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CNN Legal Analyst: Barr’s Comments On Media, Trump Were ‘Completely Inappropriate’

CNN 4/18

Mike Brest Reporter
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CNN legal analyst Carrie Cordero said many of Attorney General William Barr’s comments during his Thursday press conference regarding special counsel Robert Mueller’s report were “completely inappropriate.”

Carrie Cordero was critical of Barr, who took a subtle jab at the media for their “relentless speculation” concerning President Donald Trump and possible collusion with Russia that led to “Trump [facing] an unprecedented situation” as he entered office. (RELATED: Mueller Finds No Collusion)

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“… I have to say, the attorney general had an opportunity this morning to rise above the politics and to adhere to institutional Justice Department just sticking to what the process was that he was supposed to talk about and which he said he was actually talking about, and he blew it,” she started.

“I mean, he just came out and to say that the president took ‘no act that deprived the investigation of witnesses or documents’ when as Jeffrey just said, the president — like other presidents—  have, in the past with investigations, been willing to be interviewed by the special counsel’s team, in addition to all the things the president tweeted … that could potentially be taken … as aggressive or intimidating,” Cordero continued. “It’s just not a true statement.”

As Cordero referenced, Barr claimed that the special counsel looked at 10 specific incidents in which Trump or his campaign could have obstructed justice. Mueller did not come to a conclusion on obstruction of justice, instead opting to present facts on both sides and let Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein make that decision.

CNN’s Jake Tapper read on the network’s coverage that Trump’s conduct toward former FBI Director James Comey, national security advisor Michael Flynn, and the appointment off the special counsel were some of those moments Mueller reviewed for obstruction.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Administration Lee Lofthus and U.S. Attorney General William Barr participate in a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the proposed budget estimates for the Department of Justice in Washington, U.S. April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Erin Scott

She concluded, “If he would have stuck to the actual process, then I think he would have risen above the politics of it, and he would have been able to say that he is just performing his role as attorney general. These gratuitous statements about the media, the gratuitous statements about the way the president has been impacted by the investigation, that was completely inappropriate for the attorney general.”

During Barr’s press conference, he also confirmed that Mueller did not find evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign.

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