Investigators slam Bill Barr for "unusual" statement that lent false credence to Trump fraud claims

Former Attorney General Bill Barr was personally involved in the decision to release a misleading Justice Department statement on the eve of the 2020 election, falsely claiming there was voter fraud because nine mail-in ballots for Donald Trump were found discarded in a dumpster in Pennsylvania, according to an inspector general’s report released Thursday, CNN reported.

On September 23, 2020, Barr told Trump at a White House event  that seven of the nine recovered ballots were "marked for Trump," which is something that was not made public yet. In commenting on a case he wasn't bringing charges over, he violated the Department of Justice guidelines; the very next day, Trump revealed the information shared with him on a national radio show and the Department of Justice issued a statement.

Investigators concluded that the discarding of the ballots in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, was a mistake by a contractor and no charges were ever filed.

The inspector general's report slammed Barr for breaking with department protocol.

“Nearly every DOJ lawyer we interviewed — both career employees and Trump Administration political appointees — emphasized how ‘unusual’ it would be for the department to issue a public statement containing details about an ongoing criminal investigation, particularly before any charges are filed,” the report said.  “As one then U.S. Attorney told us: ‘If [we] don’t have a charge, we don’t say anything about an investigation; we just don’t do that.’”

Although Barr didn't technically break the law, he crossed the line simply for clear political purposes. His department's announcement of an investigation came as Trump was spinning the false narrative that the election would be rigged because of mail-in ballots.