Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/401



Trump continued “for quite a while,” and Barr was “expecting” what came next. President Trump alleged that “the Department of Justice doesn’t think it has a role looking into these fraud claims.” Barr anticipated this line of attack because the President’s counsel, Rudolph Giuliani, was making all sorts of wild, unsubstantiated claims. And Giuliani wanted to blame DOJ for the fact that no one had come up with any real evidence of fraud. Of course, by the time of this meeting, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices had been explicitly authorized to investigate substantial claims for 2 weeks and had yet to find any evidence of significant voter fraud.

Barr explained to the President why he was wrong. DOJ, was willing to investigate any “specific and credible allegations of fraud.” The fact of the matter was that the claims being made were “just not meritorious” and were “not panning out.” Barr emphasized to the President that DOJ “doesn’t take sides in elections” and “is not an extension of your legal team.”

During the November 23rd meeting, Barr also challenged one of President Trump’s central lies. He “specifically raised the Dominion voting machines, which I found to be one of the most disturbing allegations.” "Disturbing," Barr explained, because there was "absolutely zero basis for the allegations," which were being "made in such a sensational way that