Outgoing Attorney-General WIlliam Barr defies Trump’s call for special counsel

The US attorney-general defied calls to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden in a final break with Donald Trump.

Willam Barr in Washington holds his last press conference before stepping down as US Attorney-General on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

The US Attorney-General defied calls to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden and played down claims of election fraud in a final break with President Donald Trump before he stands down on Wednesday.

Bill Barr, whose early departure was announced last week after a period of tense relations with Mr Trump, declined twice to support two of the President’s present preoccupations.

Mr Barr, 70, has been Attorney-General since February last year, having previously held the job under George Bush Sr. He said that he did not believe extra measures were needed for the investigations into Joe Biden’s son.

Mr Trump has persistently accused the son of corruption in his business dealings in Ukraine and China. During the election campaign he lobbied Mr Barr to announce an investigation into both Bidens. The Attorney-General refused, however. It later emerged that at least two branches of the Department of Justice were investigating the younger Mr Biden throughout but that Mr Barr had not exposed the inquiries for fear of influencing the campaign.

Mr Barr said on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) at what was expected to be his last press conference as Attorney-General: “To the extent that there’s an investigation, I think that it’s being handled responsibly and professionally within the department. To this point, I have not seen a reason to appoint a special counsel and I have no plan to do so before I leave.”

Before Mr Barr announced his departure, Mr Trump complained that he “should have stepped up”. He told Fox News: “All he had to do is say an investigation’s going on. When you affect an election, Bill Barr, frankly, did the wrong thing.”

Mr Barr also pushed back against a scheme drawn up by Mr Trump’s supporters for the government to investigate whether voting machines around the country show signs of the election having been “rigged”.

The Attorney-General said that he saw “no basis for seizing machines”.

The New York Times reported that during a meeting on Friday in the Oval Office, Sidney Powell, a lawyer who has led many of the failed court attempts to allege voter fraud, and Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, discussed with Mr Trump the possibility of declaring martial law to try to overturn Mr Biden’s victory. The president’s aides, including Mark Meadows, his chief of staff, argued against the proposal. Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, is said to have suggested seizing voting machines instead. The Department of Homeland Security was reported to have told Mr Giuliani, a former mayor of New York, that it had no authority to do so.

Before he fell into disfavour, Mr Barr endeared himself to Mr Trump with his expansive view of presidential powers and distaste for some of the investigations into ties between the President’s 2016 campaign and Russia.

Mr Trump announced Mr Barr’s departure on Twitter moments after the electoral college gave Mr Biden the 270 votes he needed to become president.

He said Mr Barr had “done an outstanding job” and that he was leaving before Christmas to “spend the holidays with his family”. The announcement followed weeks of reports that Mr Trump was about to dismiss him.

The Times