Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said Attorney General William Barr sounded like a counselor to the president during his press conference Thursday ahead of the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
“The attorney general seemed almost to be acting as the counselor for the defense, the counselor for the president, rather than the attorney general, talking about his motives, his emotions,” Wallace told “America’s Newsroom” anchors Bill Hemmer and Sandra Smith.
“Really, as I say, making a case for the president,” he added.
Barr offered a staunch defense of President Trump on Thursday morning during a press conference, where he previewed the report’s findings and explained why they led him to conclude that Trump had not obstructed justice.
Barr called the report a vindication of Trump over the allegations of collusion with Russian officials.
{mosads}”We now know the Russian operatives who perpetrated these schemes did not have cooperation of Trump or his campaign or knowing assistance of any other American for that matter,” Barr said.
And Barr said it was important to consider the “context” for Trump’s actions.
“President Trump faced an unprecedented situation. As he entered into office, and sought to perform his responsibilities as president, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office and the conduct of some of his associates,” Barr said.
“At the same time, there was relentless speculation in the news media about the president’s personal culpability. Yet, as he said from the beginning, there was in fact no collusion,” he added.
The redacted report will be released to lawmakers Thursday morning.