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Lead investigator was reportedly pressed to assist attempts to subvert election with promises he would become national hero While election officials in Georgia were verifying signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in one metro Atlanta county, US President Donald Trump pressed a lead investigator to “find the fraud” and said it would make the investigator a national hero.The December call, described by a person familiar...

Former DoJ officials say they are worried Trump will lean on acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen for potentially risky favorsWilliam Barr’s abrupt move to leave his post as attorney general this week has spurred fears among Department of Justice veterans that Donald Trump will put new pressures on Barr’s successor to do him big and potentially risky political and legal favors.Former justice department officials...

Attorney general at odds with Trump over disputing electionBarr also rejects call for special counsel for Hunter BidenThe US attorney general, William Barr, said on Monday he has no plans to appoint a special counsel to investigate claims of fraud around the US election, which have been baselessly made by Donald Trump and many of his political allies. Continue reading...

The attorney general, who acted as Trump’s enforcer with apparent relish, ultimately wouldn’t help him steal an electionIf Dick Cheney gained notoriety as George W Bush’s “Darth Vader”, William Barr, the US attorney general, appeared a worthy successor as Donald Trump’s Lord of the Sith. Continue reading...

US attorney general’s intervention comes as Donald Trump refuses to concede and promotes unfounded claims of voter fraudThe US attorney general, William Barr, has authorized federal prosecutors to begin investigating “substantial allegations” of voter irregularities across the country in a stark break with longstanding practice and despite a lack of evidence of any major fraud having been committed. Continue reading...

The attorney general has been spouting attacks on election, and, critics say, has a deep sense of mission about re-electing the presidentDonald Trump’s astonishing suggestion at a campaign rally last weekend that the US president will deploy government lawyers to try to hit the brakes on the counting of ballots on election night relies on the complicity of one federal official more than any...

Rarely used charge means a person plotted a threat that posed imminent danger to government authorityWilliam Barr told prosecutors to explore aggressive charges against people arrested at recent demonstrations across the US, even suggesting bringing a rarely used sedition charge, reserved for those who have plotted a threat that posed imminent danger to government authority, according to multiple reports on Wednesday. The move signals...

When asked to back up his claims on counterfeit ballots, the attorney general says he’s basing his assertion ‘on logic’In a CNN interview, William Barr, the attorney general, echoed Donald Trump’s misinformation about mail-in voting and denied racism in the policing – but on both counts came up short when asked to provide evidence to back up his claims.Barr said he didn’t have evidence...

The attorney general’s many critics saw his combative display on Capitol Hill as proof of his willingness to enable Trump’s darkest impulsesWilliam Barr was hungry. “Mr Chairman, could we take a five-minute break?” the attorney general asked Jerry Nadler of the House of Representatives’ judiciary committee. “No,” retorted Nadler, his hearing almost done. Barr responded sardonically: “You’re a real class act.” Related: Trump badly...

Attorney general William Barr has said he does not generally believe there is systemic racism in US police departments. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Democratic congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas questioned Barr on whether he considered the killing of George Floyd to be indicative of a systemic problem in policing. Amid crosstalk between Lee and Barr, the attorney general said: ‘I don’t...

Attorney general’s speech is part of continuing Trump administration offensive against BeijingThe US attorney general, William Barr, has assailed the Walt Disney Company and Hollywood studios, accusing them of “kowtowing” to the Chinese Communist party.Barr’s allegations are part of a sustained diplomatic and public relations offensive by the Trump administration against Beijing, which the attorney general accused of engaging in “economic blitzkrieg – an...

Administration officials to sanction court investigatorsBarr attacks ‘long history of corruption and malfeasance’The Trump administration is launching an economic and legal offensive on the international criminal court in response to the court’s decision to open an investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan carried out by all sides, including the US. Related: Top general Mark Milley apologizes for part in Trump's church photo-op – live...

John Gleeson condemns department’s ‘highly irregular conduct’Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBI but then withdrew pleaA former federal judge appointed to review the justice department’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn has found that the government’s request should be denied because there is “clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power”. Related: George Floyd's brother testifies before House:...

Ex-Trump adviser Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to FBIJudge appointed to argue against DoJ’s motion to dismissFifteen Republican state attorneys general have filed a legal brief telling a federal judge they support the justice department’s attempt to drop its case against the former national security adviser Michael Flynn.The move comes after almost 2,000 former justice department figures condemned the move to drop the case....

Former justice department officials and legal experts have pointed to Barr’s intervention in cases involving Trump associatesLegal experts and and alumnae of the US Department of Justice have begun sounding the alarm about Donald Trump’s attorney general, William Barr.Recently Barr’s justice department withdrew charges against Michael Flynn, the former Trump administration national security adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to federal law enforcement officials...

Attorney general asserts that investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia was ‘without basis’, despite evidenceWilliam Barr has said without evidence that he believes the Russia investigation that shadowed Donald Trump for the first two years of his administration was started without any basis and amounted to an effort to “sabotage the presidency”, he said in an interview with Fox News Channel...

President reasserts his right to tweet on judicial issues following William Barr’s warning the posts ‘make it impossible for me to do my job’Donald Trump has ignored a plea from his attorney general, William Barr, to not tweet about ongoing legal cases, by using his Twitter account to say he has a “legal right” to do so.Barr delivered a remarkable public rebuke of the...

President tweets that he did not interfere in Roger Stone case – ‘but this doesn’t mean I do not have the legal right to do so’Help us cover the critical issues of 2020. Consider making a contribution 2.11pm GMT Hello – this is Lauren Gambino in Washington taking over from Paul Owen. (Thanks Paul!) Today the president heads to Mar-a-Lago, aka the winter White...