US election: AG allows voting probes but warns against 'far-fetched' claims

Barr has been one of the most ardent and aggressive supporters of Trump, and his message comes as Trump and his legal team make so far unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud

Attorney General William Barr has authorised Justice Department officials to open inquiries into potential irregularities in the presidential election, while acknowledging there’s no conclusive evidence.

Barr issued a memo allowing US attorneys across the country, as well as his top lieutenants, to “pursue substantial allegations of voting and vote tabulation irregularities prior to the certification of elections in your jurisdictions in certain cases.”

“While serious allegations should be handled with great care, specious, speculative, fanciful or far-fetched claims should not be a basis for initiating federal inquiries,” Barr wrote. “Nothing here should be taken as any indication that the department has concluded