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Former President Donald Trump was criticized after sending NBC News anchor Lester Holt a rambling letter over the weekend to rebut an interview given by William Barr, his former Attorney General. The three-page letter, dated March 2, was first obtained by Axios.
Barr's interview was noteworthy in that he explicitly blamed Trump for the violence that erupted at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, the day a mob of his supporters stormed the building in a failed bid to overturn the 2020 general election results.
Although Barr acknowledged that he had not yet seen actual evidence that Trump committed an actual crime, Trump lashed out at Barr, accusing him of having "crumbled under the pressure, and bowed to the Radical Left."
Quite the Trump letter to Lester Holt about Bill Barr, obtained by @axios \nhttps://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21397048-trumpholt?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/dnCxH5oEmb— Alex Thompson (@Alex Thompson) 1646658121
Trump suggested that in granting Holt the interview, Barr was looking to rehabiliate his image and falsely asserted that there is significant evidence to conclude that the 2020 general election was fraudulent.
His remarks indicate that he is still furious that Barr opposed his efforts to contest the election:
"Despite massive amounts of evidence, with far more produced after his leaving, he refused to go after the fraud and irregularities that had so openly taking place in the 2020 Presidential Election. It was sad to watch!"
"When he stated that there was no fraud in the Election, it was a virtual joke to anyone who actually knew what had gone on, in particular, within in [sic] the Swing States."
Trump went on to call Barr "a big disappointment to me as Attorney General" and suggested that Barr's memoir, One Damn Thing After Another, which is slated for a March 8 release, "will be long, slow, and very boring." He further attacked him for lacking "energy, drive, and curiosity."
Ultimately, Trump painted an image of Barr as weak, indecisive and vulnerable to external pressures:
"Barr was petrified of the Radical Left and what they would do to him... The Election was totally corrupt, and we had no one fighting this corruption because Bill Barr did not have the courage to do so."
Trump's remarks were harshly criticized, with many pointing out that the length of the letter is an indication that Barr's interview had upset him significantly.
Safe to say that Bill Barr interview rattled Trump quite a bit. He fires off a long letter to Lester Holt ripping Barr and ranting. I cut out the rants, but here is the Barr trashing.pic.twitter.com/ezTXESCSAi— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1646619017
Hire \u201conly the best\u201d until they\u2019re not when they don\u2019t see what you see and don\u2019t believe what you believe. Then, they become unqualified and/or incompetent https://twitter.com/axios/status/1500820775305105418\u00a0\u2026— Manuel Luna (@Manuel Luna) 1646665434
The ranting of a deranged man who is going to get worse as we approach 2024.https://twitter.com/axios/status/1500820775305105418\u00a0\u2026— EJ Fagan (@EJ Fagan) 1646661051
Trump hasn't said anything new or interesting in years. In fact, I'm tempted to write a three page rant for him based solely on his previous rants and then compare them to see how close I came. \n\nBut you know, life and stuff.https://twitter.com/axios/status/1500820775305105418\u00a0\u2026— rynogeny (@rynogeny) 1646662113
A very stable genius talking about a spineless, gutless thief in a suit...https://twitter.com/axios/status/1500820775305105418\u00a0\u2026— Brian Davis \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Brian Davis \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1646662263
Newsrooms regularly get crank letters from the unhinged.https://twitter.com/axios/status/1500820775305105418\u00a0\u2026— Jennifer Baty (@Jennifer Baty) 1646662642
That letter would be \u201cSomething Else\u201d if he\u2019d just thought it. That he committed it to ink & paper is\u2026 what?https://twitter.com/axios/status/1500820775305105418\u00a0\u2026— Brian Cummings \ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89 (@Brian Cummings \ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89\ud83d\udc89) 1646664857
Anyone else writing this type of letter would be considered for psychological evaluation.https://twitter.com/axios/status/1500820775305105418\u00a0\u2026— Old-Fashioned Strategy Nerd (@Old-Fashioned Strategy Nerd) 1646664929
When letters like this arrive in congressional offices \u2014 Democrat and Republican \u2014 they are ignored. \n\nWild accusations, capital letters where they don\u2019t belong, paranoia, exclamation points, excessive length. All indicate they come from a crazy person.\n\nLike this one.https://twitter.com/axios/status/1500820775305105418\u00a0\u2026— Lisa Quigley \ud83c\udf3b (@Lisa Quigley \ud83c\udf3b) 1646659812
Barr was once one of Trump’s most loyal defenders, though their relationship soured when Barr pushed back against Trump’s claims that the 2020 general election was fraudulent.
Trump had counted on Barr to back him and was angered when Barr, several weeks after the election, announced that he has “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election."
The two reportedly had a “contentious” meeting after Trump summoned Barr to the White House following an announcement from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that it did not find evidence to support Trump's claims.
Barr had told The Associated Press about the DOJ's findings and his interview angered the former President, who has continued to push baseless conspiracy theories and previously mounted flimsy legal efforts in a bid to overturn election results.
Barr also fell out of favor with Trump when he declined to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings, arguing that those investigations are already being handled by attorneys within the DOJ.
Conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden's business dealings have been a favorite in conservative circles for some time.
A 2020 New York Post investigation published emails suggesting Hunter Biden introduced his father, President Joe Biden, to an executive with Burisma Holdings––a Ukrainian gas firm––in 2015.
The story received criticism for shaky reporting and Twitter's attempts to block the news outlet from sharing the story received criticism from Republicans who accused the tech giant of censoring conservative voices.