
Attorney General William Barr, one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies, is departing amid lingering tension over the president’s baseless claims of election fraud.
Barr went Monday to the White House, where Trump said the attorney general submitted his letter of resignation. “As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family,” Trump tweeted.
President Trump said that Attorney General William Barr would depart next week. Barr had in recent weeks fallen out of favor with the president after acknowledging that the Justice Department had found no widespread voter fraud.
…Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all! pic.twitter.com/V5sqOJT9PM
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020
Tensions between them escalated this past weekend when Mr. Trump accused his attorney general of disloyalty for not publicly disclosing the department’s investigation into President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s son Hunter Biden during the campaign.
Though Washington has been abuzz with rumors about the fate of Mr. Barr’s post, Republicans said they were surprised by his abrupt departure.
According to npr.org, Earlier this month, Barr said the Department of Justice found no evidence of widespread election fraud, directly contradicting Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats stole the election.