Trump says he's 'disappointed' Barr hasn't 'looked very hard' at baseless voter fraud claims
President Trump on Thursday said he is “disappointed” that Attorney General William Barr, in his view, has not looked hard enough at purported evidence of voter fraud brought forth by his campaign.
Barr told the Associated Press earlier this week that the U.S. Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election.
“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” Barr said.
Asked by a reporter about the attorney general’s remarks after awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to football coach Lou Holtz, Trump insisted that Barr “hasn’t looked.”
“When he looks, he’ll see,” the president said, citing unspecified “evidence” of alleged fraud in Georgia, which the state’s Republican election officials have vehemently denied.
Trump said Barr and the Justice Department “haven’t looked very hard, which is a disappointment.”
The president, who continues to deny the results of an election he lost, reiterated his claim that there was “massive fraud” in several other swing states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Arizona. There is no evidence of widespread election or voting fraud in those or any other states, despite his claims.
“This is probably the most fraudulent election anyone has ever seen,” Trump said, an assertion that Barr, Republican election officials, numerous judges, international observers and current and former experts inside his own intelligence agencies refute.
Asked if he still has confidence in Barr, Trump demurred.
“Ask me that in a number of weeks from now,” the president replied. “They should be looking at all of this fraud.”
In his interview with the AP, Barr suggested that people were confusing the use of the federal criminal justice system with allegations that should be made in civil lawsuits.
“There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all,” he said.
Trump disagreed.
“This is not civil,” the president said. “This is criminal stuff.”
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