Barr says he hasn’t seen fraud that could affect the election outcome

By Matt Zapotosky,

Attorney General William P. Barr told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he has “not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” undercutting claims that President Trump and his allies have made — without evidence — of widespread and significant voting irregularities.

In an interview, Barr suggested the FBI and Justice Department have looked into some fraud claims, and seemed to take particular aim at one, by attorney Sidney Powell, who alleged a grand conspiracy involving election software changing voting tallies.

“There’s been one assertion that would be systemic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results. And the DHS and DOJ have looked into that, and so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that,” Barr told the Associated Press, referring to the departments of Homeland Security and Justice.

Though Justice Department officials have for weeks said that there was not evidence to substantiate the claims of Trump and his allies, Barr’s publicly breaking with the president is particularly significant.

Before the election, Barr had warned repeatedly and forcefully about possible fraud that might come with mass mail-in voting, echoing the president’s attacks on the practice. Afterward, he reversed long-standing Justice Department policy and authorized prosecutors to take overt steps to pursue allegations of “vote tabulation irregularities” in certain cases before results are certified — drawing criticism that he was trying to magnify Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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