Attorney General William Barr resigning and will leave before Christmas, Donald Trump says
US attorney general William Barr is resigning amid lingering tension over Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud and a probe into Joe Biden's son.
Mr Barr, one of Mr Trump's staunchest allies, went to the White House on Monday, where the president said he submitted his letter of resignation.
"As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family," Mr Trump tweeted.
The president has publicly expressed his anger about Mr Barr's saying earlier this month that the Justice Department had found no widespread election fraud that would change the outcome of the election.
Mr Trump also vented his rage after that the Justice Department did not publicly announce it was investigating Hunter Biden ahead of the election, despite department policy against such a pronouncement.
The president said deputy attorney general Jeff Rosen, whom he labelled "an outstanding person", will become acting attorney general.
Mr Barr’s resignation emerged as Joe Biden cleared the 270 electoral vote mark to formalise his presidential victory with California's 55 votes.
The voting milestone came late on Monday as California electors affirmed the Democrat's massive five million vote win last month in the nation's largest state.
The Electoral College took on added importance this year because of Mr Trump's refusal to concede he lost his race for re-election.
