William
Barr says Trump's tweets 'make it impossible to do my job'
US attorney
general says he will not be ‘bullied’ over decisions – but some observers
question his motives
Joan E
Greve in Washington, Maanvi Singh and Edward Helmore
Fri 14 Feb
2020 00.58 GMTLast modified on Fri 14 Feb 2020 13.46 GMT
The US
attorney general, William Barr, delivered a remarkable public rebuke of Donald
Trump on Thursday, saying that the president’s tweets about the Roger Stone
case “make it impossible for me to do my job” and that he would not be “bullied
or influenced” over justice department decisions.
In an
interview with ABC News, the attorney general acknowledged his comments could
leave him open to backlash from the president, who is notoriously intolerant of
criticism from his aides. But Barr said he was determined to lead the justice
department without being influence by outside forces, including the president.
“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about
Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr said.
Ignoring
Barr’s criticisms, Trump tweeted on Friday morning, denying that he had
attempted to interfere in the case but claiming he could have if he wanted to:
“‘The President has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case.’ A.G.
Barr [–] This doesn’t mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to
do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!”
Barr’s
interview came as he faces fierce criticism from Democrats over his
intervention in the case of Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of Trump who was
convicted in November. Barr this week overruled prosecutors who had recommended
that Stone be sentenced to seven to nine years in prison.
The move
prompted a crisis of credibility for the US justice system, as top lawyers
warned it could undermine the integrity of federal prosecutors, politicize the
legal handling of Trump’s friends and enemies, and ultimately threaten
democracy itself.
In his
interview, the attorney general emphasized Trump “has never asked me to do
anything in a criminal case”, but he acknowledged the president’s comments
undercut his authority.
Despite
Barr insisting he will not be “bullied” by Trump on justice department matters,
some commentators were skeptical that Barr was actually trying to distance
himself from the president or was working to protect the justice department
from interference.
“I don’t think he’s fit for the office because
I think what he’s done is undertake a campaign to undermine the Department of
Justice,” former deputy attorney general Donald Ayer, told MSNBC.
Ayer, who
preceded Barr as deputy attorney general under George HW Bush, added that
Barr’s “pattern of conduct” since becoming attorney general involves
“intervening out of usual course to protect Donald Trump”.
Former US
attorney Preet Bharara tweeted: “I think Bill Barr is shrewd, deliberate,
smart, calculating, careful, and full of it.”
An
Obama-era justice department official, Matthew Miller, wrote on Twitter: “Don’t
be fooled by this one, people. Barr is telling the president that his
impulsiveness is making it politically harder for him to deliver the results he
wants. If Trump would just shut up, Barr could take care of him much more
effectively.”
“The best
indicator of future performance is past performance,” wrote the US
congresswoman Val Demings, of Florida. “Attorney General Barr’s past
performance was to mislead the American people (about the Mueller Report) in
order to cover up wrongdoing by the president. Why shouldn’t we believe that’s
exactly what he’s doing now?”
In his
interview with ABC, Barr added that public statements and tweets about the
department and its pending cases “make it impossible for me to do my job and to
assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that we’re doing our
work with integrity”.
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