The White House liaison to the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been banned from the building for allegedly pressuring DOJ staff to divulge information regarding election fraud cases, the Associated Press (AP) reported Thursday.
The aide, Heidi Stirrup, was installed at the DOJ months ago, and she was banned within the past two weeks as Trump has escalated his efforts to overturn the result of the election, the AP reported. The AP sourced the incident to three unnamed people it says are familiar with the matter. The White House did not offer comment on the incident when reached by the Daily Caller.
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (RELATED: Kayleigh McEnany Opens Press Conference With Video Loop Of Democrats Breaking Their Own Lockdown Rules)
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General William Barr participates in a roundtable discussion about human trafficking at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., September 21, 2020. (REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo)
White House liaisons are responsible for reporting the activities of federal departments and agencies to the White House, as well as communicating the administration’s priorities to the organizations. The position does not grant access to ongoing legal investigations or other privileged information, however. Liaisons are considered employees of the department they monitor and they are not considered White House staff.
Trump’s relationship with the DOJ may have frayed in recent days after he has expressed disappointment in Attorney General Bill Barr regarding his handling of election fraud allegations. Barr instructed the DOJ to probe any credible fraud allegations weeks ago and on Tuesday announced that neither the DOJ nor the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have uncovered evidence of fraud that would have swayed the result of the election.
“Ask me again in a few weeks,” Trump said after reporters asked him Thursday whether he still had confidence in Barr.
“He hasn’t done anything. He hasn’t looked,” Trump added. “When he looks he will see the kind of evidence that right now you are seeing in the Georgia Senate…They haven’t looked very hard, which is a disappointment.”