AG Barr faces push back after calling for voter fraud probe

Prosecutors say Trump's voter fraud claims and Attorney General William Barr's call for an investigations are 'not based in fact'

On Nov. 9, U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued a memorandum regarding the 2020 presidential election calling for voter fraud to be investigated.

Federal prosecutors are now pushing back on that order, according to a report from the New York Times.

The memo, entitled Post-voting Election Irregularity Inquires, was addressed to several government agents and agencies, including federal attorneys and the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with the Criminal, National Security and Civil Rights divisions.

The memo stated that after the conclusion of the election, the Department of Justice “has an obligation to ensure that federal elections are conducted in such a way that the American people can have full confidence in their electoral process and their government.”

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He, therefore, gave authorization to the recipients of the memo to “pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections in your jurisdictions in certain cases.”

U.S. Attorney General William Barr (Photo by Jeff Roberson – Pool/Getty Images)

After investigating the matter, several federal prosecutors wrote to Barr requesting that he rescind the memo, saying it’s “not based in fact,” after finding no “substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities.” 

READ MORE: Obama says he’s ‘troubled’ by GOP officials backing Trump in fake voter fraud claims

The prosecutors also stated that they felt Barr’s memo was an attempt to bolster President Donald Trump‘s baseless claims that the election was rigged by mail-in voting. Trump has been saying publicly for months that mail-in voting was going to be fraudulent, and CNN reports his campaign filed lawsuits in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona claiming voter fraud.

As of Friday, those suits have been either dropped or dismissed.

Trump initially had leads in those states on Election Day. However, his Democratic challenger Joe Biden gained a lead on those states after mail-in votes were counted during the remainder of the week. By Saturday, Nov. 7, Biden was projected the winner of the race after Pennsylvania was called for the former vice president.

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