Attorney General Bill Barr may leave office before the end of Trump's term

Trump Barr
Barr has been considered a staunch defender of the president. AP Photo/Evan Vucci
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Attorney General Bill Barr is considering leaving office before President Donald Trump's term ends in January, The New York Times reported.

  • The report, which cited three unnamed sources, comes after Barr broke from the president last week over the US election result.

  • Barr has been considered a staunch defender of the president, who was nevertheless noncommittal recently about Barr's standing.

  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

US Attorney General Bill Barr is considering leaving office before President Donald Trump's term ends in January, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The report, which cited three unnamed sources, comes after Barr broke from the president last week about US election integrity by saying the Justice Department had not found evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change Trump's loss.

The Times' sources said Barr might leave before January 20, when Trump is scheduled to exit office; one said the attorney general was considering it since before his statement about the election last week.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Barr has been considered one of the president's most staunch defenders. Before the election, he even echoed one of Trump's claims that mail-in ballots could be susceptible to interference by foreign actors, something US intelligence officials did not find evidence to support.

The president has not said much publicly in response to Barr. But when asked recently whether he still had confidence in the attorney general, Trump said "ask me that in a number of weeks."

The Washington Post reported last week that Trump advisors were trying to stop the president from firing Barr.

Despite Barr's statement, the president has continued to make unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud. Before Barr spoke out, Trump even suggested, without evidence, that the federal government, including Barr's department, might be involved.

While Trump has continued to cast doubt on the election results, enough states have certified their results to secure an Electoral College victory for President-elect Joe Biden.

Some of Trump's allies have also criticized Barr for not doing more in service of the president's attempts to change the results of the election.

"With all due respect to the attorney general, there hasn't been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation," the Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis said in a statement.

Read the original article on Business Insider