Barr jibe at Trump: Tweets make it ‘impossible’ to do job

Attorney General William Barr publicly swiped at President Donald Trump on Thursday, declaring the president’s tweets about Justice Department prosecutors and open cases “make it impossible for me to accomplish my job.”

Barr made the comment during an interview with ABC News just days after his Justice Department overruled its own prosecutors - who had recommended in a court filing that Trump’s longtime ally and confidant Roger Stone be sentenced to 7 to 9 years in prison - and took the extraordinary step of lowering how much prison time it would seek. The department didn’t offer an amended number.

Barr himself has been under fire for the reversal. Still, it had been a highly unusual move for an associate of the Cabinet to criticize the president - especially a Trump loyalist who shares the the president’s views on expansive executive powers. Thursday’s comment served as a defense of his own integrity - an attempt to salvage his own reputation and that of the Department of Justice by publicly rebuking the president he’s propped up from Day One of is own tenure.

The remarks, made so quickly following the decision to back away from the sentencing, suggested Barr was aware the reversal had chipped away at the department’s historic reputation for independence from political sway. But he stopped short of acknowledging wrongdoing by anyone.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump “wasn’t bothered by the comments at all and he gets the right, just like any American citizen, to publicly offer his opinions.” She added, “The President has full faith and confidence in Attorney General Barr to do his job and uphold the law.”

But Trump includes a low tolerance for criticism, especially public criticism, from his allies and often fires back kind. And the tempered White House response raised questions of whether Barr’s comments were coordinated with the White House.

Barr said Trump’s tweets created perception problems for the department that called into question its independence, but he denied there is any order from Trump and said Trump’s tweets didn't factor into the decision.

Barr joined a roster of higher level aides who've publicly criticized Trump, thought the others left the work first. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton is to publish a book next month detailing his amount of time in the White House including criticism of Trump actions such as his decision to withhold military assistance while seeking a political favor from Ukraine. Former Chief of Staff John Kelly, who has largely kept a minimal profile since leaving the White House, has grown more open about his unflattering assessments of the president.

Earlier this week, Trump applauded Barr on Twitter for your choice to reverse the sentencing recommendation, writing: “Congratulations to Attorney General Bill Barr when planning on taking charge of a case that was totally uncontrollable and perhaps shouldn't have even been brought.”

The department insisted your choice to undo the sentencing recommendation was made Monday night - before Trump blasted the recommendation on Twitter as “very horrible and unfair”- and prosecutors had not spoken to the White House about any of it. The about-face prompted the four attorneys who prosecuted Stone to give up the case. One left the Justice Department altogether.

“I’m happy to say that, actually, the president has never asked me to accomplish anything in a criminal case,” Barr said in the ABC interview. “However, to have public statements and tweets made about the department, about our persons ... about cases pending in the department, and about judges before whom we've cases, make it impossible for me personally to accomplish my job and also to assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that we’re doing our use integrity.”

National security adviser Robert O’Brien told reporters Thursday evening at the White House that Trump tweets to bypass the mainstream press and speak directly to the American people.

“It’s simply a different approach to communicating with the American persons and the president has every to weigh in,” O’Brien said. “He’s got First Amendment rights, even though he’s president. And he’s got the right to weigh in along with his opinions on the big issues of your day and I believe he’s going to continue steadily to do that.”

Stone was convicted in November of tampering with a witness and obstructing the home investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to tip the 2016 election. He’s scheduled to be sentenced next week.

Barr said he was “of course” prepared to handle any ramifications from the president for his comments. Administration officials said senior White House aides were not informed of the contents of Barr’s interview before it aired.

“As I said within my confirmation, I came directly into serve as legal professional general. I am in charge of everything that occurs in the department, but the thing I have most responsibility for are the issues that are brought to me for decision,” Barr said in the interview.

It is very rare for Justice Department leaders to reverse the decision of prosecutors on a sentencing recommendation, particularly from then on recommendation has been submitted to the court. The actual sentencing is up to the judge.

Meanwhile, the Chief Judge of the D.C. District Court, Beryl A. Howell, also did something unusual: She issued a statement Thursday on the firestorm around the sentencing.

“The Judges of the court base their sentencing decisions on careful consideration of you see, the record in the event before them; the applicable sentencing guidelines and statutory factors; the submissions of the parties, the probation office and victims; and their own judgment and experience,” she wrote. “Public criticism or pressure isn't a factor.”

“What they did to Roger Stone was a disgrace,” Trump said Thursday during an interview with Geraldo Rivera on Cleveland’s Newsradio WTAM.

He said of the prosecutors who resigned in protest: “I don’t think they quit the case. ... I don’t think they quit for moral reasons. I believe they got caught in the act by me.”

“Now what am I likely to do, relax and let a guy head to jail maybe for nine years when murderers aren’t likely to jail? You have some of the most serious horrible rapists and the rest. They don’t head to jail for nine years,” Trump said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsay Graham said in a statement that Barr “has my complete confidence” and “may be the right man at the right time to reform the department and operate for the Rule of Law.”

Earlier this week, Graham said, and Barr later confirmed, that Justice was accepting information that Trump’s personal legal professional Rudy Giuliani is gathering in Ukraine about Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son.

In the ABC interview, Barr said of the president, “If he were to state go investigate somebody because - and you sense it’s because they’re a political opponent - then your legal professional general shouldn’t carry that out, wouldn’t carry that out.”

Democrats decried the Justice Department’s reversal on Stone and needed immediate investigations. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer needed the Justice Department’s inspector general to part of. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Barr had “stooped to such levels” and that “the American people deserve better.”

Barr has been a steady ally of the president’s since he returned to the most notable post at the Justice Department last year. He cleared the president of obstruction of justice even when special counsel Robert Mueller had pointedly declined to take action. He declared that the FBI’s Russia investigation, which resulted in charges against Stone, have been predicated on a “bogus narrative.”

Barr also appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham to lead a criminal inquiry in to the origins of the Russia investigation, including examining what led the U.S. to open a counterintelligence probe in to the Trump campaign and the roles that various countries played.