President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he has “total confidence” in Attorney General William Barr despite a swirl of controversies in the past week that have led to questions about the department’s impartiality and widespread calls for Barr to step down.
Speaking at Joint Base Andrews, Trump also dismissed suggestions that his public comments on ongoing cases make it more difficult for Barr to do his job – as the attorney general publicly said last week – saying, “I’m allowed to be totally involved. I’m actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country.”
Trump’s comments on Tuesday not only offered a public display of support for an embattled top aide but also served to reinforce his position that he’s within his right to get involved in politically sensitive cases that are typically the purview of the Justice Department.
Trump, however, continued to deny on Tuesday that he pushed Barr to intervene in the Roger Stone case, even though his tweet last week lambasting prosecutors’ recommended sentence for his former ally came hours before top Justice Department officials disavowed the initial request and ask for greater leniency for the longtime political fixer.
The President said he’s “not even thinking” about a pardon for his longtime ally, calling the commutation and pardons he announced on Tuesday “totally unrelated” to Stone’s case.
The Justice Department has been roiled by events in the past week, starting with the decision by top DOJ officials to reduce the recommended sentence against Stone, which led all four federal prosecutors who took the case to trial to withdraw. Late last week, Barr also ordered a re-examination of several high-profile cases, including that of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
The decisions prompted more than 2,000 former Justice Department officials to sign a statement calling on Barr to resign, though he has so far not given any indication that he is considering stepping down.
Barr’s relationship with Trump has been the subject of speculation after the attorney general last week said the President’s tweets about ongoing cases make it “impossible to do my job.”
Soon after Trump’s vote of confidence Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham released a rare joint statement in support of Barr, saying that “suggestions from outside groups that the Attorney General has fallen short of the responsibilities of his office are unfounded.”
CNN’s Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.
