Report: As aides celebrate, Trump tells Senate Republicans how much he loves Barr

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 27 March 2019

President Trump gushed about his love for Attorney General William Barr during a private meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday, a person with knowledge of the lunch told The New York Times.

After receiving Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on his investigation into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign on Friday evening, Barr sent Congress on Sunday a four-page letter with his interpretation of the report. He wrote that Mueller did not find actionable coordination between the campaign and Russia, but was unable or unwilling to determine whether Trump obstructed justice. "I love the A.G.," Trump enthused during the lunch. "He works fast. I love this guy. You told me I would."

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But they might want to pump the brakes, Democratic strategist Joe Lockhart, who served as former President Bill Clinton's press secretary when Clinton was impeached, told the Times.The White House might come to regret taking a victory lap before the Mueller report is released, Lockhart said, comparing this to former President George W. Bush standing in front of a "Mission Accomplished" sign early in the Iraq War.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.