The statement was issued in September 2020 by the office of David Freed, then-the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaks at a meeting of the Federalist Society on Sept. 20, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Barr spoke as The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies held its Education Law and Policy Conference.
The Justice Department, meanwhile, was under increased scrutiny amid accusations Trump had weaponized the typically apolitical law enforcement agency to advance his own personal and political ends. Freed’s news release immediately drew criticism from some who viewed it as the Justice Department attempting to bolster Trump’s false claims about mail voting before investigators were even sure of the facts.Then-White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany mentioned it during a press briefing the same day of Freed’s news release. Trump repeatedly cited it during his first debate againstthe day after.
Together, Barr and Freed helped craft the statement on the probe that Freed eventually released. Barr specifically insisted — and Freed agreed — that a line noting the ballots were for Trump should be included in the news release, the inspector general’s report found. Corey Amundson, chief of the department’s Public Integrity Section, which oversees election integrity investigations, noted it was unusual he hadn’t been consulted before any statement was released.
Freed, meanwhile, said he shared Barr’s concerns given what he described as “the history of corruption and patronage in northeastern Pennsylvania” and the “real uncertainty going on around Pennsylvania’s elections.”
Election-2020 Donald-Trump David-Freed Luzerne-County
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