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Bill Barr is the current United States Attorney General. AP reports

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested Thursday [July 2] on charges she helped lure at least three girls — one as young as 14 — to be sexually abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of victimizing dozens of girls and women over many years.

Several ten thousand twitter users have now liked or retweeted the following claims:

Baligubadle:
Breaking: Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer has refused to let Bill Barr visit her client in jail.
10:54 AM · Jul 2, 2020

source (10.4K Retweets, 47.5K Likes -- as of 2020/07/03 9:39 EST)

Richard Marx [blue checkmark]:
Why would Bill Barr want to visit Ghislaine Maxwell in jail the day she’s arrested? Hmmm?
6:34 PM · Jul 2, 2020

source (12.5K Retweets, 51.9K Likes -- as of 2020/07/03 9:39 EST)

Is there any evidence Bill Barr attempted to visit Ghislaine Maxwell on July 2? Or has a reputable news source mentioned this (something other than twitter comments)?

(a quick google search is only showing those twitter comments)

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5
  • I'll accept a negative answer if nothing materializes (insufficient evidence) in, say, one week. [insert can't-prove-a-negative discussion]
    – BurnsBA
    Jul 3, 2020 at 13:51
  • 6
    Why would an attorney general want to speak to a person in custody for a high-profile crime? Seriously? Do none of these people know what attorneys general actually do?
    – barbecue
    Jul 3, 2020 at 22:10
  • 4
    "The attorneys general serve as counselors to state government agencies and legislatures, and as representatives of the public interest." naag.org/naag/about_naag/faq/… To me it is not clear why his duties require him to speak to an accused directly, instead of in front of a court?
    – Georg Patscheider
    Jul 6, 2020 at 9:01
  • While I don't believe Barr 'visited' Maxwell, in the sense of a personal chat; I do believe he has and is paying very close attention to Ms. Maxwell and the efforts being made by the corrections officers in charge of her so as to not lose another one (re Epstein suicide). OTOH, his personal connections to Mr. Epstein lends credence to the calls for him to recuse himself.
    – CGCampbell
    Jul 14, 2020 at 0:05
  • @GeorgPatscheider to offer a deal if she brings evidence against other criminals. Very common practice. Why you expect that to happen in court?
    – Paul Draper
    Jul 15, 2020 at 7:56

1 Answer 1

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No

Other instances of claims

There are some additional tweets, though both after yours:

Barr visited Maxwell in jail this morning.

https://twitter.com/AdamECohen/status/1278885217323941888

[deleted]

Today Attorney General Barr attempted to visit Ghislaine Maxwell in her jail cell, but was refused entry by her attorney.

https://twitter.com/takeadive45/status/1278892384240103424

There is another claim that Barr's attempt was the day after arrest:

The day after Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested & booked, Us Attorney General William Barr tried to visit her like he did Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell refused.

https://filmdaily.co/news/ghislaine-maxwell-fate/

Similarity to Epstein claim

It was widely circulated that Barr visited Epstein shortly before his death:

Epstein ended up dead days after Barr visited him.

https://filmdaily.co/news/ghislaine-maxwell-fate/

Epstein had been thought to have attempted suicide nearly three weeks ago, around the time that Kasman said Attorney General William Barr made a discreet visit to the federal detention center

https://jimheath.tv/2019/08/gotti-confidant-questions-ag-barrs-visit-to-epstein-jail-several-weeks-ago-when-does-that-happen/

Snopes rated the claim about visiting Epstein as False.

All told, however, the claim has its origins in a man with a history of wild claims whose expertise on the topic is limited to his having made "several" visits to the same prison over two decades earlier. As such, we consider the claim without merit.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/epstein-barr-visit/

Perhaps the claim about Maxwell was intentionally or unintentionally copied from this other unsubstantiated report.

FYI, Barr would have reason to be interested in Maxwell. It's common for prosecutors to offer plea deals, and there are reports that Maxwell possesses taped evidence. However, it would be unusual for the Attorney General to visit personally instead of just the case's prosecutor.

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