This is another hard blow for Donald Trump. US Justice Minister Bill Barr said on Tuesday he had failed to find “Of fraud” sufficient to invalidate Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, contrary to the claims of outgoing President Donald Trump.
“At this stage, we have not seen fraud on a scale likely to change the outcome of the election”, declared this loyal support of the Republican president in an interview with the American agency Associated Press.
“There have been allegations of systematic fraud, according to which machines have been programmed to distort election results”, he recalled. But the ministries of internal security and justice “Have investigated and, for the moment, have found nothing to support them”.
At midday Tuesday, Barr was spotted in the White House, with many commentators speculating that he might be leaving the government.
Donald Trump’s reproaches
Mr. Trump, who still refuses to concede his defeat, had criticized Sunday, November 29 the Department of Justice and the federal police for not helping him in his fight to prove the existence of fraud, according to him massive. “They are missing”, he said on Fox News.
“There is a growing tendency to use the justice system as a tool to sort out all problems, and when people are unhappy with something they wait for the Justice Department to come along and “investigation” “, regretted Mr. Barr. This conservative minister had so far refrained from contradicting the president.
In early November, he authorized federal prosecutors to investigate suspicions of fraud without waiting for the results to be certified by the states, contrary to custom. But he had called on them to intervene only in case of allegations “Substantial” and “Credible”.
Six million votes ahead for Joe Biden
In a press release, lawyers for the outgoing president have sought to downplay Mr. Barr’s statements. “With all our respect for the attorney general [le ministre de la justice], there was no semblance of an investigation at the Ministry of Justice ”, wrote Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. “His opinion does not appear to be based on knowledge or investigation of substantial irregularities and evidence of systematic fraud”, they added, promising to “Continue their quest for the truth”.
In the November 3 poll, former Vice President Joe Biden won more than 80 million votes, compared to just under 74 million for Mr. Trump.
The Democrat managed to take over a handful of key states that voted for the Republican in 2016; he has 306 voters, against 232 for his rival. Even if the outgoing president does not recognize his defeat, the electoral college should therefore confirm his victory on December 14, for taking office on January 20.
