(Exhibition of the commission of January 6)
The committee showed a video of former Attorney General William Barr’s closed-door statement, in which Barr simply said that Trump’s statements were “shit.”
Barr, who resigned in December 2020, said part of the reason he left the Trump administration was because of the false allegations of fraud that Trump was making.
“I made it clear that I didn’t agree with the idea of saying the election was stolen and posting these things, which I told the president was shit,” Barr said in the statement.
Barr publicly announced on December 1, 2020 that the Justice Department had found no evidence of widespread election fraud. His comments infuriated Trump and Barr resigned several weeks later.
Barr was replaced by Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who was under pressure from Trump and his allies to support the Justice Department in Trump’s false allegations of election fraud. When he resisted, Trump considered replacing him with a loyalist who would support allegations of baseless fraud.
At the time of his resignation, Barr did not give this reason. Instead, it started with:
“I appreciate the opportunity to update you this afternoon on the department’s review of voter fraud allegations in the 2020 elections and how these allegations will continue to be made. At a time when the country is so deeply divided , it is up to all levels of government and all the agencies that act within their competences to do everything possible to ensure the integrity of the elections and to promote public confidence in their outcome. “
Watch the moment: