William Barr Defends Mueller, But Won’t ‘Surrender’ If Told to Recuse From Trump-Russia Probe
President Donald Trump's relationships with his attorneys general have turned on their willingness to protect him against special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Trump’s latest nominee, William Barr, indicated to a crucial Senate panel that he and Trump won't be in lockstep on the issue that threatens Trump's presidency.
Barr, who was George H.W. Bush’s attorney general, attempted to set a tone of measured independence before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. He sharply defended his friend Mueller, and defused much Democratic criticism by scaling back an extensive legal memo he wrote in June 2018 that seemed to criticize Mueller for going beyond the special counsel’s mandate in investigating Trump for obstruction of justice.
At the same time, Barr said he wouldn’t necessarily recuse himself from direct oversight of the Mueller probe in the event career ethics officials at the Justice Department advise him to step aside. Jeff Sessions followed internal recusal guidelines at the expense of his bond with Trump, who castigated him for it and forced him out after the midterm elections. Sessions’ successor, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, ignored ethics officials’ advice to step away from Mueller.