CNN and other establishment media melted down in response to Attorney General William Barr holding a press conference about the Mueller report Thursday, with commentators questioning Barr’s loyalty and accusing him of protecting the president.
During the press conference Thursday, Barr repeated the conclusions contained in his letter to Congress last month, reiterating that despite attempts from Russian nationals to influence the 2016 election, nobody from President Trump’s 2016 campaign engaged in collusion.
On the issue of obstruction of justice, the attorney general stated that special counsel Robert Mueller outlined several instances of actions taken by President Trump relating to obstruction in his report but did not make any legal judgments or recommend charges. Both Barr and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded that there was no case to prosecute the president on obstruction.
The full report will be released Thursday.
CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta claimed that Barr was “clearly laying out a sympathetic presentation” of Trump’s actions relating to possible obstruction of justice.
CNN’s Jim Sciutto echoed a similar line, saying that Barr is “delivering a full-throated defense of the President based on a report the public and Congress will only see after he’s done.”
“Oh so the attorney general is giving us another summary of the report and giving a little rah rah nod to the White House? Just because one says something monotone with no emotion doesn’t make it right, ok or acceptable,” CNN commentator Symone Sanders said.
“This press conference is crazy.”
Bakari Sellers, another CNN commentator, said, “The Trump campaign encouraged and participated in the dissemination of stolen DNC and Clinton Campaign emails. HOWEVER, Bc they did not participate in the actual act of hacking, there is no crime.”
“Their actions were foul and unpatriotic, apparently not criminal.”
CNN contributor Ana Navarro-Cárdenas was disgusted by the attorney general’s presentation.
New York Times writer Charles Blow, meanwhile, could not even handle watching the press conference.
Another Times writer, Michelle Goldberg, whined, “That arrogant, willfully misleading press conference was shocking even by 2019 standards. We continue to underreact to our government’s transformation into an authoritarian junta.”
“In case you missed it, the attorney-general of the United States just blamed the media for the president’s obstruction of justice. This is just completely fcking amazing,” Esquire writer Charles Pierce said.
“Wow, Barr is actually doing this. Pre-spinning the Mueller report in Trump’s favor,” NBC’s Ken Dilanian said.
“It’s time for IMPEACHMENT Hearings into Trump’s obstruction of justice and Abuse of power!! TrumpColluded MuellerReport,” Daily Beast writer Dean Obeidallah said.
Of course, the Never Trump squad also chimed in, with anti-Trump Republican and frequent cable news guest Rick Wilson complaining, “The Attorney General of the United States just defended obstruction because of the President’s hurt feelings.”
Washington Post writer and anti-Trump “conservative” Jennifer Rubin stated simply, “Interfering with an investigation because you are frustrated is the very definition of corrupt motives.”
CNN analyst Max Boot also chimed in, “Imagine how frustrated Nixon was during Watergate when he suffered many many leaks (remember Deep Throat?) and political attacks. Yet he was still impeached for, inter alia, obstruction of justice.”
More immediate reactions from pundits and reporters expressed outrage and held out hope that the text of Mueller’s report would somehow undercut Mueller’s decision not to prosecute anyone for collusion or obstruction: