Critics of President Donald Trump say he uses his Twitter feed in “mob-like ways” to deliver orders to those who work in the Executive Branch.
However, Attorney General William Barr says he is not paying attention to Trump’s comments on Twitter.
“I don’t pay any attention. I don’t even know what he tweets,” Barr said in an interview with The New York Times published on Monday.
That portion of the interview took place days before the Justice Department filed a motion in court to drop its prosecution of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
Barr had previously said Trump’s tweets about the Justice Department and make it “impossible to do my job,” as IJR reported.
When asked about Trump’s tweets about Flynn and if those were the sort of tweets that make his job hard, Barr responded, “I haven’t seen any of his tweets about Flynn, so I’m not sure what he’s saying.”
Barr was shown a tweet from late-April where Trump said, “[CNN] doesn’t want to speak about their persecution of General Michael Flynn [and] why they got the story so wrong. They, along with others, should pay a big price for what they have purposely done to this man [and] his family. They won’t even cover the big breaking news about this scam!”
.@CNN doesn’t want to speak about their persecution of General Michael Flynn & why they got the story so wrong. They, along with others, should pay a big price for what they have purposely done to this man & his family. They won’t even cover the big breaking news about this scam!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 30, 2020
Barr responded, “Take it for what you will.”
“The thing that I reacted to with Stone, was him saying what the department should do,” Barr said as he explained the kind of tweets that make it “impossible” to do his job.
In February, Trump appeared to call for the Justice Department to intervene in the prosecution of former Trump campaign aide Roger Stone.
This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice! https://t.co/rHPfYX6Vbv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2020
The department later revoked the original sentencing recommendation, which led to allegations that Barr had taken cues from Trump’s tweet to help a political ally of the president.
However, Barr defended the Justice Department’s decision and said that he was already considering recommending a shorter sentence before Trump’s tweet.
Still, in a February interview with ABC News, Barr rebuked Trump for tweeting about the Justice Department, “I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases.”
He continued, “Public statements and tweets made about the department, about our people in the department, our men and women here, about cases pending in the department, and about judges before whom we have cases, make it impossible for me to do my job.”