Former AG Bill Barr personally involved in decision to publicize details of 2020 mail-in ballot probe, DOJ watchdog finds
CNN
A Justice Department watchdog has found that former Attorney General Bill Barr was personally involved in the decision to publicize an incident from the 2020 election – nine mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being discarded in a dumpster in Pennsylvania – that flamed the false narrative of widespread voter fraud.
A Justice Department watchdog has found that former Attorney General Bill Barr was personally involved in the decision to publicize an incident from the 2020 election – nine mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being discarded in a dumpster in Pennsylvania – that flamed the false narrative of widespread voter fraud. But the department’s inspector general stopped short of finding that Barr violated any internal policies, concluding that he had wide discretion as attorney general to disclose details from criminal investigations. Investigators ultimately determined that the ballots were discarded in error by a contractor, and no charges were brought. The inspector general looked at the decision to put out a press release about the incident from Justice Department prosecutors in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in September 2020. The release said investigators were looking into “potential issues with mail in ballots.” Barr “encouraged and authorized” US Attorney David Freed to issue the statement – a move several DOJ attorneys called “unusual” – and he “specifically approved inclusion of the details about the discarded ballots, including that all the recovered ballots had been cast for President Trump,” according to the inspector general’s report released Thursday. The inspector general found that Barr and Freed’s decision to issue the press release was contrary to DOJ rules, which limit public disclosure of ongoing criminal investigations and also discourage the department from taking public actions that can affect elections. However, the report concluded, neither man committed any punishable misconduct because of ambiguity within those rules that allows an attorney general to publicly disclose information about an ongoing criminal investigation if he or she believes it is in the interest of justice.
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