Attorney General William P. Barr took a veiled shot at the Obama administration’s lack of action on Russian election meddling in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
When asked about Russian election interference, Mr. Barr praised the work of special counsel Robert Mueller, who brought criminal charges against 25 Russians and three companies. Mr. Mueller lodged criminal counts against the Internet Research Agency, an internet troll farm, and scores of Russians affiliated with the GRU, a Russian intelligence agency.
“It was very impressive work he did, moving quickly to get into the IRA and GRU folks,” Mr. Barr said. “If that had been done in 2016, we would have been a lot further along.”
Mr. Barr is the second Justice Department official to blame President Obama for not doing enough to combat Russian efforts to sow chaos during the election.
Last week, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein also took a swipe at Mr.Obama during a private dinner in New York. He said the Obama administration was too slow “to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls.”
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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