A month after Jeff Session’s resignation, Donald Trump may have a top choice for his next attorney general.
According to the Washington Post, former attorney general William P. Barr is the leading candidate to head the Justice Department. Two sources told the Post that Trump let his advisers know of his plans to nominate Barr, who served the same job from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush, whose funeral Trump attended Wednesday.
Other sources noted, however, that there are other contenders, and nothing is set in stone until the announcement. Trump has already flip-flopped on the man he chose to be Sessions’ interim replacement. Last month, Trump told reporters “I don’t know Matt Whitaker,” following an outcry over alleged ethical disqualifications. The month prior, Trump said in a Fox & Friends interview: “I can tell you Matt Whitaker’s a great guy. I mean, I know Matt Whitaker.”
Barr is reportedly well-liked inside the administration and among Republican lawmakers. According to Bloomberg, South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham said “he’d be an outstanding choice,” noting that Barr could “get confirmed very easily.” (In line to take over the Judiciary Committee, Graham would be the one in charge of overseeing that confirmation.)
If chosen, Barr would oversee Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling into the 2016 election—a role that Sessions recused himself from managing, which Trump saw as an act of disloyalty.
Barr, however, has loyally supported many of Trump’s decisions from the sidelines. And he has even spoken out against the Russia investigation, telling the New York Times in 2017 that by investigating collusion allegations instead of other issues, some pertaining to the Clintons, “the department is abdicating its responsibility.”
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Barr also wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post last year defending Trump’s controversial decision to fire former attorney general James Comey.
Since working for the justice department, Barr has served as general counsel and executive vice president of Verizon Communications. He currently advises various corporations and is a lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis.
Barr didn’t respond immediately to Coins2Day‘s request for comment on his potential appointment.