Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) said it wouldn’t surprise her if Attorney General William Barr and President Trump were “in cahoots” regarding Barr’s recent comments about the president’s tweets.
“There’s been no daylight between [Barr] and the White House,” Demings said on CNN’s “OutFront” Thursday night. “I have no faith or confidence in what William Barr has said. I think that this situation involving Roger Stone has turned up the heat a bit. The president, who has been impeached, and just went through a trial, really can’t take that. And I think — I would not be surprised, Erin, if the attorney general and the president did were not in cahoots, in terms of Barr making a public statement to the American people.”
.@RepValDemings says she wouldn't be surprised if Attorney General William Barr and the President were "in cahoots" regarding Barr's comments about Trump's tweets.https://t.co/jZ6NkoORWt pic.twitter.com/nWZHud9po3
— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) February 14, 2020
In an interview with ABC News Thursday, Barr said that Trump never asked him to act in Stone’s criminal case, but the tweets from the President regarding the Department of Justice and its employees “make it impossible to do my job and to assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that we are doing our work with integrity.”
“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr said.
The remarks from Barr comes after the DOJ on Tuesday asked a federal court to reduce the sentence recommendation for Stone “far less” than the seven to nine years in prison. Earlier in the day, Trump had personally criticized the first sentencing guidance on Twitter, calling it a “horrible and very unfair situation.”
CNN’s Erin Burnett asked Demings if she thinks what Barr said if Trump would stop tweeting about Stone’s sentencing then “all the problems would go away.”
Demings added, “We know the president he loves to boast he loves to be out front. He wants people to know that he is in total control. But I do think when the President and his attorney general has a plan that they think can work when the President tweets about it it does call complications for the Attorney General, but not in terms of doing the right thing. But in terms of doing the wrong thing. And really undermining the Department of Justice that we have in this country.”
The White House said Trump “wasn’t bothered” by Barr’s criticism and that the president still had “full faith” in the attorney general.
“The President wasn’t bothered by the comments at all and he has the right, just like any American citizen, to publicly offer his opinions,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. “President Trump uses social media very effectively to fight for the American people against injustices in our country, including the fake news. The President has full faith and confidence in Attorney General Barr to do his job and uphold the law.”
Attorney GeneralAttorney General William BarrCNNCongressHousePresident TrumpRep. Val DemingsRoger Stone
John Nosser
February 18, 2020The wild theories of most Democrats are beyond belief. Their TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) is severe! They suspect ulterior motives from everything the President and his associates do, when he is only interested in making America greater, and he has!
Donna M Ledington
February 16, 2020Where were their complaints when Obama and Holder ‘were in cahoots’?