By contradicting Trump's fever dream over vote fraud, Barr, in the end, balked at being the President's modern version of his firebrand New York attorney Roy Cohn. His decision represented a final failure of Trump's often successful attempt to weaponize the Justice Department as a personal and potent political weapon. "To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election," Barr told the AP in remarks that directly contradicted Trump's claims the presidency was stolen. Barr has taken repeated steps during his second tenure at the Justice Department that appear calculated to prioritize Trump's political goals while furthering his own vision of expansive presidential power. Despite offering such service to the President, there have been signs that Trump has been becoming ever more frustrated with Barr.

Source: The Nation December 02, 2020 05:03 UTC