Attorney General William Barr took pains to distance himself from President Trump’s Ukraine dealings, asserting he had nothing to do with the events that the former National Security Adviser John Bolton memorably termed a “drug deal” and that prompted the impeachment inquiry.
“I was smart enough not to get involved with Ukraine,” Barr said at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council meeting Wednesday about the plan to investigate Hunter Biden’s Ukraine work. Fortunately, Barr quipped, “that hadn’t reached the top of my to-do list.”
In a July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump invoked Barr five times. Barr would call Zelensky, Trump said, to get to the bottom of the issue with Biden’s work in Ukraine for Burisma and whether then-Vice President Joe Biden interfered with a Ukraine investigation into the matter. “Whatever you can do with the attorney general, that would be great,” Trump said at the time. The president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani would also reach out to Zelensky, Trump said.
Barr insists he did not talk to Zelensky and has no ties to Giuliani on the issue. “I’ve had no dealings with Ukraine, and I’ve had no dealings with Rudy Giuliani about Ukraine,” Barr said.
Barr is a frequent target of Trump critics who is sometimes portrayed by Democrats as the president’s stooge and condemned for his aggressive stance on executive power.
Asked whether the investigation that Trump sought in Ukraine was a matter for the U.S. investigative authorities, Barr deferred. “At the time, I don’t know whether it was or not,” he said, looking intently at the floor.
