AG Barr’s Direction to Route Fraud Referrals to Conflicted State AG (PA)

U.S. Attorney McSwain publicly disclosed via letter dated June 9, 2021, that AG William Barr directed him to pass all election-fraud reports to Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro – rather than investigate them independently – despite Shapiro having publicly stated before the election that he would “fight like hell” to ensure Pennsylvania went for Biden. This routing of federal fraud referrals to a structurally conflicted partisan official effectively neutralized the federal oversight mechanism in the most consequential battleground state.