The Only 13 Seconds That Mattered From William Barr’s Press Conference

The attorney general’s attempt to spin the Mueller report in the president’s favor was shameful

Andy Kroll

Rolling Stone Washington bureau chief

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US Attorney General William Barr (L) and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (R) hold press conference at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, USA, 18 April 2019. The briefing comes just before the release of a redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election.Attorney General William Barr press conference on the Mueller Report, Washington, USA - 18 Apr 2019

WASHINGTON — At the end of a half-hour press conference in which Attorney General William Barr parroted White House talking points and acted more like the president’s personal attorney than the head of the Justice Department, a reporter asked the only question that really mattered: Was it wrong for him to effectively spin Mueller’s findings before Congress and the American public had a chance to read the actual report?

Barr’s single-word response spoke volumes: “No.” After that, the press conference ended and Barr walked away. Here’s the clip:

Here’s that moment. pic.twitter.com/7kYIvGSiaR

— Cristian Farias (@cristianafarias) April 18, 2019

The fact that Barr saw nothing wrong with prejudging and spinning a report that took 22 months to complete — involving 19 lawyers, 500 witnesses, 2,800 subpoenas and 500 search warrants — just hours before the public would see it for themselves tells you a lot of what you need to know about Barr’s impartiality in handling the Mueller report.

President Trump has long wanted an attorney general who would be loyal and watch his back. On the third try, he seems to have found that attorney general in Barr.