courts in states across the country, and their attempts will soon hit a wall as a number of states have certified or are about to certify their findings, including the crucial states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
A few other well-known Republican officials, including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who said earlier this week that his state’s elections were stable, have also denied accusations of widespread voter fraud, drawing criticism from the President.
Last week, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia and the Secretary of State of Georgia dismissed Trump’s demands to reverse the election results of the state saying that their elections were safe as well.
In addition to his inability to back up Trump’s voter fraud allegations, Trump’s biggest annoyance with Barr is the lack of a John Durham audit. Trump and his senior staff in the White House were under the assumption that it was coming out prior to the election, and Trump asked people frequently, “Where is it?”
