Pro-Trump protesters picket Attorney General Barr's house in Virginia, demand he 'lock up' Joe Biden
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A group of protesters gathered in front of Attorney General William Barr's McLean, Virginia home on Saturday evening where they called for Barr to "lock up" his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
Photos of the event showed a crowd of about a dozen men, donned in clothing and messages supportive of President Donald Trump, held signs with slogans such as "Biden Lies Matter," "Equal Justice Is Coming" and "They that forsake the law praise the wicked." Others wore "Trump 2020" flags and "Crooked Hillary for Prison" T-shirts.
The protest echo calls at the president's rallies where crowds have chanted for Trump's political opponents to be jailed. The phrase "Lock Her Up," originally a call to arrest 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, has remained a staple of the president's political campaign and was recently leveled at Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer just after the FBI foiled a kidnapping plot against her.
Fact check: Biden leveraged $1B in aid to Ukraine to oust corrupt prosecutor, not to help his son
Barr went outside to meet and chat with the protestors, then explained the Justice Department's role in investigations. The attorney general shook hands with the protestors and posed for photos, according to Associated Press reporter Mike Balsamo.
Trump has repeatedly accused Biden of corruption without evidence. The president's quest to find dirt on Biden was the central question of Trump's impeachment when he allegedly used military aid to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating the former vice president's son, Hunter Biden.
The latest accusations against the younger Biden originate in a New York Post story purporting to show emails and text messages that allegedly implicate Biden in influence peddling. But the story has been widely criticized for its dubious sourcing, including with the involvement of former New York Mayor and Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House aide Steve Bannon.
Biden has said he is "not taken a penny" from foreign governments.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether the story is the product of Russian disinformation, though no evidence has yet emerged to confirm this, sources told USA TODAY.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that corporate records shared by Hunter Biden's ex-business partner showed no role for Joe Biden in the activity.
The Justice Department has not announced any investigations related to the Hunter Biden case, despite the president's public demands that Barr should open an investigation.
“We’ve got to get the attorney general to act," Trump said on Oct. 20 about the Justice Department. "He’s got to act, and he’s got to act fast. He’s got to appoint somebody, this is major corruption, and this has to be known about before the election," Trump said.
Giuliani has also expressed frustration that Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray have not announced more sweeping investigations which may be politically beneficial to Trump.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Protesters at William Barr's Virginia home demand Joe Biden arrest
