Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr hears from the U.S. House of Representatives Election Committee on June 9, 2022 to investigate the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in Capitol Hill, Washington, U.S.A. You can watch it on video during the deposit at the hearing. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Former Attorney General William Barr took up widespread fraud allegations during a conversation with President Donald Trump after the 2020 election, but Trump refused to believe the results were justified, Barr said. Said in the recorded testimony presented on Monday.
In a comment to the House of Representatives investigating an attack on the Capitol on January 6, Barr described Trump’s allegations of fraudulent elections as a farce. Barr’s testimony presented at the panel’s second hearing detailing the findings describe Trump as reluctant to believe the then Attorney General when Barr dismissed false claims about the election results. did.
“It looks like he wasn’t listening after the election,” Barr explained of his interaction with Trump after the former president was defeated by President Joe Biden.
Bar publicly stated There were no widespread fraudulent elections In an interview announced by the Associated Press in December 2020. He resigned from his job that same month.
Barr said in the Commission’s testimony that Trump’s false allegations about the election contributed to his decision to leave the administration.
House investigators showed them the testimony of the bar Detailed efforts by Trump and his allies to spread the allegations of unfounded fraud After the 2020 election. Parliamentarians were forced to flee after a crowd of Trump supporters, who believed the elections had been stolen, raided the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and confirmed the victory of the Byden electoral college.
Since his resignation, Mr. Trump has been falsely claiming that the elections were fraudulent and stolen from him. He does not rule out running for president in 2024.
Barr met with the president at the White House in late November 2020 after the election, the former Attorney General said. Mr. Trump said there was a “serious fraud” at the meeting and “as soon as the facts are revealed, the outcome of the election will be reversed.” Later, Mr. Barr said that the Justice Department has a role in investigating fraudulent claims.
Mr. Barr pointed out to Mr. Trump that the Justice Department “does not participate in elections” and “the Justice Department is not an extension of the legal team,” and said he upheld the Justice Department’s neutrality at the meeting.
Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and the then-President’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows spoke with Bar after the rally. According to the former prosecutor-general, the two suggested to Barr that he was confident that he was approaching the idea that Trump had lost the election.
Still, a few days later, Trump went to Fox News, defeating the Justice Department and suggesting more unproven cases of fraudulent elections.
“I’m a little depressed. If he really believes in this, he’s lost contact. If he really believes in this, he’s cut off from reality,” Barr said. Explained Trump’s continued attitude towards the election.
After Barr’s comment on the AP, Trump met with his Attorney General again at the White House, repeating his false allegations of fraudulent elections.
According to Barr, it was there that the Attorney General told the president, “The allegations of fraud were bullish —-“. Barr reiterated that they “wasted a whole month on Dominion’s voting machine and they were ridiculous claims.”
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger contributed to this story.
