Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/404

 the night in Milwaukee and Detroit," non-residents voted in Nevada, the number of ballots counted in Pennsylvania exceeded the number of votes cast, as well as a story about a truck driver supposedly driving thousands of pre-filled ballots from New York to Pennsylvania, among others. Under Attorney General Barr, DOJ would also investigate a false claim that a video feed in Fulton County captured multiple runs of ballots for former Vice President Biden. As explained in detail in Chapter 1 of this report, there was no truth to any of these allegations, but that didn't stop President Trump from repeatedly citing these fictional accounts.

"And I told him that the stuff that his people were shoveling out to the public was bullshit, I mean, that the claims of fraud were bullshit," Barr recalled about the December 1st meeting. "And, you know, he was indignant about that. And I reiterated that they wasted a whole month of these claims on the Dominion voting machines and they were idiotic claims."

President Trump repeated that there had been a "big vote dump" in Detroit. But Attorney General Barr quickly parried this claim. There was nothing suspicious in how the votes flowed into a central location, Barr explained, because that is how votes are always counted in Wayne County. Moreover, Barr pointed out that the President performed better in Detroit in 2020 than he had in 2016. "I mean, there's no indication of fraud in Detroit," Barr said. Barr explained that the "thing about the truck driver is complete, you know, nonsense." DOJ and FBI had investigated the matter, including by interviewing the relevant witnesses. There was no truck filled with ballots.

Nothing that Attorney General Barr said during that meeting could satisfy President Trump. So, the President shifted the focus to Barr. He complained that the Attorney General hadn't indicted former FBI Director James Comey and that U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation hadn't made more progress. "Look, I know that you're dissatisfied with me," Barr said, "and I'm glad to offer my resignation." President Trump pounded the table in front of him with his fist and said, "Accepted."

White House lawyers Pat Cipollone and Eric Herschmann tracked Barr down in the parking lot after he left. They convinced Barr to stay in the administration. But his days as Attorney General were numbered. President Trump was not going to stop spreading conspiracy theories. Nor would the President cease in his effort to co-opt DOJ for his own corrupt political purposes.

President Trump released a video on Facebook the very next day. He repeated many of the same lies, including the conspiracy theory about Dominion voting machines switching votes. The President also offered