Attorney General William Barr in an interview with AP Tuesday said the DOJ has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” Barr said.
Barr in the interview said U.S. attorneys and FBI agents have been working to “follow up specific complaints and information” they have received, but so far none have uncovered any evidence that would overturn the results of the election.
“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 added, referring to Attorney Sidney Powell’s claims that Dominion Voting Systems were flipping Trump votes to Biden.
The top prosecutor added that people have been confusing the use of the federal criminal justice system with allegations that should be made in civil lawsuits, stating that such a remedy for those complaints would be a top-down audit conducted by state or local officials, not the U.S. Justice Department.
“There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all, and people don’t like something they want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate,'” Barr said, adding that there must be a basis to believe there is a crime to investigate.
“Most claims of fraud are very particularized to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct. They are not systemic allegations and. And those have been run down; they are being run down,” Barr added. “Some have been broad and potentially cover a few thousand votes. They have been followed up on.”
A week after the Nov. 3 election, Barr authorized officials at the Justice Department to “pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities” in the 2020 election before its certification process scheduled mid-December.
In the two-page memo, Barr wrote that investigations should be “conducted if there are clear and apparently credible allegations of irregularities that, if true, could potentially impact the outcome of a federal election in an individual state.” On allegations claims, Barr stated those that didn’t impact the outcome should be “deferred until after the election” are certified, in which investigators will be allowed to open “preliminary inquiry” to “assess whether available evidence warrants further investigative” measures.
States have until Dec. 8 to settle controversies and disputes over elections, including recounts and lawsuits, before members of the Electoral College meet to vote on Dec. 14.
The Trump campaign legal team, led by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has filed multiple lawsuits in key battleground states, with nearly three dozen of the challenges being dismissed for lack of evidence and standing. As the legal team continues to mount challenges contesting the results, Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Wisconsin are among the challenged states that have so far certified Biden as the winner.
Shortly after the AP published Barr’s interview, Guiliani, along with Trump Campaign Senior Legal Adviser Jenna Ellis fired back in a statement protesting the AG claim that “there hasn’t been any semblance” of an investigation as the DOJ hasn’t interviewed a “single one” of the many witnesses the campaign has gathered.
“With all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn’t been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation,” the statement reads. “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.”
“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,” the statement adds.
Trump has shown that he isn’t giving up the legal fight, signaling that he plans to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court.
“I’m going to use 125 percent of my energy to do it,” Trump said in his first television interview since Election Day Sunday with Fox News Maria Bartiromo. “You need a judge that’s willing to hear a case. You need a Supreme Court that’s willing to make a real big decision.”
“What kind of a court system is this?” Trump added, expressing disbelief that the courts had rejected the claims of a sitting president. “I wanted to file one suit, Donald J. Trump, president of the United States, against — and put everything into one simple suit. And they say, sir, you don’t have standing. I say, I don’t have standing? You mean, as president of the United States, I don’t have standing? What kind of a court system is this?”
The President also blasted the FBI for failing to more aggressively look into his claims.
“Where is the DOJ and the FBI in all of this, Mr. President? Bartiromo asked Trump. “You have laid out some serious charges here. Shouldn’t this be something that the FBI is investigating? Are they?”
“Missing in action. Can’t tell you where they are,” Trump replied. “You would think, if you’re in the FBI or Department of Justice, this is the biggest thing you could be looking at. Where are they? I have not seen anything. I mean, they just keep moving along, and they go on to the next president.”
According to the White House Pool report, Barr was seen arriving at the White House, shortly after the interview with the AP was published.
20202020 Election2020 Presidential RaceAssociated PressAttorney General Bill BarrDOJElectoral CollegeJenna EllisJoe BidenJustice DepartmentMaria BartiromoPresident TrumpRudy GiulianiTrump 2020 CampaignTrump Legal TeamVoter Fraud
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