CAN’T RECALL

Barr: ‘I Don’t Remember’ Trump Asking for Press Conference Over Ukraine Call

The attorney general said he couldn’t recall whether Trump requested him to hold a press conference clearing him of wrongdoing in the July 25 call.

Attorney General William Barr told reporters Wednesday that he does not remember whether President Trump asked him to publicly declare that he did nothing illegal in his July 25 phone call with the Ukrainian president, The Washington Post reports. At an event in Memphis, Barr was asked about Trump’s reported request for a press conference stating that he broke no laws. “If you’re talking about press reports that he asked me to have a news conference, the fact is, I don’t remember any such request,” Barr said. “In fact, my recollection is that I told the White House that we would do what we would normally do, and that is issue a press statement, which we did, and that was not an issue. There was no pushback on that.”

The Justice Department released a statement when a rough transcript of the call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was released, stating officials reviewed the transcript and concluded the president broke no campaign-finance laws.