Bill Barr says not enough evidence of voter fraud, Rudy Giuliani hits back saying no sign of DoJ investigation
Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump’s most trusted allies all this time, said on Tuesday, December 1, that the justice department is yet to uncover proof of widespread voter fraud that the president’s camp has been alleging in a bid to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election that has gone in favor of Joe Biden. Barr, who had also been backing Trump’s claim that mail-in voting will result in electoral malpractice, has now taken a stand contradicting the commander-in-chief who has refused to concede defeat so far, making it amply evident that the tone in the Republican Party is losing its consistency.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the 70-year-old Barr said attorneys and FBI agents have been working to follow up on specific complaints and information that they have received but they are yet to find any evidence that would turn the results upside down. “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” the AG was quoted as saying to AP. Trump, on the other hand, continued to call the election "rigged" the same day that Barr contradicted him.
Rigged Election. Show signatures and envelopes. Expose the massive voter fraud in Georgia. What is Secretary of State and @BrianKempGA afraid of. They know what we’ll find!!! https://t.co/Km7tRm2s1A
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2020
Barr, whose words also came the same day Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the incoming administration as the “new administration” as president-elect Biden introduced faces that will handle the economic affairs.
It was only recently that Barr issued a directive to the country’s attorneys asking them to go after any “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities, if at all they existed, before the presidential election was certified. While the memorandum enabled prosecutors to go around the justice department’s long-practised policy of prohibiting such overt actions before the election was certified. The move proved to be controversial as soon after the memorandum was issued, the department’s top elections crime official said he would step aside.
Giuliani, Jenna Ellis slam Barr
Barr’s words did not go down with Trump’s legal spearhead Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. In a statement, the lawyer duo blasted the AG to counter allege that there has been no investigation even after they produced evidence of illegal voting.
“With all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn’t been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation. We have gathered ample evidence of illegal voting in at least six states, which they have not examined. We have many witnesses swearing under oath they saw crimes being committed in connection with voter fraud. As far as we know, not a single one has been interviewed by the DOJ. The Justice Department also hasn’t audited any voting machines or used their subpoena powers to determine the truth,” they said in a letter released late Tuesday.
“Nonetheless, we will continue our pursuit of the truth through the judicial system and state legislatures, and continue toward the Constitution’s mandate and ensuring that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not. Again, with the greatest respect to the Attorney General, his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud,” they added.
Trump’s legal representatives have failed to bring a single result in favor of the president, who even thought that their performance was not doing his cause any good. Voices have started emerging from within the GOP against the claims of voter fraud and recently, Giuliani was even barred from attending an election hearing by the GOP chair in Michigan, a key state that the president lost to Biden.
However, Barr’s latest remarks could see him facing more challenges. Last month, Trump expressed his displeasure with the AG over the fact that not enough of his political enemies have been arrested so far and warned that Barr could discover himself in “a very sad, sad situation” if he did not start rounding them up.