Trump Wanted Attorney General Barr to Publicly Clear Him Over Ukraine Call
Mr. Barr refused the request, which came after the White House released a rough transcript of the July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, an official said
WASHINGTON—President Trump wanted Attorney General William Barr to publicly declare that he hadn’t broken any laws during a phone call with the Ukrainian leader that is now at the heart of an impeachment inquiry, but Mr. Barr refused the request, an administration official said Wednesday.
Mr. Trump’s request for Mr. Barr to hold a news conference came shortly after the White House released a rough transcript of the July 25 call. In that call, Mr. Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to undertake investigations related to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, as well as the 2016 election. Mr. Trump’s desire for such a public announcement was discussed among White House officials, who relayed it to the Justice Department, the official said.
A whistleblower from the intelligence community said the call showed Mr. Trump had tried to enlist a foreign power to help him in the 2020 presidential election, spurring House Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry.
Mr. Trump’s request that his attorney general publicly exonerate him, earlier reported by the Washington Post, represented an extension of a willingness throughout his presidency to pressure the Justice Department to defend and support him.
It also sheds new light on Mr. Barr’s handling of the controversy surrounding the whistleblower complaint. Democrats have criticized him for his perceived closeness to the president and for not stepping aside from matters related to the Ukraine controversy. Mr. Trump repeatedly told Mr. Zelensky he would have the attorney general call to discuss the possible Biden investigation and other issues.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how hard Mr. Trump pressed for a news conference or why Mr. Barr declined to hold one. A department spokeswoman declined to comment.
After the transcript was released on Sept. 25, the Justice Department said it had evaluated the whistleblower’s complaint to determine whether Mr. Trump had violated campaign finance laws and concluded he didn’t. It declined to open a formal investigation.
Mr. Trump apparently wanted Mr. Barr, who associates said had advocated for the release of the transcript, to make a more public announcement.
It wasn’t the first time Mr. Trump sought to pressure the nation’s top prosecutor to more vigorously defend him. He frequently criticized his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. He also lamented not having an attorney general who would protect him, the way he believed former attorneys general Robert Kennedy and Eric Holder had shielded the presidents who appointed them.
Mr. Trump also wanted former FBI Director James Comey to publicly say that he wasn’t personally under investigation in connection to Russia interference in the 2016 presidential election—an assurance the director had previously given the president privately. Mr. Comey refused, and Mr. Trump ultimately fired him. But Mr. Barr appears to remain in good standing with the president.
Mr. Trump has often praised Mr. Barr, while critics have said he more closely resembles Mr. Trump’s personal attorney than the top U.S. law-enforcement official.
Mr. Barr has denied he is Mr. Trump’s defender and instead has said he is defending the presidency.
Among Mr. Barr’s priorities has been an investigation into the origins of the Russia probe—an administrative review that has evolved into a criminal inquiry. Mr. Trump and his allies have long urged the Justice Department to look at whether Trump associates were unfairly targeted for surveillance. The president has praised and supported Mr. Barr’s efforts, giving him broad authority to declassify information and encouraging foreign leaders to cooperate with the probe.