On Thursday, during an interview with ABC News Attorney General William Barr asked Donald Trump to stop making posts on social media about the Roger Stone sentencing issue.
Barr stated that he wanted Trump to “stop tweeting.” He would then add that Trump’s social media activity made it “impossible” to do his job.
Barr also claimed that Trump has never asked him to intervene in any criminal case, but he added that Trump’s tweets about the Roger Stone situation were tarnishing the Department of Justice’s reputation.
Pierre Thomas of ABC News asked Barr if he was prepared for backlash for publicly criticizing Trump,
“Of course,” Barr responded. Barr then stated that he “won’t be bullied or influenced by anybody.”
On Monday, prosecutors filed a memo that recommended between seven and nine years in prison for Roger Stone.
Trump was not happy with the prosecutor’s recommendation and turned to Twitter to let the world know it. After Trump’s tweets, an official from the Justice Department stated that DOJ thought the sentence was too harsh.
The DOJ then directed the U.S. Attorney’s Office to resubmit a memo with a less punishment recommendation, which they did. The situation caused the four prosecutors on the case to resign.
“I’m not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody….whether it’s Congress, newspaper editorial boards, or the president," Bill Barr tells @ABC News.
"I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me.” https://t.co/14rnEMD65c pic.twitter.com/QuoTgpUVHp
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 13, 2020
After a lesser sentence was recommended, Trump praised Barr for “taking charge,” which made it look like Barr had been pressured by Trump to reduce Stone’s sentence.
Barr claims that in no way did Trump pressure him into seeking a lesser sentence. He added that Trump, however, did put him in a “difficult position” and he wanted him to keep silent moving forward.
