The red flags on Trump’s new attorney general pick, William Barr

President George H.W. Bush listens as Deputy Attorney General William P. Barr speaks in the early 1990s. Credit: Dirck Halstea, /Getty Images

President Trump insisted when he made Matthew G. Whitaker his acting attorney general that he wasn’t familiar with Whitaker’s past commentary critical of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe.

But his new pick to be the attorney general has a record of making similar comments, and despite some favorable comments from Democrats, those could pose a problem in his coming confirmation fight.

President Trump confirmed Friday that former attorney general William P. Barr will be his nominee to head the Justice Department. Picking George H.W. Bush’s attorney general would seem a pretty safe and confirmable pick, on its surface.

View the complete December 7 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.