President Donald Trump on Thursday declined to say whether he still had confidence in Attorney General Bill Barr after the Department of Justice chief this week said there was no sign of major fraud in last month's presidential election.
Barr told the Associated Press in an interview Tuesday the department had so far found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
But Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said Barr had not looked for any evidence, calling that "a disappointment." Trump's legal team has accused Barr of failing to conduct a proper inquiry or audit voting machines, a task that does not fall to the Justice Department during an election.
Contested election results show Democrat Joe Biden defeating Republican Trump by a wide margin in the Nov. 3 election.
But Trump's team is actively challenging the outcome in a number of states. And the president has continued to say that the election was marred by widespread fraud, claims that have been rejected by state and federal officials.
Barr has long been a staunch Trump ally, winning scorn from Democrats and many of the department's own career prosecutors who have accused him of putting Trump's personal interests ahead of the country's.