Trump says U.S. Attorney General Barr resigns

U.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Monday (December 15) that he will step down from the Department of Justice next week, shortly after the Electoral College confirmed President Donald Trump's loss to President-elect Joe Biden.

Trump announced Barr's resignation in a tweet, saying he would leave his post just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family, adding that Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen would take his place.

Barr angered Trump in early December when he did not support the U.S. President's false claims of widespread fraud in the November election.

He said the Justice Department had "not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election."

Trump has previously lashed out at Barr on Twitter over the weekend, calling him "A big disappointment!" -after the Wall Street Journal reported that Barr knew earlier this year about an investigation into the President-elect Joe Biden's son, Hunter, and his tax affairs.

But late on Monday along with Barr's resignation letter, Trump tweeted that their relationship "had been a very good one" and that Barr had done an outstanding job.

A White House official told Reuters that Barr resigned on his own accord.

Trump's legal team had accused Barr of failing to conduct a proper investigation into allegations of voter fraud.

Barr's resignation letter was released shortly after he briefed the president about the Justice Department's review into the Trump campaign's voter fraud claims.

In the letter, Barr pledged that allegations of fraud "would continue to be pursued."

Trump, who lost the presidential election to Joe Biden, has refused to concede and despite pursuing a series of legal challenges in numerous states, he has not managed to prevail in any of them.