RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Barr and Trump at it again

From the onset of his tenure, William P. Barr has been billed as the attorney general that President Trump was looking for. And Mr. Barr has taken some pride in this role, telling Fox News this past weekend that he speaks with the president “very regularly.”

But for a man who projects unswerving confidence in his political and legal skills, his efforts this month to play presidential intimate have backfired, embarrassing both him and his boss.

The month has brought a string of unusually high-profile miscues for the attorney general. He has been at odds with the White House at critical moments, showing how even top administration officials known for their loyalty can fall out of sync with a president laser-focused on his own political popularity.

Mr. Barr came under fire for his role in ordering federal officers to clear Lafayette Square near the White House on June 1 just before Mr. Trump’s widely criticized photo op in front of a nearby church.
He annoyed some White House officials when he said the Secret Service had earlier ordered Mr. Trump to shelter in the building’s bunker because of the threat of violence from protesters. That contradicted Mr. Trump’s explanation that he was merely inspecting the bunker, not seeking protection.

And Mr. Trump distanced himself almost immediately from his and Mr. Barr’s decision last week to fire Geoffrey S. Berman as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, even though he had discussed the move with Mr. Barr and a possible successor to Mr. Berman, according to two people briefed on the deliberations.

Mr. Barr asked Mr. Berman to leave on Friday afternoon, and he announced the prosecutor’s resignation on Friday night after Mr. Berman refused to go, essentially firing him in public. Mr. Berman then publicly declared that he was not going anywhere. Facing a public relations debacle and legal constraints that made it difficult for Mr. Barr to get rid of Mr. Berman, the attorney general was forced to ask the president to step in and officially fire him.

But soon after Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggested he would not merely rubber-stamp an administration nominee to replace Mr. Berman, Mr. Trump backed away from the whole affair.

“We spent very little time, we spent very little time talking about it,” he told Fox News on Saturday. “But the president has to sign a document or I guess give the OK.”

The result was that Mr. Barr looked as though he had acted without the full backing of the president. He also ended up agreeing to install Mr. Berman’s deputy, Audrey Strauss, as the acting U.S. attorney instead of his preferred pick, Craig Carpenito, now the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey.

“As attempted power plays go, this was an abject failure and served only to further undermine the credibility of both the attorney general and the president,” said Greg Brower, a former federal prosecutor who once headed the F.B.I.’s congressional affairs office.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment for this article.
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