Attorney General Barr Lambast President’s Tweets Amid Stone Scandal

Attorney General Bill Barr has been mired in controversy once again, after the Department of Justice got involved with the sentencing in the Roger Stone case.

It all began when Stone, who has been convicted of lying to Congress, was said to be facing up to nine years in prison.  President Trump, a longtime friend of Stone’s, tweeted his disbelief of the news and soon thereafter the DOJ jumped in and reduced the sentencing possibilities.

This, in turn, caused four prosecutors who worked on the case to resign, and ignited a firestorm of controversy among Democrats.

Now, Bill Barr is looking for a little relief.

In an exclusive interview, Attorney General Bill Barr told ABC News on Thursday that President Donald Trump “has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case” but should stop tweeting about the Justice Department because his tweets “make it impossible for me to do my job.”

Barr’s comments are a rare break with a president who the attorney general has aligned himself with and fiercely defended. But it also puts Barr in line with many of Trump’s supporters on Capitol Hill who say they support the president but wish he’d cut back on his tweets.

“I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases,” Barr told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas.

When asked if he was prepared for the consequences of criticizing the president – his boss – Barr said “of course” because his job is to run the Justice Department and make decisions on “what I think is the right thing to do.”

Barr will be questioned by Congress in the coming weeks, in what is expected to be a wide-ranging deposition.