US Attorney-General William Barr rejects Donald Trump’s claim that fraud decided the election

US Attorney-General William Barr has delivered another heavy blow to President Donald Trump’s claims that fraud robbed him of victory in last month’s election, saying the Justice Department has found no evidence to back him up.

In the lead-up to the election, Mr Barr repeatedly voiced support for Mr Trump’s suspicion that mail-in voting was vulnerable to fraud. Last month, he issued a directive to US attorneys across the country, authorising them to investigate any credible allegations of misconduct.

However, speaking to The Associated Press today, Mr Barr said investigators had discovered nothing that would overturn the President’s defeat to Joe Biden.

“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” he said.

“Most claims of fraud are very particularised to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct. They are not systemic allegations.

“And those have been run down. They are being run down. Some have been broad, and potentially cover a few thousand votes. They have been followed up on.”
 

Barr at the WH from CNN. pic.twitter.com/GpGWFzCDoz

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) December 1, 2020

In one eye-catching quote, Mr Barr appeared to take a veiled swipe at Mr Trump for repeatedly demanding the Justice Department launch investigations aligned with his political interests.

“There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as a sort of default fix-all, and (whenever) people don’t like something, they want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate’,” he said.

The Attorney-General showed up at the White House shortly after The Associated Press published its story. An official said he had a pre-scheduled meeting and it wasn’t related to the article.

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PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor was told by sources the President’s team was furious Mr Barr gave the interview.

“Allies of President Trump have knives out for (Attorney-General) Barr who told the AP the Department of Justice has not uncovered voting fraud at a scale that could have affected the results of the election,” she wrote on Twitter.

“One source tells me Barr’s AP interview is a ‘complete betrayal’ and says Barr has been ‘a total failure’.”