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A month after the election, Justice Minister William Barr was behind a chair in the White House dining room.
He turned on Donald Trump and dismissed the president’s theories on voter fraud.
– It sucks, he said.
In a series of articles, the Axios news site has examined Donald Trump’s past days in power. Now, reporter Jonathan Swan reveals the game behind William Barr’s early departure on December 14.
The conflict between the president and the justice minister reached a critical point in late November, less than a month after the elections.
Donald Trump’s accusations of widespread electoral fraud had been repeated for several weeks. Barr and his authorities had investigated them but found no evidence.
On November 29, the riots escalated when Trump told Fox News that Barr’s Justice Department was “missing in action.” Barr was furious. He had personally ensured that all voter fraud investigations were investigated in no time. His department was not vague, there was simply no evidence of Trump’s accusations.
I went to Trump in an interview
A few days later, on Tuesday, December 1, William Barr publicly opposed Trump in an interview with the AP news agency. There has been no widespread electoral fraud, he said.
Hours after the interview was sent around the world, Barr was at the White House for a series of meetings. They called him into the president’s private dining room, next to the Oval Office.
Photo: Patrick Semansky / TT
William Barr and Donald Trump in the Oval Office on another occasion.
Trump sat at the end of the table and watched a large-wall TV where his new favorite channel, the right-wing conspirator One News America, was broadcasting a hearing on alleged Michigan election fraud. Several other advisers to the president were present when Barr entered the room.
Trump was furious about the AP interview.
– Why do you say such a thing? You must hate Trump. There is no other explanation. You must hate Trump, the president said, speaking of himself in the third person.
– This is a failure, answered Barr. These people fill your ears with things that are simply not true.
Barr till Trump: “shit”
Barr stood for the entire meeting. He called Trump’s team of lawyers “like a clown,” but said he had no intention of continuing to challenge the election results.
Barr didn’t hold back when he delivered his verdict on the lawsuits brought by Trump’s lawyers:
– It’s bullshit!
Donald Trump pointed to the television and asked Barr if he had followed the audience from Michigan. When the Attorney General said no, Trump said:
– Maybe you should.
Barr reiterated that his administration did not ignore any allegations and once again condemned Trump’s outside attorneys. He said they were doing “a terrible job”:
– I am a fairly knowledgeable legal observer and I cannot understand what the theory is about here. They are just holes on the noise, completely unprofitable, he said.
“Maybe,” Trump replied. Maybe.
Photo: Andrew Harnik / TT
Donald Trump walking out of the Oval Office door.
Trump hit the table
The Dec. 1 meeting was not the first time that William Barr faced Donald Trump, Axios reveals.
In late summer, Trump wanted to send the military to the streets to quell Black Life protests in cities like Portland and Seattle. At a meeting in the Oval Office in mid-August, he ordered Barr to do something, anything, a powerful show of force.
Barr refused. He said the protests appeared to be losing ground and that a military intervention would only be counterproductive.
Trump grew increasingly frustrated. Barr stood up stronger and stronger in front of everyone else in the room.
In the end, Trump literally hit the table.
– No one is on my side. No bastard supports me, he screamed and stormed out.
Barr remained at the table, addressing Chief of Staff Mike Meadows, who was flushed:
– Well, it went well.
He brought the request for dismissal with him.
A few weeks after the December meeting, it became clear that the collapse between Barr and Trump was complete and inevitable. The Minister of Justice decided to resign prematurely.
On December 14, William Barr arrived at the White House. Trump and several advisers were waiting for him in the Oval Office. Barr asked the others to come out so he could speak privately with the president.
He brought with him a prescribed resignation and declared that he wanted to leave his post prematurely before the conflict fully broke out in public.
In hindsight, Barr, according to Axios, told his employees that the meeting was calm and rational. Trump had praised his loyalty, but when Barr didn’t say what Trump wanted to hear about the alleged election fraud, the president stopped listening.
The conflict ended with an agreement on at least one thing: it was time for William Barr to leave.
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