Donald Trump declines to express confidence in Bill Barr after his attorney general refutes voter fraud claim

Donald Trump lashed out at his attorney general after his comments

Credit: Erin Schaff /Bloomberg

Donald Trump lashed out at Bill Barr on Thursday, accusing him of failing to investigate election fraud and suggesting he had lost confidence in his attorney general.

Mr Barr angered the US president earlier this week after contradicting his claim that widespread voter fraud had robbed him of victory in the presidential election.

Rather, Mr Barr publicly declared that the Justice Department had "not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election".

The comments provoked fury in Mr Trump, who hinted he may be preparing to fire the attorney general, despite nearing the end of his presidency.

"He hasn’t done anything. He hasn’t looked," Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, claiming Mr Barr had failed to conduct a thorough investigation. "[They] haven’t looked very hard, which is a disappointment to be honest with you, because it’s massive fraud."

Trump and Barr had a “contentious" meeting Tuesday after the attorney general told the AP the Justice Department uncovered no evidence of fraud that would change the election outcome, which led Trump to erupt. It was angry, but a person familiar says Trump wasn't screaming.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) December 3, 2020

Asked if he still had confidence in Mr Barr, the president replied: "Ask me that in a number of weeks from now."

Meanwhile, it emerged that the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump has been questioned under oath in a lawsuit alleging funds for Mr Trump’s 2017 inauguration were misused.

The lawsuit by the Washington DC attorney general’s office alleges that Mr Trump’s inaugural committee spent more than $1 million in improper payments to the president’s hotel in the city during the week of the inauguration.

Karl Racine, the District’s attorney general, claims the committee had grossly overpaid to use a ballroom in Mr Trump’s hotel in order to enrich the president’s own family in the process.

Ivanka Trump was deposed for more than five hours

Credit: AFP

Ms Trump, who serves as a senior White House adviser, revealed she was deposed for more than five hours in the lawsuit on Tuesday, which she called a "waste of taxpayer dollars."

Ms Trump said she instructed the Trump Hotel to charge a "fair market rate," which she claimed the hotel did. "This ‘inquiry’ is another politically motivated demonstration of vindictiveness & waste of taxpayer dollars," she tweeted.

It came as Republican senators warned Mr Trump against issuing preemptive presidential pardons for his children.

US media reports have suggested Mr Trump has discussed preemptively pardoning his three eldest children Donald Jnr, Eric and Ivanka as well as his son-in-law Jared Kushner, amid fears they may face investigation after he leaves office.

Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, suggested Mr Trump should follow the recommendations of the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney.

“In general, I think presidents ought to take the advice of the pardon office that is within the Department of Justice,” she said.

“But the president’s pardon authority is very broad.”

Her comments were echoed by Republican senator Pat Roomey, who warned that “pardons should be used very judiciously”.