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."
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.
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.
