While President Donald Trump is not saying if he still has confidence in Attorney General William Barr, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is advising him not to fire the attorney general.
Earlier this week, Barr broke with Trump on his claims of widespread voter fraud and said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had not yet found evidence to support the president’s claim.
Barr’s comments reportedly drew Trump’s ire, which led to speculation about the fate of the attorney general.
On Thursday, Cornyn told CNN’s Manu Raju that he hopes Trump does not fire Barr, “I think that would be an unfortunate event if it were to occur.”
“I think Bill Barr has done an outstanding job. So I would certainly be very disappointed,” he added.
Sen. John Cornyn, a member of GOP leadership and Senate Judiciary, says Trump shouldn’t fire Bill Barr.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 3, 2020
"I think that would be an unfortunate event if it were to occur. I think Bill Barr has done an outstanding job. So I would certainly be very disappointed," he told me
During an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Barr said, “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election.”
Trump was asked on Thursday if he has confidence in Barr during an event at the White House, he said, “Ask me that in a number of weeks from now.”
“They should be looking at all of this fraud. This is not civil. He thought it was civil. This is not civil. This is criminal stuff. This is very bad criminal stuff,” he added.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was also asked if Trump has confidence in Barr. She said, “The president, if he has any personnel announcements — you’ll be the first to know.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) said he believes Barr should “show everybody” his evidence because, “I think there is still enough questions outstanding.”
However, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, “I have a lot of confidence in him, and if they haven’t found anything yet that tells me that one they’ve looked, they haven’t found anything. And if there’s other things to look at, I’m sure they will.”
