Trump says Attorney General Barr resigning as Electoral College seals Biden's victory

WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday evening that Attorney General Bill Barr will step down before Christmas.

The news came just moments after Democrat Joe Biden officially surpassed 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the White House after California cast its 55 Electoral College votes, the most in any state, which put the former vice president over the top.

"Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House... As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family..." Trump tweeted.

"Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job!" said the president.

Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will serve as acting attorney general following Barr's departure, Trump said, adding that Richard Donoghue, former US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, will take over Rosen's role as the No 2 official at the Justice Department.

"As discussed, I will spend the next week wrapping up a few remaining matters important to the administration and depart on December 23rd," Barr wrote in his resignation letter.

Earlier this month, Barr revealed that the Justice Department had not found evidence of widespread election fraud that would alter the results of the election, representing a public contradiction of Trump's election fraud claims.

Over the weekend, Trump slammed Barr over reports that the attorney general kept information about a federal investigation into Biden's son, Hunter Biden, from public view before the November election.

Barr has served as Trump's second attorney general since February 2019.