Former Attorney General William Barr said in a newly-released interview that challenging the legitimacy of the 2020 White House election result “precipitated” the deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol earlier January.
Barr told ITV News.
Regardless of which side of the political spectrum is involved, we just cannot tolerate violence interfering with the processes of government. I think that when you start suppressing free speech, when people lose confidence in the media, and also when they lose faith in the integrity of elections – you are going to have some people resort to violence.
Barr previously criticized President Donald Trump’s conduct to a group of his supporters storming the Capitol, calling it a “betrayal of his office and supporters” adding that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable.”
The former Trump official made the remarks to the Associated Press.
Barr left his post as head of the Justice Department in December, shortly after declaring that his agency found no evidence of widespread election fraud during the election. Even as President-elect Joe Biden is set to ascend to the White House this week, President Trump continues to allege such fraud.
Barr is said to have told President Trump that allegations of voter fraud were “bullshit,” according to Axois.
“I’m a pretty informed legal observer and I can’t fucking figure out what the theory is here,” Barr reportedly added. “It’s just scattershot. It’s all over the hill and gone.”