Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday the Justice Department has not uncovered any evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of November’s election.
A staunch ally of Donald Trump during his presidency, Barr’s comments come despite Trump’s baseless claims that fraud cost him the election and his refusal to concede to President-elect Joe Biden.
In an interview, Barr told the Associated Press that U.S. attorneys and FBI agents have been following up on the specific complaints they’ve received. None of the complaints have findings that would change the election outcome.
“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” the AG told the outlet.
Before the election, the Attorney General previously raised the notion that voting by mail-in ballot could be vulnerable to fraud. The claims were made while the nation is in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, and citizens did not feel comfortable voting in person.
He said both the Justice Department and Department of Homeland security have looked into voter fraud claims. Neither has found any fraud exists.
“There’s been one assertion that would be systemic fraud, and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results,” Barr said. “And the DHS and DOJ have looked into that, and so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that.”
Despite the repeated claims the election was secure, Trump and his team of attorneys have pushed ahead with challenges to the election results in some key states. Some of those states have already certified their votes.
In response to Barr’s statements, Trump’s legal team issued a statement refuting that any investigation has occurred and that they “will continue their pursuit of the truth,” doubling down on claims of fraud.
“With all due respect to the Attorney General, there hasn’t been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation,” the statement read. We have gathered ample evidence of illegal voting in at least six states, which they have not examined.”
