Donald Trump told to rein in his tweets by Attorney General William Barr because they make his job 'impossible'

William Barr has criticised the 'background commentary' from the US President
AP
Jacob Jarvis14 February 2020

US Attorney General William Barr has asked Donald Trump to rein in his tweets about issues of justice, saying they compromise his department's integrity.

Mr Barr said a consistent "background commentary" about his department and matters it is dealing with made doing his job "impossible".

"I think it’s time to stop the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases," he told ABC News.

When asked about Mr Trump potentially not appreciating being "told what to do", Mr Barr said he would not be dissuaded from fulfilling his duties how he sees fit by any external party.

"I can't do my job here at the Justice Department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me," he said.

"To have public statements about and tweets made about the department, about people in the department, men and women here, cases pending in the department here and about judges before whom we have cases, makes it impossible for me to do my job and to assure the courts and the prosecutors and the department, that we're doing our job with integrity."

He said he will make decisions "based on what I think is the right thing to do" and he won't be "bullied by anybody".

Mr Trump is renowned for his frequent tweeting, in which he often hits out at critics or wades in on issues of the day.

It has previously been ruled that he cannot lawfully block Americans on the platform due to the contents of what he has posted previously.

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