Attorney General Bill Barr took issue with President Donald Trump’s tweets but liberals were refusing to believe he was being sincere, but a lot has changed over the course of a few hours.
Barr admitted that Trump’s tweets “make it impossible for me to do my job,” during an interview with ABC News on Thursday, following blowback over the president’s tweet this week slamming sentencing in the case against his longtime friend Roger Stone.
Barr told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas that Trump “has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case” but felt he should “stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases.” He added that he was ready for any consequences for his comments, suggesting the president could call him out for the public rebuke.
Bill Barr insists he’s had no directive from Trump, but time to ‘stop tweeting’ about DOJ; WH responds https://t.co/csT64C50pQ
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) February 14, 2020
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defended Barr and South Carolina Republican. Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed his “complete confidence” in the attorney general as criticism rolled in.
He is the right man at the right time to reform the Department and stand up for the Rule of Law.
Attorney General Barr has my complete confidence.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 13, 2020
“The President wasn’t bothered by the comments at all and he has the right, just like any American citizen, to publicly offer his opinions,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement following Barr’s interview. “The President has full faith and confidence in Attorney General Barr to do his job and uphold the law.”
But critics on the left soon raised the alarm, fearing to admit Trump may be right by tearing into Barr’s remarks as staged and a theatrical “performance.”
Trump is not upset with Barr after his comments to ABC, I’m told.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 13, 2020
Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather weighed in though no one asked.
So Barr says Trump’s tweets make it ‘impossible for me to do my job?” As in his job of letting the President undermine the rule of law?
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) February 14, 2020
In measuring the sincerity of the words of Bill Barr, please consider the track record.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) February 14, 2020
CNN’s Susan Hennessey called it “absolutely nonsense theatrics.”
This is absolutely nonsense theatrics and I don’t buy if for one moment. Barr interfered in the Stone case for purely political reasons and Barr’s sole problem is the inconvenience of Trump saying it out loud. https://t.co/rAVeMo9u9s
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) February 13, 2020
CNN host Chris Cuomo likened Barr’s comment to a “whack at the boss” on “Cuomo Prime Time.”
“Really? What a smack,” Cuomo said. “Such defiance, such that, I have to suspect that punch is a ploy. Distract the media with the drama while ignoring the fact that the explanation from Barr about how it happened here with [Roger] Stone.”
.@ChrisCuomo on the Roger Stone case: “What’s scarier? Trump telling Barr what to do about this sentence or Barr just having Trump’s interests so far in front of anything else that he didn’t need to be told even if it meant undoing a sentence recommendation that his guys OK’d?” pic.twitter.com/7zcGLgU9E6
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) February 14, 2020
The fact that Trump “let the disrespect go” was “another clue” to Cuomo that the comment was a “canard.”
Filmmaker Judd Apatow called Barr’s interview a “drama created to cover up corruption.”
Barr’s comment was an “outburst” that “means little if he does not actually stand up to Trump,” Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin said.
“I call bulls—t,” Democratic Coalition Jon Cooper tweeted.
I call bullshit. What Bill Barr REALLY means is that Trump’s tweets saying the quiet part out loud are making it harder for him to do the crimes and cover-up. So speaketh the #CoverupGeneral. https://t.co/x8vkBJ9tGr
— Jon Cooper ?? (@joncoopertweets) February 13, 2020
“It’s clear Barr’s job is to enact Trump’s corrupt policies,” MSNBC’s Chris Hayes mocked.
.@chrislhayes on Barr saying Trump’s tweets make it impossible for him to do his job: “It’s clear Barr’s job is to enact Trump’s corrupt policies. And when you got the President constantly drawing attention to that fact, well it makes it a lot harder for him to get away with it.” pic.twitter.com/Ln5jvkNhFb
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) February 14, 2020
“Barr criticized Trump, perhaps even with Trump’s approval, to shore up the Justice Department’s credibility as an independent agency that makes decisions based on the law, not the president’s whims,” New York Times columnist David Leonhardt suggested in a piece published Friday.
“In this scenario, Barr is happy to use the Justice Department to help Trump but would prefer the help to be less obvious,” Leonhardt wrote. “Which is the right interpretation? It’s impossible to know right now.”
In a move that neither political side saw coming, the Dept of Justice announced on Friday that it was closing its case against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and dropping criminal charges.
‘Swamp wins again’: DOJ drops criminal charges against Andrew McCabe and closes case https://t.co/irpu8RRyBD
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) February 14, 2020
McCabe had admitted to leaking information to the Washington Post after he was caught lying about it. Trump supporters had been waiting for justice, especially in light of the outrageous sentence recommended for Trump ally Roger Stone.
The DOJ’s decision to drop the case on McCabe seems to put an egg on everyone’s face… The liberal media for parroting the narrative that Barr was merely a puppet for Trump, and Republicans who believed they’d see equal justice under the law.
Barr, for the time being, is getting hammered from all sides now:
https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1228381157584261122
Andrew McCabe perjured himself numerous times,
And leaked confidential information to the media.
Meanwhile Roger Stone is facing 7-9 years in jail for lying.
Our justice system is completely broken.
RT if you think McCabe should be prosecuted.
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) February 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/mitchellvii/status/1228396331137478657
Through #FISA – it’s all out there in black and white but guess who will pay the price? Not the superiors in charge of the sham but maybe the underling FBI agents who were scooped up into the #coup mess. So sad indeed for Lt Gen Mike Flynn and others targeted by @Comey, McCabe
— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) February 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/BuckSexton/status/1228377570628034562
Paul Manafort sits in a prison cell.
Roger Stone sits – awaiting sentencing which DOJ prosecutors want, in effect to be a life sentence.Andrew McCabe sits at CNN. With no worries.
This is not equal justice.
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) February 14, 2020
LOL McCabe didn't even dispute that he lied to the FBI
The absolute state of the justice system in America
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) February 14, 2020
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