–Barr Bombshell: ‘It’s time to stop the tweeting’
By Denny Gulino
THE WHITE HOUSE (MaceNews) – Just as all the chroniclers keeping up with Executive Mansion revelations, tweets and rumors were perfecting still another in a very long string of “White House in Chaos” stories something unprecedented comes along that makes collective jaws drop – a Cabinet member, the attorney general no less, strongly chastises Donald Trump.
Where did this come from? Who could have guessed? It was ABC News’ Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas who engineered this bit of history, in his exclusive interview with William Barr saying, “I’m not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody … whether it’s Congress, a newspaper editorial board, or the president.”
News producers already had enough for the evening news, like the aftermath of Barr’s decision to downsize recommended sentences for President Trump’s decades-long friend and trickster Roger Stone, the president’s tweets criticizing the four prosecutors whose reaction was to disengage from the Stone case – and the judge. Throw in Trump’s vitriol – “can’t keep his mouth shut” – directed at his former chief of staff John Kelly.
And much more. Like eight Republican senators voting with Democrats to pass a measure that would keep Trump from any major military strike against Iran, a vote that along with House passage assures a presidential veto. Would as many as 12 Republican senators vote with Democrats to overturn the veto?
Then comes along Bill Barr mouthing words that even the most critical commentator could not imagine.
“I’m 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,” Barr told ABC interviewer Thomas.
Is Barr ready for the presumed consequence of publicly criticizing Trump? “Of course,” he answered.
He’s challenging the president’s right to inflict sometimes vicious tweets, something no Republican in Congress nor anyone else in the Cabinet, past or present, has strongly condemned.
“I have a problem with some of, some of the tweets,” Barr said, “I think the essential role of the attorney general is to keep law enforcement, the criminal process sacrosanct to make sure there is no political interference in it. And I have done that and I will continue to do that.”
Outside of tweets, Barr said, “I’m happy to say that, in fact the president has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case.”
The modification of his prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation, Barr said, was underway before Trump blasted the recommendation and before Trump told the prosecutors to go back to school.
Said Barr, “Do you go forward with what you think is the right decision or do you pull back because of the tweet? And that just sort of illustrates how disruptive these can be.”
“It’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr went on. “I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me.”
Now everyone holds their breath, watching the @realdonaldtrump twitter feed. Would the right – or wrong – tweet trigger Barr’s resignation? Will now more Republicans be emboldened to speak up for themselves? Will Trump heed Barr’s advice?
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Contact this reporter: denny@macenews.com