The Washington Post tonight broke news that Attorney General Bill Barr is considering quitting over President Donald Trump’s continued tweets about DOJ cases.
You’ll recall that last week, Barr said on TV that Trump’s tweeting makes it impossible for him to do his job. Now, per WaPo, he really is frustrated:
Attorney General William P. Barr has told people close to President Trump — both inside and outside the White House — that he is considering quitting over Trump’s tweets about Justice Department investigations, three administration officials said, foreshadowing a possible confrontation between the president and his attorney general over the independence of the Justice Department…
The administration officials said Barr seemed to be sharing his position with advisers in hopes the president would get the message that he should stop weighing in publicly on the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigations.
“He has his limits,” said one person familiar with Barr’s thinking, speaking on the condition of anonymity, like others, to discuss internal deliberations.
Following the Post’s report, other news outlets started to report the same about Barr.
Last week there was a fair amount of skepticism after Barr distanced himself from Trump’s tweets. Barr may very well be frustrated by the president continuing to tweet but there’s skepticism of tonight’s reporting too:
Bullllllllllllllllllshit.
Attorney General Wiliam Barr considering resigning if the president keeps tweeting https://t.co/BE2f602g6W
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 19, 2020
Oh please. https://t.co/KqZbskXq9O
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) February 19, 2020
Maybe Barr is really considering resigning. Maybe he’s just telling people that to try and quell the ongoing internal rebellion. Hard to know, but when other outlets confirm it within minutes of the story breaking, certainly seems it’s something DOJ wants out there.
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) February 19, 2020
p.s. Surely, this is untrue. Ol' Barr's doubling down on the cover story, and doing it as badly as Trump's pretending to root for certain Democratic candidates.
So keep up the pressure! 83,000 of you have signed on to demand his resignation. Add yours:https://t.co/h3HG1dc6oB
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 19, 2020
UPDATE — 10:43 pm ET: And scene:
Addressing Beltway rumors: The Attorney General has no plans to resign.
— KerriKupecDOJ (@KerriKupecDOJ) February 19, 2020
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