DONALD Trump responded to Attorney General William Barr’s whine that the President’s tweets are unhelpful — with a tweet. The president quoted Barr’s interview with ABC Thursday, where the Attorney General said the tweets make it “impossible for me to do my job” and he would not “be bullied or influenced by anybody.” “’The President […]
DONALD Trump responded to Attorney General William Barr’s whine that the President’s tweets are unhelpful — with a tweet.
The president quoted Barr’s interview with ABC Thursday, where the Attorney General said the tweets make it “impossible for me to do my job” and he would not “be bullied or influenced by anybody.”
“’The President has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case.’ A.G. Barr” Trump tweeted, quoting the Attorney General’s interview with ABC.
“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!” Trump said.
Trump’s response came the day after Barr blasted the President’s tweets, as he called him out for talking about criminal cases in the Department of Justice.
Barr’s interview and Trump’s tweeting referenced the case of Roger Stone, who is a longtime friend and political consultant to the President.
Stone was convicted in November of witness tampering, lying to Congress, and obstructing the House investigation in regards to whether Trump’s campaign worked with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
The prosecuting team in Stone’s case recommended seven to nine years in prison for Stone on Monday, but the Department of Justice separately recommended a lesser sentence.
Barr told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas on Thursday Trump’s tweets “make it impossible for me to do my job and assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department, that we’re doing our work with integrity.”
He added: “I’m not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody … whether it’s Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.”
“I am gonna do what I think is right and you know… I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me,” he said.
“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr told ABC.
Trump had previously applauded Barr for “taking charge” of Stone’s case with a tweet Wednesday.
“Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr for taking charge of a case that was totally out of control and perhaps should not have even been brought,” Trump tweeted.
“Evidence now clearly shows that the Mueller Scam was improperly brought & tainted. Even Bob Mueller lied to Congress!”
Trump had first called the recommended sentencing “horrible and very unfair.”
“This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!” Trump tweeted.
Barr said in the interview that Trump never asked him to do anything in regard to Roger Stone’s case, and that he said the recommended sentence was excessive before it was filed.
“I have not discussed the Roger Stone case at the White House,” Barr said in the interview with ABC.
The back-and-forth came in the middle of a whirlwind as the entire prosecuting team for President Trump adviser Roger Stone’s case resigned, after the Justice Department made clear their intention to override the sentencing recommendation
Stone is set to be sentenced Feb. 20.
Sentencing Judge Amy Berman Jackson may ignore the revised memo from the Justice Department to give a lesser sentence, or she may follow the original recommendation from the prosecutors, The Guardian reported.
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