Report: Trump wanted Barr to tell the public he broke no laws in Ukraine call

William Barr.
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

In late September, President Trump wanted Attorney General William Barr to hold a news conference and tell reporters that Trump didn't break any laws during his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

The appeal made its way from the White House to the Justice Department, but Barr ultimately turned Trump down, the Post reports. During the phone call, Trump asked Zelensky to launch an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The White House released a reconstructed partial transcript of the call on Sept. 25. Several Trump advisers told associates that while Trump wishes Barr had held the news conference, they are still on good terms, the Post reports.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

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.