By Michael C. Bender and
Sadie Gurman
Updated Nov. 7, 2019 9:30 am ET
WASHINGTON—President Trump wanted Attorney General William Barr to publicly declare that he hadn’t broken any laws during a phone call with the Ukrainian leader that is now at the heart of an impeachment inquiry, but Mr. Barr refused the request, an administration official said Wednesday.
Mr. Trump’s request for Mr. Barr to hold a news conference came shortly after the White House released a rough transcript of the July 25 call. In that call, Mr. Trump pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to undertake investigations related to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, as well as the 2016 election. Mr. Trump’s desire for such a public announcement was discussed among White House officials, who relayed it to the Justice Department, the official said.
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A whistleblower from the intelligence community said the call showed Mr. Trump had tried to enlist a foreign power to help him in the 2020 presidential election, spurring House Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry.
Mr. Trump’s request that his attorney general publicly exonerate him, earlier reported by the Washington Post, represented an extension of a willingness throughout his presidency to pressure the Justice Department to defend and support him.
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