‘It Was All Bullsh*t’: Bill Barr Opens Up About Shooting Down Trump’s 2020 Election Lies
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An upcoming book on former President Donald Trump’s final days in office is providing explosive details on the break between himself and former Attorney General Bill Barr.
The Atlantic obtained a preview of Betrayal, from ABC’s Jon Karl, which delves into how Trump and Barr’s relationship with each other deteriorated in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Barr spoke to Karl and recalled how he and Trump reached their breaking point when the former AG refused to back up Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the election was marred by fraud and corruption.
After speaking with Barr in the process of writing the book, Karl wrote that the former AG’s “betrayal” of Trump occurred on December 1, the day Barr said in an interview that the Justice Department has seen no evidence of fraud that would’ve changed the outcome of the election. Even though Barr previously raised concerns earlier by green lighting a 2020 election probe, Karl writes that Barr told him “he had already concluded it was highly unlikely that evidence existed that would tip the scales in the election.”
“He had expected Trump to lose and therefore was not surprised by the outcome,” Karl continues. “He also knew that at some point, Trump was going to confront him about the allegations, and he wanted to be able to say that he had looked into them and that they were unfounded.”
“My attitude was: It was put-up or shut-up time,” said Barr. “If there was evidence of fraud, I had no motive to suppress it. But my suspicion all the way along was that there was nothing there. It was all bullshit.”
Barr later recalled the briefings he had with cyber-security experts who dismissed the idea that voting machines were rigged in some way to switch Trump votes for Joe Biden votes.
“We realized from the beginning it was just bullshit,” he said again.
Barr’s remarks against election conspiracy theories not only blasted a hole in Trump’s claims at the time, it also factored into Mitch McConnell’s concerns that this would further derail the GOP’s chances of winning Georgia’s runoff elections and maintaining their hold on the Senate.
From the report:
To McConnell, the road to maintaining control of the Senate was simple: Republicans needed to make the argument that with Biden soon to be in the White House, it was crucial that they have a majority in the Senate to check his power. But McConnell also believed that if he openly declared Biden the winner, Trump would be enraged and likely act to sabotage the Republican Senate campaigns in Georgia. Barr related his conversations with McConnell to me. McConnell confirms the account.
“Look, we need the president in Georgia,” McConnell told Barr, “and so we cannot be frontally attacking him right now. But you’re in a better position to inject some reality into this situation. You are really the only one who can do it.”
“I understand that,” Barr said. “And I’m going to do it at the appropriate time.”
The story continues in The Atlantic, which details Trump’s apoplectic response to Barr’s remarks, and the former AG’s gradual decision to step down from his post.
