Barr to step down as attorney general
Trump loyalist fell out of president’s favor after election
President Donald Trump said on Monday that Attorney General William P. Barr would depart next week, ending a tenure marked by Barr’s willingness to advance the president’s political agenda and by criticism that he eroded the post-watergate independence of the Justice Department.
Barr had in recent weeks fallen out of favor with the president after acknowledging that the department had found no widespread voter fraud. Tensions between them escalated this past weekend when Trump accused his attorney general of disloyalty for not publicly disclosing the department’s investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden during the campaign.
Trump sought to play down their differences on Monday, saying in a tweet announcing Barr’s departure, “Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!”
And Barr reciprocated in a resignation letter devoted to praising Trump’s term, saying that the Justice Department was pursuing some accusations of voter fraud. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to elaborate on its work on the allegations or how it fit with Barr’s earlier assertions that it had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Jeffrey A. Rosen, the No. 2 at the Justice Department, will take over as acting attorney general when Barr leaves on Dec. 23.
Though Washington has been abuzz with rumors about the fate of Barr’s post, Republicans said they were surprised by his abrupt departure. Barr “did an incredibly good job trying to repair damage to our Department of Justice, trying to be fair and faithful to the law, and I think he’s got a lot to be proud of,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C. and a close ally of Trump’s, told reporters.