Donald Trump has announced that William Barr will be stepping down as US Attorney General just days before Christmas.
William Barr was originally meant to leave office in January, the same tim with Trump. However, tensions between the two erupted after Mr Barr said there was no evidence of widespread fraud in November’s election.
He was criticized by Donald Trump for not publicly disclosing that the justice department was investigating Joe Biden’s son during the campaign.
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Barr first managed to appeal to Trump in a June 2018 memo arguing that Trump shouldn’t be investigated for obstruction of justice because he fired FBI director James Comey in the midst of the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Barr was nominated to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General a few months later. One month after assuming the role, Barr submitted a four-page letter where he poorly summarized Mueller’s 448-page report and determined that the special council’s findings didn’t warrant the obstruction of justice charge that Barr himself never believed Trump was guilty of in the first place.
Trump has reportedly been considering firing Barr since his remarks were made, but has been repeatedly talked out of it.
Trump finally spoke with Barr about his future as Attorney General in a meeting that has been described as “amicable” and “cordial.”
“Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family,” Trump tweeted.
“Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all!”