Washington – President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had never intervened in a criminal case thus far even though he had the authority to do so.
Trump’s two-sentence statement, on Friday, began by repeating a statement from U.S. Attorney General William Bar, who said, “the President has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case.
“This doesn’t mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!’’ Trump said via Twitter.
The tweet marked Trump’s first public comment since Barr told ABC news on Thursday that presidential tweets over a Justice Department decision to seek a lighter sentence make it “impossible’’ to do his job.
Barr’s decision to intervene in the case of former Trump aide Roger Stone to recommend a prison sentence lighter than a term of up to nine years recommended by prosecutors prompted four prosecutors to quit and congressional Democrats.
This included House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call for an investigation of presidential meddling in the criminal justice system.
Sen Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency, called for Barr to either resign or face impeachment, while other Democratic lawmakers have refused to rule out impeaching Trump a second time over the Stone case, according to media reports.
(Sputnik/NAN)
