Former President Donald Trump said former Attorney General William Barr was “unable” to hold those who “lied and defamed” Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and authors of the “phony” Steele dossier to account.
Trump said Barr “became a different man” after two ethics groups in October called for his impeachment, with the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington arguing he used his position as attorney general for political purposes to aid the former president.
“He became a different man when the Democrats viciously stated that they wanted to impeach him. They went wild: ‘We want to impeach him. We’re gonna impeach Bill Barr. We’re gonna impeach him.’ He became different. I understand that,” Trump said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas. “I didn’t become different. I got impeached twice. I became worse.”
TRUMP RIPS INTO ‘WEAK’ AND ‘PATHETIC’ BARR IN SCATHING STATEMENT
Barr, once viewed as a Trump loyalist, has criticized the former president, saying his allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential contest were baseless.
“There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all, and people don’t like something they want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate,’” Barr said, adding, “Most claims of fraud are very particularized to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct. They are not systemic allegations, and those have been run down — they are being run down. Some have been broad and potentially cover a few thousand votes. They have been followed up on.”
After reports emerged of Barr calling Trump’s allegations “bulls***,” Trump ripped his former attorney general as a “RINO,” or “Republican In Name Only.”
TRUMP ON FORMER AG BARR: “He became a different man when the Democrats viciously stated that they wanted to impeach him.. I did not become different, I got impeached twice.” pic.twitter.com/eQeOKiHCbJ
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) July 11, 2021
Kavanaugh, a Trump Supreme Court nominee, was confirmed by the Senate in a 50-48 vote in October 2018. He was met with multiple sexual misconduct allegations prior to his confirmation, including from Christine Blasey Ford, who accused him of sexual assault when they were both teenagers.
Six FBI background investigations did not return evidence to support the allegations against Kavanaugh.
“They didn’t go after [Kavanaugh’s accusers, who] lied so badly,” Trump said of the Justice Department’s investigation into those who accused Kavanaugh. “Not any of the numerous criminal referrals for lying to Congress over and over again.”
Trump also accused Barr of failing to take action against former FBI officials who authorized the 2016 “Russiagate” investigation, which requested wiretap warrants for former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
The Steele dossier, a 35-page collection of reports about Trump’s alleged ties to Russia written in 2016, was compiled for Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm, and Christopher Steele was paid with money from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
The dossier contained allegations of the Trump team coordinating with the Kremlin, and the reports were shared with media outlets, with BuzzFeed News publishing the dossier in 2017.
Robert Mueller, a former FBI director, was appointed special counsel in May 2017 after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey. The FBI investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, wrapped into Mueller’s effort, began in July 2016 following a tip to U.S. authorities from an Australian diplomat.
Mueller was unable to establish criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, undercutting elements of Steele’s reporting. And a report released by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz in December 2019 criticized the FBI for its reliance on the dossier to obtain warrants to wiretap Page as part of its investigation.
On Sunday, Trump criticized Comey, along with former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Director of National Intelligence-turned-CNN contributor James Clapper for their investigations during his presidency.
“Guys like Andy McCabe and James Comey and James Clapper … all of the other perpetrators who have faced no consequences whatsoever, even though they knew it was a scam … they created a scam,” Trump, who frequently called the Russia investigation a “witch hunt,” claimed on Sunday.
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The House first impeached Trump in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection with his dealings with Ukraine. He was impeached again in January for incitement of an insurrection following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. Trump was acquitted both times in the Senate.
