A Monday evening, President Trump released a letter from a former federal prosecutor expressing his disagreement with then-Attorney General William Barr on investigating allegations of fraud and election irregularities.
“U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was precluded from investigating election fraud allegations,” Trump wrote. “Outrageous!”
“President Trump, you were right to be upset about the way the Democrats ran the 2020 election in Pennsylvania – it was a partisan disgrace,” wrote William McSwain, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in a letter dated June 9, 2021. “The Governor, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and the partisan State Supreme Court made up their own rules and did not follow the law. Even worse, the State Attorney General, Josh Shapiro – the very person responsible for the enforcement of state election law – declared days before Election Day that you could not win the election.”
McSwain served as a U.S. Attorney from April 2018 through the end of Trump’s term.
“It would be hard to imagine a more irresponsible statement by a law enforcement officer,” Swain continued, “Especially during a hotly contested election. In light of such statements, it is hardly surprising that many Pennsylvanians lack faith in our state’s election results.”
Swain then addressed his concerns with Attorney General Barr.
“On Election Day and afterwards, our Office received various allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities. As part of my responsibilities as U.S. Attorney, I wanted to be transparent with the public and, of course, investigate fully any allegations. Attorney General Barr, however, instructed me not to make any public statements or put out any press releases regarding possible election irregularities. I was also given a directive to pass along serious allegations to the State Attorney General for investigation — the same State Attorney General who had already declared that you could not win.”
Swain said he disagreed with that decision, but those were his orders, and as a Marine infantry officer, he was trained to follow the chain of command, even when he disagreed.
Attorney General Barr insisted the Justice Department didn’t find sufficient evidence of fraud.
Trump released the letter the evening before Joe Biden is supposed to visit Pennsylvania to fight against the forensic audit that has been initiated there.
