Former President Donald Trump attacked Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill McSwain, saying he has done “absolutely nothing” to address his bogus claims that the 2020 general election was fraudulent.
Trump announced that he would withhold his endorsement.
“One person in Pennsylvania who I will not be endorsing is Bill McSwain for Governor,” Trump said in a statement. “He was the U.S. Attorney who did absolutely nothing on the massive Election Fraud that took place in Philadelphia and throughout the commonwealth.”
“Do not vote for Bill McSwain, a coward, who let our Country down,” he added. “He knew what was happening and let it go. It was there for the taking and he failed so badly.”
McSwain, a former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, previously sought Trump’s endorsement but their relationship has soured.
Last year, McSwain sent a letter to Trump that said his office “received various allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities” and noted that William Barr, Trump’s attorney general, stopped McSwain from making public announcements about the allegations, as well as investigating them.
“As part of my responsibilities as U.S. Attorney, I wanted to be transparent with the public and, of course, investigate fully any allegations,” McSwain wrote. “Attorney General Barr, however, instructed me not to make any public statements or put out any press releases regarding possible election irregularities. I was also given a directive to pass along serious allegations to the State Attorney General for investigation — the same State Attorney General who had already declared that you could not win.”
McSwain’s letter angered Barr, who disputed McSwain’s story.
“Any suggestion that McSwain was told to stand down from investigating allegations of election fraud is false. It’s just false,” Barr said later, according to The Washington Post.
