it may just be a coincidence, but barr is out, as is the guy that barr used in that sort of hit job where he was trying to decapitate sdny, while, it should be noted, sdny was reportedly investigating the president's lawyer, rudy giuliani. i mean untangling the mess left behind by bill barr at the justice department and the way he blatantly, brazenly used the justice department to serve the president personally, to settle political scores for the president, to go after the president's enemies, to protect the president's friends, wading in personally to multiple u.s. attorneys' offices to stop or to derail prosecutions or sentencing that was potentially going to pose a threat to the president in terms of the president's own criminal exposure -- i mean unraveling all of this stuff is going to be -- it's going to be a lifetime's work in terms of the amount of mess that he was able to create inside the storied department of justice. but as of tonight, barr is out. so long, farewell, auf veeder sane, good night. some -- some -- republican u.s. senators are now finally acknowledging that presid

was bill barr. thank you very much. let's go to senior analyst elie hogue is with me. elie, we'll get to the fact that this was attorney general bill barr, but on the substance of this, the nation's top cop, from the doj, no fraud. is this just finally case closed, biden won, it's over? >> reporter: brooke, if you're donald trump and bill barr of all people are telling you it's over, it's over. this is and should be a death blow for all the conspiracy theories, because let's remember who bill barr is. he's shown us this over the last two years when he has continually bent the law, bent the truth, bent the facts to fit donald trump's narrative. but here's the thing. you can't just make stuff up. and bill barr told the thousands of women and men who work at doj a few weeks ago, he said, we're changing the rules now. you can investigate potential voter fraud and we'll announce it if you find anything. well, guess what? here we are a couple weeks later and the good non-partisan people who work every day

i don't know barr very well.n the ends u, you know, this i the person who is the president's wing man and who flven intervened in the roger stone sentencing and talked about the mueller investigation and man said federal authorities had spied on the trump campaign. now after all of that, he is seeing a president who is trying to undermine democracy and cheat and steal an election, and perhaps, perhaps at the very end, he is now saying i cannot go along with this any longer. >> it's interesting, abby. the president's legal team which continues to strike out in court time after time after time as it fails to produce serious evidence of its various conspiracy claims says the department of justice has not thoroughly investigated this. you saw that statement from giuliani that just was released. is there any truth to that? >> well, bill barr said that they have looked into these outlandish claims and found no evidence to support it. the other thing people should keep in mind is the justice department and their field o

i think barr decided to quit on his time on his terms. be wrong about that but that's what i think. and of course, the investigations he set in motion including the hunter biden investigation will now go on because it is underway now and everybody knows about it. the same is true also of the investigation that goes back to 2016 of that election and the russia collusion fantasy that took so long. we went the durum investigation continues as well. as always, thank you. up next, the u.s. accuses russia of a major hack into federal government agencies. we will bring you that story. about beyond the borders, the u.s. nato ally turkey with sanctions with acquisition of the russian as 400 air defense system here the u.s. said turkey's purchase of the weapons endangered the security of u.s. military technology and personnel and provide substantial funds to russia defense secretary, sector rather. turkey is condemning these and sanctions against nato ally. just one of the stories beyond the borders tonight. we will be right back. ♪ and subaru and

but barr has been one of donald trump's staunchest allies.his summer, "the washington post" reported that barr personally ordered police to beat and tear gas peaceful protesters who gathered near the white house in order to clear a path for president donald trump to walk to the nearby st. john's episcopal church, where trump posed for photos holding a bible. barr denied using tear gas during an interview on cbs's "face the nation." wasnd then method they used appropriate? >> when they met resistance, yes. they announced three times. they didot move. by the way, there was no tear gas use. the tear gas was used sunday when they had to clear the street to come to the st. john's church. that is when tear gas used. >> their chemical irritants. >> no, pepper spray is not a chemical irritant. it is not chemical. pepper balls. amy: attorney general william barr also defended the administration's actions by blaming the antifascist movement known as antifa for instigating violence during the protest instead of police. >> we have evidence that antifa an

william barr was one of donald trump's biggest supporters. must be a particular staying in this one for the president. >> if we are honest, a lot of people were expecting bill barr to be fired in the last couple of hours. he was here on the white house campus for a meeting that was described as routine. he was with the president for an hour and he left. before the election, bill barr was saying voter fraud could be caused by mail-in ballots. now he is saying we have looked at this and there is no widespread evidence of voter fraud. that goes completely against what the president has been saying. he has been tweeting out, more people who are suggesting there is widespread voter fraud and the election was stolen from donald trump. will remember a couple weeks ago the man who was the head of the cybersecurity for the election said this was the most secure election in american history. donald trump said that was because of my administration but it was still stolen from us and by the way, you are fired. that was why it was thought that bill barr w

but hard to imagine barr's comments won't come up as mr. trump cannot be happy with what his attorney general just told the whole world. throwing a bucket of cold water's on president trump's bogus claims of election fraud, attorney general william barr said the justice department found no evidence that would change the results in the race for the white house. barr told the associated press his prosecutors investigated a number of claims but to date we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected the outcome of an election. barr said there would be one assertion that would be systemic fraud and that would be the assertion that the machines were programmed to skew the results. so far we have not seen anything to substantiateiate that. over the weekend the president found frustrated. >> why isn't the fbi all over the place? they are not. it is an incredible thing. they are not. it is an embarrassment to our country. >> reporter: the trump legal team is slamming barr saying with all due respect to the attorney general there hasn't b

>> i am cynical about bill barr. he was perfectly happy to be working under the president when the president was riding high. it is hard not to use the analogy of rats in a sinking ship and now he's no longer in power, he's willing to separate himself. i think it remains to be seen whether he really push back on john durham, for instance, and really wanted to do the president's bidding. i think there is a lot more to come on that story. so, you know i think bill barr is too little and way too late he has any integrity here. >> carl, what would firing the attorney general during a lame duck presidency would accomplish? >> it would make the base happy and continue to image of trump as grief and raging. everything that trump does is really about himself, his moods and desires and selfishness. what we are seeing and all the things you talked about is trump is our first truly subversive president, always sub vevertinge interests of the people of the united states and the health and welfare to his own selfish finance inter

general barr: good morning, everyone. all, those of you who are joining us in person and hose who are joining us remotely for this press conference. on this day 32 years ago, 7:03 p.m.1, 1988 at local time, a bomb destroyed pan am flight 103 as it flew 31,000 feet above lockerbie, scotland. boeing 747, known as the "clipper maid of the seas," exploded and fell to the ground in countless pieces scattered across 840 square miles, nearly the entire width of scotland. the explosion killed all 259 people on board, 243 passengers and 16 crew members, including 190 americans. falling debris claimed the lives of 11 lockerbie residents on the ground, just at the time they were home and sitting down to dinner. the lockerbie bombing remains the deadliest single terrorist attack in the history of the united kingdom, and the second deadliest terrorist attack in american history, the costliest 9/11. immediately after the bombing, partnered with law enforcement agencies from investigate. that joint investigation led to the filing of cha

we know how reluctant bill barr has been to break with the president. what do we know about why he decided to do this now? >> well, it's interesting, kasie, i mean, this is an an interview with the associated press. he clearly picked what he saw as a down-the-middle outlet. someone he could go to get the message out. it seems the real news he wanted to break is about how he's insulating john durham at the russia investigation, if i can throw more news for you this morning, insulating him. but in the middle of that he was surprisingly asked his opinion about voter fraud. he said to date they have not seen evidence that indicates that the election would have gone for donald trump based on any alleged fraud. simply, the evidence isn't there to support that. now, since that, since you've seen that the twitter feed has blown up. the statement from giuliani and how the white house has responded, the justice department spokeswoman did say, what the attorney general is saying, so far, we have not seen evidence to date. that does not mean we have ended our inves

william barr, today, certainly sent that message.nt the same message actually that republicans on the local level have been sending over the past couple of weeks. yes, they don't mind engaging in propaganda for the president from time to time but they are not going to break the law for him. they are not going to undermine constitutional norms during this transition period. i think, also, just as significant as mitch mcconnell coming out and talking about the new administration coming in when he was talking about the stimulus relief package. i think it's just one more step forward for republican party that actually should have acknowledged this weeks ago. >> although on the other hand, president-elect biden said today he still hasn't spoken with mitch mcconnell. what is biden facing, do you think, if republicans still hold the senate next year, especially when so many republican senators are still refraining from calling him the president-elect and just acknowledging the reality that is obvious to anybody paying attention. >> you know

barr even sent a memo to u.s.orneys that cleared the way for protesters to be charged with sedition. and let's not forget his role in the forceful removal of peaceful demonstrators in lafayette square, walking alongside the president for that infamous bible photo op. so, the question now that barr is out, how long will his legacy linger? with me now, brittney patnick cunningham, an activist and an msnbc contributor, and the host of the podcast, "undistracted." also with me, renato mariotti. what do you make of outgoing barr saying there is no need for a special counsel on the election or on hunter biden. two things that we very well know that trump wants? >> well, you know, for the first time, i think you saw a real break between barr and trump. and up until now, what we saw is barr essentially running with themes trump would have, trying to find a way to legally do what trump wanted him to do. he wouldn't necessarily go as far as trump, he would try to find a clever way to accomplish it. but now what trump is ask

you know, barr.ow, if the president spits him out, he won't even get to make money on the lecture circuit talking to, you know, trump supporters. >> i -- i think that's true, although it's conceivable that barr did this, deliberately, to try and actually resurrect his reputation. and also, there are people who actually have sort of played the president correctly. i mean, roger stone was convicted, by a jury, and never spent a day in jail because he made it clear that, if he got a pardon, he would not be talking. so, there are people who can benefit from having this sort of very corrupt, personal interest that, as carl said, is really driving what happens in the white house. >> and, andrew, in your book, you drew a parallel between president trump's pardon power and the mob. you said mobsters use the threat of whacking potential cooperators to keep everyone in line. the president had the power to pardon to reward those who stay loyal. i am wondering what you make of cnn describing a, quote, flurry of

bill barr has certainly earned the right to leave early. he's been the right man at the right time for that difficult job with the principles and toughness to make difficult decisions despite bitter democrats in congress and a willful president trump. neil katyal appearing tonight with joy reid seemed to disagree in his assessment of the outgoing attorney general. >> this attorney general is just despicable. i mean attorneys general have historically stood for the rule of law, and this person has spit on it. an attorney general stands for evenhandness and justice being blind, and this attorney general stands for justice being about who your friends are. attorneys general are supposed to stand up for career men and women of the justice department. he openly defies them and makes fun of them. an attorney general is supposed to protect americans, not tear gas them. he's going to go down as the worst attorney general in our lifetimes, which is fitting because president trump is going to go down as the worst president in our lifetimes. so i gues

bill barr. going on to tell the a.p., associated press, there has been one assertion that has been systemic fraud, and that would be the claim that machines were programmed to skew the results. the dhs and the doj have looked into that and so far we have not seen anything to substantiate that. in other words, the president is lying. lies, lies on top of lies. it is a little late to get any kudos after letting the president carry on with these claims. none of this is true and he knows it. taking your money though, if you are sending it to him. my question for republicans in congress is why are you still playing with fire like this? why are you? a couple of examples of things you need to hear. i want you to listen to this georgia election official, gabriel sterling, reacting emotionally to the death threats, physical threats and intimidation against election workers and officials. >> asked for chris krebs, to be shot. a 20-something tech has death threats and a noose saying he should be hung for t

it was prompted by barr with the absence of evidence.t was necessary for barr to change department policy to begin that investigation and now it's come to apparently an end because there is no evidence of massive fraud. >> yeah, no fraud evidence as we've reported and yet, that brings us to the next thing i want to ask you about, which is the president still going forward with these lies and conspiracy theories. take a look. >> frankly, we did win this election. we did win this election. >> this election was a fraud. it was a rigged election. i mean, i hate to say it. this was a rigged -- at the highest level, it was a rigged electi election. which i won by the way. it's hard to concede because we know there is massive fraud. the whole world is watching and it's a very sad thing. very sad thing. >> as for the highest levels, we can show you legal certifications from the highest levels of the elections officials in both parties in all of these states. congressman, while on one hand this is a thwarted or relatively ineffective plot, what d

hunter biden," referring to barr's

he was so mad he ordered william barr to prosecute william barr. >> man, if bill barr had a neck, trumpould be ringing it right now. >> he will be missed. >> through the laughs, the real question is it a bad thing for an attorney general who should be faithfully prosecuting the law to be this well-known and the punch lines to be widely understood about the fact he's some sort of political loyalists, not a fire minded lawyer according to many? >> well, i think it is. i think, you know, i think perhaps as someone who thought he could come in and ride his reputation, which for a lot of people was as an institutionalist, a lot of people including democrats called him that when he was nominated a couple years ago, so i think maybe it's come to the end and i think perhaps the reasoning is that he's recognized that whatever it is he's been trying to do, it hasn't worked. all of the things he's said about the durham investigation, how we're going to have an indictment before the election and going to show that this is the greatest travesty, one of the greatest travesties in american history, th

william barr's legacy is going to be stained.e sat back and let the president do all of this wrong. the republican party did the same thing. the reason why william barr is going to be stained is because the republicans did not step up. if they would step up, they know what is going to happen to them. host: when you say william barr and all of this wrong, what do you mean? caller: he is just sitting back and destroyed undercover records and stuff. he found these people guilty. these otherbefore things about the man having his resume. it is the same thing. he let crime get away. he has got the evidence. man, these people are doing wrong. all of these people committed a crime. they get away with a pardon. it is not right. now, we are turning our own people against one another. jim: ok, we will hear from in winchester, ohio. republican line. youer: i just want to thank for the show you have. it gives everybody an opportunity to speak their mind. as far as william barr goes, in my mind, he is in washington and they have to be really c

so certainly he could remove barr, but we'll have to see. >> katey, you remember when barr was named all of our counsel television lawyers said he's a straightforward guy, he's an institutionalist. and then when barr named durham, the connecticut based u.s. attorney everyone said of durham he's a straightforward guy, he's an institutionalist, certainly looks the part. what do you make of barr continuing to wall off the durham investigation absent any evidence that we've seen that there is a there there? >> sure. i'll start with durham first. i do think he is a respected prosecutor, he hasn't made any moves to reveal -- to make the sort of announcement that would have made trump happy. we know there was discontent on his team and push back. we don't know what he'll actually say after january 20th as special counsel. barr himself i think is interesting. you're right many people did say when he say appointed he would be a straight shooter. he is that. but i think the idea he was an institutionalist sort of erased history. if you look back at an interview barr did with the mueller center

brian, first to you, is ag barr about to be fired?l, at this juncture, victor, does it really even matter? we're talking about 40 more days and i think barr has been saying privately that he has thought about leaving the administration early because he's been in the justice department before during transitions and he knows the handoff can be very contentious and can have a lot of last-minute problems as the cases move from one administration to the next. so i'm not sure he would be all that upset if that tweet came out and said that he needed to pack his bags and head on into the sunset. he's probably spent enough time there and is ready to do something else. >> robert, brian asks, does it really matter. do you think it really matters? >> of course it matters. let's be clear, no amount of trump attack tweets against the attorney general are going to in any way salvage barr's reputation. he has been not just complicit in undermining the rule of law and defending convicted criminals in the trump administration, he's been nothing more th

and barr, the same. could look at it, i guess, also, as a message to all republicans in congress of don't cross him, in any way, because he will -- he has no compunction about whatever you've done for him in the past, about knee-capping you if it serves his interest, in the present. >> that's absolutely right. there was this great op-ed about a year ago in "the new york times" talking about the president's narcissism. and the last line of it was, you can never love a narcissist enough. and you can never do a narcissist's bidding, enough. you can never do enough for him. he doesn't care about what you did, yesterday. if you find some kind of a conflict between your public duties, and what he thinks is in his interest to have you do at a given moment, you're done. that's what happened to jeff sessions, who was his earliest and most significant supporter in 2015 and 2016. that's what happens, you know, that's what we're seeing now to -- to -- to governor kemp, who campaigned, extensively, for the president.

barr, attorney general.stion remains why couldn't he say a few more days and wrap it up like any normal attorney general would do? why definite to leave a few weeks early? >> it's a mystery wrapped inside a riddle. one of the thing to point out this letter was released by president trump just minutes after the electoral college declared that joe biden, the president-elect, secured enough electoral votes to, without question, this 30th time, be clearly having been elected president of the united states. i get that president trump doesn't like doesn't like it when the spotlight is not on him. and to a lesser extent, a conservative congressman disassociating himself with the party, paul mitchell, because of all these extreme frenzied and baseless claims. but here we go. the end of a professional relationship that has ceased to do either man any more good. >> yeah. look, the timing is not accidental. this is happening right now because the president wants us and everyone else to talk about anything other than th

barr pointed to one specific allegation. that was one raised in a press conference that the voting machines were rigged and votings counted overseas. barr saying "there's been one assertion that would be systematic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results. the dhs and doj have looked into that and so far we haven't seen anything to substantiate that." barr said weeks before the election because of mass mail-in voting the system could be ripe for fraud and abuse. he had given direction to consider substantial allegations of voter froud -- fraud. barr said "fraud is particularized to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct. they're not systemic allegations. those have been run down. they're being run down. some have been broad and cover a few thousand votes. they have been followed up on." barr also saying in this interview that many of the complaints should be handled at the civil level because they do not rise to criminal conduct. barr said there'

bill barr. going on to tell the a.p., associated press, there has been one assertion that has been systemic fraud, and that would be the claim that machines were programmed to essentially skew the election results. the dhs and the doj have looked into that and so far we have not seen anything to substantiate that. in other words, the president is lying. still lying, always lying. lies, lies and more lies. lies on top of lies. the attorney general has done the president's bidding time after time after time but not this time. it is a little late to get any kudos after letting the president carry on with these claims for 28 days since the election. 28 days he has been carrying on with this bs. none of this is true and he knows it. taking your money though, if you are sending it to him. so my question tonight especially for republicans in congress, why are you still playing with fire like this? why are you? i will give you a couple of examples of things you need to hear. i want you to listen to this

trump said barr was planning to step down before christmas.et's get the latest from our correspondent in delaware. we talked about the final hurdles to confirming the next president, legal arguments aside , is this now where we can draw a line and the whole process for joe biden, he is the president the echo -- the president-elect? >> with hawaii's four electoral college votes, which will be cast any minute, i'm sure biden hopes that is the case but there is one more hurdle. january 6 will be when these electoral college votes will be counted and certified in congress. there are some reports that some republicans may attempt a final symbolic stand to at least delay things. trump supporters say he may come out to support that. otherwise it will be another stop on the narrative of the stolen election. we should say this is about the narrative, not the reality of what is happening under the constitution. joe biden is now the president-elect. but look at the polls. 80% of trump voters feel biden stole the election. the good news for biden, around

bill barr is unwilling to give the president what he wants in part because bill barr is unable to givehe president what he wants. there is no evidence of widespread voting fraud despite bill barr attempting to sort of gin up these specious investigations. he couldn't come up with anything. that might make the president very angry, but there's not a lot that bill barr at the end of the day can do about it. if donald trump were to fire bill barr at this point i don't think it would have a huge impact within the department of justice. one question though is whether or not bill barr's decision to appoint john durham as special counsel or form of special counsel was essentially an attempt to calm the president down and say yes, i can't substantiate or support your claims of voter fraud but here's a treat, something you can have to make yourself feel better for the next 40 days. >> harry, andrew weissman who is robert mueller's lead prosecutor told cnn this could be a play by barr to rebuild his reputation. is it possible that's the reason? is it even possible for him to attempt that at this

william barr was attorney general when president george h.w.e-election campaign in 1992 to bill clinton and william barr stayed on the job then as attorney general right up to the morning of inauguration day on january 20th, 1993. bill barr remained in his job as attorney general until the very last second of the very last minute in 1993, but this time bill barr is leaving the job and i'm being careful here not to use the word, resign, because we don't know if bill barr is resigning or being fired. but bill barr is leaving the job next week. one full month earlier than he left the last time. why? joining us now is someone with decades of experience in the justice department, glenn kirchner. he's a former federal prosecutor and an msnbc legal analyst. glenn, i read william barr's letter yesterday carefully. he doesn't say resign. donald trump didn't say fired in the treat. just leaving. that means donald trump is reserving the right to declare him fired at any point in the future. how do you read the letter? how do you read the situation? why is

he was barr's handpicked successor from the treasury department. and he's even more of a yes man than barr, so i think he's very susceptible to pressure from the white house. so he could appoint a special prosecutor to examine hunter biden and that prosecutor would outlast the trump administration. i think he's unlikely to push back against potential trump pardons of family members to his co-conspirators like paul manafort and even a trump pardon of donald trump. and finally, rosen could help trump try to make a case for those who object to the electoral college vote. the challenge will be certain to fail. of course, that hasn't stopped other challenges from this president. i do think it's unlikely that rosen could fast track prosecutions of trump's political opponents unless those investigations are already away or under way. it takes a long time to investigate a high-profile public corruption case. and with less than six months remaining in the trump administration, there's probably not enough time and biden's attorney general could drop any char

there are reports that there are friction between bill barr and the president because, you know, barrnce this hunter biden investigation until after the election. so, what do you take from this, his resignation and their relationship. >> well, i think they probably do have a good relationship. my sources say that the meeting was amicable. ultimately despite what you heard from the press, bill barr was never someone that was going to be his first priority was donald trump. his first priority is the executive branch. and i think ultimately, that is what led to the conflict which ended his tenure. todd: i want to switch gears to this finally. special counsel john durham expanding his teams probing the russia information. we have heard information forthcoming and expanding his team. i'm going to move past that when the results of this investigation come out whether that's tomorrow or five years from now, will there be any consequences if the democrats control much or all of government? >> you know, probably not. i mean, i think we have seen this play out before. i think, you know, more im

aides discouraging him from firing barr. but "the washington post" is reporting that trump is so angry, that he may get rid of the ag. also a source saying we can expect a flurry of pardons before trump leaves office, possibly for members of his family and maybe even for himself. and as the u.s. reports, a record number of covid-19 -- high covid-19 deathsed too. the head of the cdc is warning the virus could kill 450,000 americans by february. there is a lot to discuss. cnn white house correspondent john harwood, political analyst john brownstein and austan goolsbee. good to see you. good to have all of you on. john, i'm going to start with you. the president is livid with the attorney general about telling the truth about the election. he is going to get fired? >> who knows, don. as we saw from the president's lunatic 46-minute video that he leased tonight, he is just not all there mentally or emotionally right now. he is upset. he's delusional. he is trying to protect his ego. he is lashing out. he is trying to protect his

bill barr, not the same case.already been criticized by the president for saying he saw no evidence of election fraud that would change the outcome of the election. just a couple weeks ago. then with these tweets over the weekend, i'm told that ultimately led the attorney general to making the decision yesterday to announce his resignation on december 23rd. while the meeting inside the white house between bill barr and president trump was agreeable, they got along, they had a good discussion and ultimately the attorney general wrote a pretty glowing report of the president and his resignation letter, the key piece of this is that barr took it upon himself to resign and show he does have a backbone. >> david, what about the timing of this? >> i think it's an effort by bill barr to save his reputation. if you look at his full two-year tenure, he backed the president repeatedly. he called covid restrictions the most serious civil violation since slavery, he minimized the mueller report and attacked mail-in balloting.

bill barr the legacy. bill barr, act ii. this stretch in the justice department.is the lingering legacy? >> reporter: i wish a nicer way to say this. bill barr has been a disgrace. been a disgrace to the attorney general position, to the justice department, to himself. here's what i mean by that. i served at doj under three republican appointed ags, one democrat appointed ag and taught under both administration early and often, all you have is your credibility and independence. without those things you cannot stand up in a podium in a courtroom and say, elie honig representing the united states. bill barr did the opposite. lied to the american public over and over from mueller to his reasons for getting involved in flynn and roger stone, to his efforts to try to keep the ukraine scandal under wrap. he has completely compromised the doj's independence and used doj for political ends. let's not forget just a few months ago bill barr was out there mimicking, echoing donald trump's baseless theories about massive election fraud. i know bill barr changed his tone a cou

bill barr says that the phone, nothing at all. rudy giuliani said, well, you haven't spoken to any of the witnesses that we have brought forward to have spoken under through a subpoena. we've also produced evidence of where the machines might have changed votes and you haven't looked at that. you simply haven't done your homework, but bill barr was aware that sort of thing was going to come because he told the associated press that many people know what the department of justice to investigate any time. they think there's something wrong as if this is some sort of catch all. but he seems to be saying, look, we looked at it, there's nothing there. and so we can't really do anything about it. so be interesting to see what don't trump reaction will be. you remember, of course, the man who is head of his cyber security protection unit, as part of the department security came out and said this was the more secure election in american history. donald trump said yes, it was apart from the fraud that the democrats perpetuated on it, and t

president trump is set to be livid at barr with sources indicating barr could be fired.ne official tells "the washington post" several people are trying to persuade trump not to do so. barr spent more than two hours at the white house earlier this week after declaring the justice department has not seen fraud that would change the outcome of the election. sources describe the meeting between trump and barr as intense. on wednesday white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany refusing to say whether trump still has faith in barr. >> the president if he has any person until announcement, you'll be the first to know it. >> reporter: president trump is still denying he lost the election, instead pushing his unfounded claims of voter fraud in a 46-minute post on twitter and facebook. meanwhile, overnight election officials wrapped up a recount in georgia where there is a growing rift between the republican party and the president's allies. [ crowd chanting ] >> reporter: outside atlanta trump supporters held a stop the steal rally with sidney powell and lin wood on stage. nei

bill barr has had an interesting relationship with donald trump. of course he was appointed because he was a god that is very loyal to donald trump. after jeff sessions was fired because he wasn't considered loyal enough. over the last couple of years, people have said he's acted more as donald trump's top lawyer rather than america's top lawyer, particularly when he's intervened. in cases like michael flynn, former national security adviser, who pled guilty to lying to f.b.i. agents, which is a crime. but then the department of justice under william barr with through those charges, he also intervened in the sentencing of roger stone close trump, who was in trouble with the courts as well. and then you'll remember, of course, it was bill barr who stood up and gave his the farce. findings of the miller report into alleged russia interference in the 2016 presidential election. and people said his interpretation of it perhaps made his boss look better. the report actually did something that was supported by bill miller himself, robert mueller himself.

did, even to the degree that barr did.on't think we've seen the worst of it, honestly. >> is there a category of pardon that you find more galling than the rest, perhaps the pardons that reward corruption, perhaps the pardons that reward collusion with russian intelligence? >> it's a heck of a choice, right? war criminals, it's all terrible, obviously. and the signals it sends in terms to our own politics, our society, our reputation abroad, i mean, it's all very bad. but i would say the manafort pardon and those associateded with people who did conspire, probably with the president to get russian help in the 2016 election and covered it up and lied about it, i think manafort said to rick gates in 2018, sit tight. we'll be taken care of. rick gates actually testified. the only other person i think who testified fully was michael cohen and a few others about the russia scandal. neither of them has been pardoned. everyone else involved in russia is now basically off the hook. we can condemn, i certainly do the pardons, and j

william barr was in the middle of that too.hat about the fact that governor andrew cuomo is being flooded as the next ag? >> in this country i can't imagine living in a country that would have andrew cuomo as the attorney general, talk about a partisan hack being in an important position, doug jones, sally yates, jay johnson, folks that i wouldn't pick but are much better than andrew cuomo. a disastrous pick and i hope you would not be confirmed. shannon: thanks very much, merry christmas. a quick correction just moments ago, we were talking about former epa director gina mccarthy using a fake email account, it was actually her predecessor who used that. seattle is proposing new legislation that could legalize dozens of crimes we find out why and who is eligible for free pass as business owners make the city not to do it. we will debate next. "you have cancer." how their world stopped and when they found a way to face it. for some, this is where their keytruda story begins. keytruda-a breakthrough immunotherapy that may treat c

barr came in and told mueller and his band of i nitwits to shw your cards. >> if you think bill barr the problem for the trump administration, you're reading the wrong stuff. howie: mollie, bill barr in my view deserves credit for not publicly disclosing the investigation of hunter biden. are the mainstream media giving him credit? >> mainstream media, which is not mainstream at all, it's really far left democratic partisan activists, did a horrible job covering attorney general barr throughout the time he was attorney general. they constantly claimed things that were not true about how he was handling the trump administration and his role in it. he is someone who is very straightforward, very clear about what he believes. very much cares about the integrity of the justice department and did that no matter who liked it and who didn't like it. and he was very important, perhaps one of the only adults in washington, d.c. in the last four years. and the media did not admit how much they got it wrong and that is really bad. i want to make you one exception to that. kim strassel of the wa

even bill barr says there's no evidence of mass voter fraud. when trump has lost barr, it's over. remember, this is the same bill barr, the same attorney general who has done trump's personal bidding at nearly every turn since he was confirmed in february of 2019. he actually even opened the door to trump's conspiracy theory on mail-in voting before the election. he has been lock step with trump on everything from lock downs to the deep state, to spying on trump's campaign. >> you can't do the mail-in ballots. you can have tremendous fraud. >> i do think it increases the opportunity for fraud. >> under biden's lock down, you will be living in a prison state. >> you know, putting a national lock down, stay-at-home orders is like house arrest. >> they spied on me. they spied on our campaign. >> i think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. i think spying did occur. >> and by the way, tonight he's still pushing that angle. but it's clear barr has no trouble parroting trump, you saw that for yourself, so for him to call foul on trump's conspiracy theory, on the single most imp

i'm sure that bill barr took all of these factors into consideration.ow, obviously there's a lot of discretion here. the next attorney general or the person responsible for making the decision is not necessarily bound but i think it carries a great deal of weight, certainly with respect to the public and members of caongress, it will b something that the next attorney general, it is a fact that will be considered as well. >> that's important. attorney general lynch, let me get your thoughts on the impressive initiative, the two of you teamed up with the national coalition on covid-19 and criminal justice. tell us what you learned through this effort, what you're recommending. >> well, thank you for that. and i want to thank my co-chair, judge gonzales, in this effort. we brought together 14 commissioners from all walks of the criminal justice system. we call it cops, corrections, courts, and community, studied the impact of covid-19 and the criminal justice system. not only from all parts of the criminal justice system, from both sides of the aisle. thi

now barr has broken with the president. on tuesday barr told the associated press the justice department has not found any evidence of widespread fraud in the presidential election. that statement directly contradicts president trump's claim that the election was rigged. here is the latest from evan perez. >> reporter: attorney general bill barr says the justice department hasn't found any evidence to support allegations of widespread fraud that could change the result of last month's presidential election. this is a notable statement because bill barr before the election helped spread some of president donald trump's claims that voting by mail was susceptible to fraud. something that trump officials and state officials said simply wasn't true. barr said in an interview tuesday with the associated press that the justice department and the homeland security department have looked into the claims of fraud. he said, quote, to date we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election. t