AG Bill Barr 'is considering quitting before Trump leaves office' because he is 'furious over president's bullying' after he said DOJ found no widespread election fraud
Attorney General William Barr is said to be considering leaving his post before the end of Donald Trump's presidency on January 20.
A source confirmed that Barr is unhappy with Trump stating Barr 'is not someone who takes bullying and turns the other cheek!'
'He has not made a final decision,' the source said.
Attorney General William Barr is said to be contemplating leaving his post before the end of Donald Trump's presidency on January 20
Barr was summoned for a meeting with Trump following his revelation Tuesday that the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud
The story, first revealed by the The New York Times, stated that it was unclear whether the attorney general's decision to possibly leave was influenced by Trump's refusal to concede the election or Trump's upset over Barr's acknowledgment last week the Justice Department uncovered no widespread voting fraud.
Last week, CNN reported Trump was frustrated with Barr for saying in an interview how no evidence election fraud had been found.
'There's been one assertion that would be systemic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results. And the DHS and DOJ have looked into that, and so far, we haven't seen anything to substantiate that,' Barr told the Associated Press, referring to allegations against Dominion and other voting software used in the 2020 election.
President Donald Trump said Thursday to ask him 'in a number of weeks' whether he still has confidence in Attorney General Bill Barr
The Times reports Barr had been contemplating leaving the department long before last week after apparently completing all that he set out to do at the Justice Department.
But the president has continued to complain in public about the outcome of the election including making an allegation last week that federal law enforcement had rigged the election against him.
Trump excoriated Barr during an Oval Office event Thursday claiming he 'hasn't done anything' to find voter fraud – and the president refused to say if he has confidence in his own attorney general.
'Ask me that in a number of weeks from now,' Trump told reporters.
The president's comments came after Barr said in a Tuesday interview that the Justice Department had not found any evidence of widespread voter fraud, contrary to Trump's repeated claims that the election was 'rigged.'
He also insisted when asked if it was time to concede that the DOJ had not looked into the alleged 'fraud' enough to make a determination whether there was any or not.
'He hasn't done anything yet,' Trump said of Barr. 'When he looks he'll see the kind of evidence that right now you are seeing in the Georgia Senate.'
'They are going through hearings right now in the Senate and they are finding tremendous volumes. So they haven't looked very hard. Which is a disappointment to be honest,' he continued.
Barr was summoned for a meeting with Trump on Tuesday after he said in an interview that the Justice Department did not find any evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A source briefed on the meeting said it was 'intense', according to ABC News.
NBC News reported that Trump had not ruled out firing Barr, but 'people around' the president were trying to make sure he did not. A firing would be politically explosive and bring the possibility of a damaging series of media appearances by Barr.
Although Barr has not made a final decision, should he decide to leave early, deputy attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen, would lead the Justice Department until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20th.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment. The White House had no comment.
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