Report: Barr First Turned Down Trump Defense Lawyer Offer

Before agreeing to become President Donald Trump's next attorney general, William Barr rejected offers to be the president's defense attorney, Yahoo! News reported.

"Bill is tough and he's not likely to be pushed around," Timothy Flanigan, who served under Barr when he was former President George H.W. Bush's attorney general, told Yahoo. "If it came to it, and Bill is being attacked — I don't know that Bill has a Twitter account — but he just might get one."

Flanigan said "patriotism" led Barr to be interested in returning to the attorney general's role.

Sources told Yahoo! News the White House had talked to Barr "multiple times," "on and off for a long time," and "they were trying to convince him" to become the next attorney general to replace recused Jeff Sessions and Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker.

Barr faces a Senate confirmation process, which figures to include questions about his meeting with the president and an op-ed for The Washington Post where Barr argued "Trump Made the Right Call on Comey," the FBI director fired by the president, and ridiculed the political makeup of special counsel Robert Mueller's team of investigators.

"I would have liked to see him have more balance on this group," Barr wrote.

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