Trump's Attorney General resigns one month before end of administration
US Attorney General William Bill Barr has resigned. Trump has said he is resigning to spend the Christmas and New Year holidays with his family. Trump had strongly criticized Barr's performance last week.
Trump's Attorney General William Barr has resigned with just 35 days left in his term. President Donald Trump announced the news on Twitter, writing that Barr "resigned to spend the Christmas holidays with his family and will be officially leaving office on December 23rd."
In a tweet, Trump described Barr's work as Attorney General as "great" and said the two had worked very well together. In his resignation letter, William Barr praised Trump's work and spoke of the "many and unprecedented successes" the Trump administration has brought to the American people.
Barr also called Trump's tenure "historic" because he has been able to overcome his political opponents with "stubborn resistance." "Few people could have survived such an attack," he wrote. Barr praised Trump's successes in the economic field, strengthening the military and reducing illegal immigration to the United States.
Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will take over as acting Justice Department chief in the next month.
Not-so-problematic cooperation
Of course, the period of cooperation between William Barr and Trump was not without tension. It was just last Saturday (December 12) that Trump sharply criticized Barr. The Wall Street Journal had previously reported that the attorney general had been investigating Joe Biden's son since the spring of 2020, but wanted to put it on hold because of the election campaign.
Trump, however, called Barr's action "a huge disappointment" and wrote: "Why didn't Bill Barr inform the public about the truth about Hunter Biden (Joe Biden's son) before the election?"
Hunter Biden announced last Wednesday that he was under federal investigation for “tax matters.” During Trump’s election campaign, Joe Biden’s son was a regular target of attacks from Donald Trump, who repeatedly accused the Biden family of corruption.
The background to these allegations is Hunter Biden's business activities in Ukraine and China. Between 2014 and 2019, he held a sensitive position on the supervisory board of the Burisma gas concern in Ukraine.
Source: DW
