US Justice Minister Bill Barr said Tuesday, December 1, that he had not found sufficient "fraud" to invalidate Joe Biden's victory in the November 3 presidential election, contrary to Donald Trump's assertions.

This 70-year-old ultra-conservative is the first member of the president's bodyguard to publicly distance himself from the "rigged" election allegations hammered out by Donald Trump.

"At this point, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could change the outcome of the election," he said in an interview with the US Associated Press.

"There have been allegations of systematic fraud, according to which machines have been programmed to distort the results of the elections," he recalled.

But the Ministries of Homeland Security and Justice "have investigated and, so far, have found nothing to back them up."

Soon sacked?

At midday on Tuesday, Bill Barr was spotted in the White House.

This visit was "planned" before the publication of his remarks, assured his spokesman Kerri Kupec, without putting an end to the speculations on a possible departure of "the Attorney General" of the United States.

"I suppose he will be the next to be sacked since he, too, now says that there was no fraud," said Democratic Senators Leader Chuck Schumer.

Four weeks after the election, Donald Trump still refuses to concede defeat.

Together with his allies, he has brought dozens of legal actions, most of which have been rejected by the courts or dropped.

"With all our respect"

On Sunday, he criticized the Ministry of Justice and the federal police for not helping him in his fight.

"They are missing," he said on Fox News.

"There is a growing tendency to use the justice system as a tool to solve all problems and when people are unhappy with something they wait for the Department of Justice to come in and 'investigate'," Bill said. Barr.

This pillar of government, much appreciated by elected Republican officials, had hitherto refrained from contradicting the president and had even, before the election, supported his opinion, questioning the reliability of the postal vote.

In early November, he authorized federal prosecutors to investigate suspicions of fraud without waiting for state certification of the results, contrary to custom.

But he had called on them to intervene only in the event of "substantial" and "credible" allegations. 

Hard court

His statements therefore represent a particularly hard blow for Donald Trump.

In a statement, the president's lawyers sought to play them down.

"With all due respect to the Attorney General, there has been no semblance of an investigation at the Department of Justice," Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis wrote in a statement.

"His opinion does not appear to be based on knowledge or investigation of substantial irregularities and systematic fraud evidence," they added, promising to "continue their search for the truth."

In the November 3 poll, former Vice President Joe Biden won more than 80 million votes against just under 74 million for Donald Trump.

The Democrat has managed to take over a handful of key states that voted for the Republican in 2016 and has 306 voters against 232 for his rival.

Even if the outgoing president does not recognize his defeat, the electoral college should therefore confirm his victory on December 14 for taking office on January 20.

With AFP

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