Here’s what Watergate experts thought of Barr’s ‘political defense’ of Trump

“He was a shill for the president,” one Watergate expert said.

Attorney General William Barr launched a strident political defense of the president Thursday shortly before releasing special counsel Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report.

“In assessing the president’s actions discussed in the report, it is important to bear in mind the context. President [Donald] Trump faced an unprecedented situation,”  Barr told reporters in a press conference. “As he entered into office, and sought to perform his responsibilities as president, federal agents and prosecutors were scrutinizing his conduct before and after taking office, and the conduct of some of his associates.”

Barr reiterated two key points from his March 24 letter to Congress: Mueller did not conclude there was criminal collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, and the evidence does not show that Trump obstructed justice.

View the complete April 18 article by Joshua Eaton on the ThinkProgress website here.