Barr Allows Probes Into Voting Outcome Despite Lack of Evidence
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr authorized Justice Department officials to open inquiries into potential irregularities in the presidential election, while acknowledging there’s no conclusive evidence.
Barr issued a memo on Monday evening authorizing U.S. attorneys across the country, as well as his top lieutenants, “to pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections in your jurisdictions in certain cases.”
“While serious allegations should be handled with great care, specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims should not be a basis for initiating federal inquiries,” Barr wrote. “Nothing here should be taken as any indication that the department has concluded that voting irregularities have impacted the outcome of any election.”
Barr has been one of the most ardent and aggressive supporters of President Donald Trump, and his message comes as Trump and his legal team make so far unsubstantiated claims that there was widespread voter fraud.
Kerri Kupec, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said that neither Trump nor anyone at the White House nor lawmakers had asked Barr to take the action.
Before the election, Barr had echoed Trump’s unsupported claims that mail-in ballots were subject to fraud, including ballots cast by foreign governments seeking to influence the election. But he had remained silent in the days just before and after last week’s election, until now.
___
(c)2020 Bloomberg News
In The News
Health
Voting
Dep. of Justice
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr authorized Justice Department officials to open inquiries into potential irregularities in the presidential election, while acknowledging there's no conclusive evidence. Barr issued a memo on Monday evening authorizing U.S. attorneys across the country, as well as his top lieutenants, "to pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote... Read More
LOS ANGELES — Faced with a looming deadline next month, thousands of accusers have submitted sexual abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America in a bankruptcy that could cost the youth organization and its insurers hundreds of millions of dollars — or more. The Scouts, which filed for... Read More
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department sued Alphabet Inc.'s Google in the most significant antitrust case against an American company in two decades, kicking off what promises to be a volley of legal actions against the search giant for allegedly abusing its market power. Google, which controls about 90% of the online... Read More
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department on Monday accused Google in an antitrust lawsuit of maintaining an illegal monopoly over online search and search advertising. The filing of the lawsuit in the D.C. federal court came just two weeks after Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee... Read More
WASHINGTON — Two groups promoting ethics in government called for the impeachment of U.S. Attorney General William Barr, accusing him of violating laws and undermining public confidence in the Justice Department. Barr has used the department to further President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, a bipartisan group... Read More
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump lashed out Thursday at U.S. Attorney General William Barr for not doing more to prosecute his political enemies, including arresting Obama-era officials who the president accuses — without evidence — of illegally spying on his 2016 campaign. Barr has echoed some of... Read More
