Barr: Trump's Behavior is a "Betrayal of HIs Office and Supporters"

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Last updated on January 14th, 2021 at 01:33 am

Former Attorney General William Barr has denounced President Donald Trump after rioters, spurred by the president’s incendiary language and baseless claims of election fraud, stormed Capitol Hill yesterday in a bid to overturn the election results.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Barr said Trump’s conduct amounts to a “betrayal of his office and supporters,” adding that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable.”

Barr was once one of Trump’s most loyal defenders, though their relationship soured when Barr pushed back against the president’s claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. Those claims are baseless: There is no evidence to support Trump’s claims. Barr, several weeks after the election, announced that he has “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,” much to Trump’s chagrin.

Barr also fell out of favor with Trump when he declined to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings, arguing that those investigations are already being handled by attorneys within the Department of Justice.

“I think to the extent there’s an investigation, I think that it’s being handled responsibly and professionally currently within the department,” Barr said last month. “To this point I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel, and I have no plan to do so before I leave.”

Barr would resign shortly after.