President Trump finds in William P. Barr the attorney general — and shield — he long sought
By Matt Zapotosky , Matt Zapotosky National security reporter covering the Justice Department Email Bio Follow Josh Dawsey , Josh Dawsey Reporter covering the White House Email Bio Follow Tom Hamburger and Tom Hamburger Investigative reporter focused on the intersection of money and politics in Washington Email Bio Follow Ashley Parker Ashley Parker White House reporter Email Bio Follow May 2 at 8:07 PM For a time, President Trump was reluctant to select William P. Barr as his attorney general.
Political fires have raged around Barr, who was also attorney general in the George H.W. Bush administration, from even before his confirmation along largely partisan lines. But he has come under sustained attack this week after The Washington Post reported that Mueller had sent a memo to Barr complaining about how the attorney general had described the results of the special counsel investigation in a letter to Congress.
Trump, who spent a few hours at most with Barr before picking him as attorney general, told people that he was pleased with Barr’s pugnacious performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, though one Trump ally who regularly speaks with the president said his joy was “shortsighted” because Barr lost credibility with some lawmakers who could be useful later.
Mueller declined to conclude whether his team believed there was a prosecutable case against Trump for obstructing justice. His report, which laid out detailed accounts of possible obstructive conduct he investigated, asserted that he could not say even privately whether the president committed a crime because of Justice Department guidance that says a sitting president cannot be indicted. Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod J.
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