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Will AG William Barr be fired? Trump hints at ax as Russiagate probe fails to indict political foes before polls

The president, who expressed his displeasure with Barr last week, said the findings of the probe letting off Obama officials were a 'disgrace'
UPDATED OCT 15, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

President Donald Trump recently cautioned that Attorney General William Barr could “go down as a sad, sad situation” if he did not start rounding up his high-profile political enemies from the Democratic Party. He reiterated the same again in another interview and even hinted at firing Barr after the justice department investigation did not indict any of the president’s opponents.

In an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV’s ‘Greg Kelly Reports’ on Wednesday, October 14, Trump said it was “too early” to determine whether he would ask the 70-year-old Barr to remain in the job if he wins a second term. Earlier in the day, it was reported that a probe into the former Barack Obama administration saw no wrongdoing in “unmasking” the names of the president’s campaign members who were caught in surveillance as part of the Russia investigation. “I have no comment. Can't comment on that. It's too early,” Trump said, adding: “I'm not happy with all of the evidence I have, I can tell you that. I'm not happy.”

The Washington Post came up with a report saying US Attorney John Bash, who left the justice department last week, concluded that none of the officials who sought the names of Americans being tracked by the Obama administration did anything wrong. According to the Post, Bash’s probe looked at unmasking — a process of revealing names of American citizens who are caught up in government tracking. It also assessed whether officials in Obama’s administration spilled information in the media.

Trump calls the findings 'disgrace'

Trump, who has been after Obama and members of his administration, including Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, saying they spied on his campaign four years ago, was upset with the conclusion and said it was a “a disgrace”. The 74-year-old Republican, who has been accusing the previous administration with the term “Obamagate”, said in the interview: “Personally, I think it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. It's a disgrace. I think it's really a horrible thing that they're allowed to get away — when they say no indictments, they actually said no indictments before the election. “I had to go through elections with all those clouds over my head. But they don't because the Republicans are so nice. Personally, I think it's too bad. I think it's too bad, they're guilty as hell.”

The Bash probe was a part of a larger investigation which is being led by veteran US Attorney for Connecticut John Durham, who is looking into the origins of the Russia investigation that started during the Obama administration. The findings of the Durhan probe are unlikely to be released before the November 3 election. Last week, Trump said in a call-in interview with Fox Business that he spoke to Attorney-General Barr, one of his closest allies, about the Durham investigation and got assurance that his administration has “plenty” of evidence to bring charges against his major political foes. He told the host that not many of his enemies were arrested and said that Barr’s reputation was at stake. In a tone of warning, he said Barr could discover himself in “a very sad, sad situation” if he did not start rounding his enemies up.

Barr took office in February last year, succeeding Jeff Sessions who was also fired by Trump who was miffed with his refusal to oversee the probe into Russia's alleged meddling in favor of the latter's election in 2016.

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