President Trump denied reporting yesterday by the Washington Post that he had asked Attorney General William Barr to hold a press conference to deny any wrongdoing in a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a Thursday morning tweet, Trump chided the newspaper for not sourcing their story. “The degenerate Washington Post MADE UP the story about me asking Bill Barr to hold a news conference,” he said. “Never happened, and there were no sources!”
[READ: Trump wanted Barr to publicly declare he broke no laws in call with Ukrainian president]
The degenerate Washington Post MADE UP the story about me asking Bill Barr to hold a news conference. Never happened, and there were no sources!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2019
The story from the Washington Post cited “people familiar with the matter” as the source for their story, saying they knew that Barr had declined a request from the president to hold the press conference.
Trump also repeated a request to review the phone call transcript, which has been made public, and he has described as a “perfect phone call” with the Ukrainian leader. Critics of the president and House Democrats pursuing impeachment over the call insist that Trump attempted to initiate a quid pro quo with Zelensky by withholding military aid unless Ukraine investigated Joe and Hunter Biden.
“Read the transcript!” Trump said on Twitter shortly after denying the story about the press conference.
Read the Transcript!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2019
Sources also told the Post that Trump had complained about Barr’s reported refusal to publicly deny wrongdoing but that two remained on good terms.
The White House denied that Trump had requested Barr hold such a press conference in a statement on Wednesday. “The President has nothing but respect for AG Barr and greatly appreciates the work he’s done on behalf of the country — and no amount of shady sources with clear intent to divide, smear, and slander will change that,” said White House spokesman Hogan Gidley.
