Barr stepping down next week

In a letter on Monday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr praised President Donald Trump for improving the country’s economy, courts, and military, then said he would leave his job on Dec. 23.

Why is Barr leaving? His written resignation gave no indication of his reason for stepping away with a month left in the Trump administration. In recent weeks, the president criticized Barr publicly for saying the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could have affected the presidential election’s results. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will replace Barr as acting attorney general, Trump tweeted.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report on Barr’s announcement of the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.