Trump says Attorney General Barr leaving White House before Christmas
Dec 15, 2020
Washington [US], December 15 : After US President-elect Joe Biden cliched the presidency by bagging 302 Electoral College votes, President Donald Trump has announced that his Attorney General William Barr will be "leaving" the White House "just before Christmas".
President Trump tweets Attorney General William Barr "leaving" the White House
Taking to Twitter, Trump said, "Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!"
"As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all!" he added.
Earlier today, Michigan Republican leader Paul Mitchell told CNN that his disgust and disappointment with President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the election have led him to request that the clerk of the House change his party affiliation to "independent".
Meanwhile, Joe Biden has bagged 302 votes, clinching the Electoral College victory, CNN reported. Trump has secured 232 votes.
According to a report by The Hill, with electors in California handing the former vice president their 55 votes, Biden reached a crucial milestone that amounted to another rebuke of Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 elections.
The Electoral College voting process had begun on Monday morning in Indiana, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Vermont, with electors in other states meeting throughout the day.
For Democrats, the Electoral College vote was a triumphant milestone in a year marked by an ongoing pandemic, a divisive presidential election and concerns about the future of American democracy, The Hill said.
Biden will be sworn in as the 46th US president on January 20.
Biden, a former vice president, in his third attempt at the White House, defeated Trump in a closely contested election.
Trump's campaign had filed several lawsuits to challenge the results in a few battleground states after the president spent months spreading unsubstantiated claims that mail-in ballots could open the election up to fraud, reported The Hill.
However, recently, the US Supreme Court rejected a bid by Texas' attorney general to block the ballot of voters in battleground states that favoured Biden.
