AG Barr made an unusual call to Trump to give him political advice about how Rudy Giuliani should handle the Russia probe

Associated Press

Attorney General William Barr arrives for a ceremony where President Donald Trump will present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former New York Yankees baseball pitcher Mariano Rivera, in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Sept. 16, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

• Attorney General William Barr gave political advice on Rudy Giuliani's public statements on the Russia investigation in an April phone call with President Donald Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• The attorney general's main role is to uphold the country's laws and it would be unusual for Barr to go out of his way to offer Trump advice on such a personal level.
• Barr has been widely accused of behaving more like Trump's personal lawyer than the attorney general, and this issue has come up again in relation to the escalating Ukraine scandal.
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Attorney General William Barr in April called President Donald Trump and urged him to tell his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to tone it down in TV appearances, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The attorney general is the country's top law enforcement official and it's unusual for someone in his position to offer the president political or legal advice on such a personal level.

Barr has repeatedly been accused by congressional Democrats and other critics of stepping outside of his purview and behaving more as the president's personal lawyer than the attorney general.

At the time of the phone call, Giuliani was being critical of former White House counsel Don McGahn over his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators in the probe on Russian election interference. McGahn's name appeared 529 times in the 448-page report on the special counsel's investigation.

Mueller ultimately concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to show the Trump campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election. And though Mueller declined to make a conclusion on whether the president committed obstruction of justice, he also did not exonerate Trump and outlined 11 instances of potential obstruction.

In short, though the conclusions the special counsel offered are complicated, Mueller did not explicitly accuse Trump of a crime.

Along these lines, Barr in the April phone call reportedly asked Trump why Giuliani was on TV attacking McGahn and drawing attention to himself rather than declaring victory and moving on from the Mueller probe.

Read more: 'Pure insanity': Intelligence veterans are floored by Barr's 'off the books' overtures to foreign officials about the Russia probe

More recently, Barr has reportedly expressed dismay over Trump lumping him in with Giuliani during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the center of a whistleblower complaint that's sparked an impeachment inquiry in Congress. In the call, Trump urged Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and said he'd connect his Ukrainian counterpart with Barr and Giuliani.

Barr is explicitly mentioned in the whistleblower complaint, but not nearly as many times as Giuliani.

The blurred lines between Barr and Giuliani's roles have continued to foster scrutiny from the president's critics.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last Friday accused Barr of being part of a "cover-up of the coverup" and "going rogue" in relation to the Justice Department's role in urging the acting director of national intelligence against releasing the whistleblower complaint to Congress. The extent of Barr's involvement is an open question, but there's currently no evidence he played a direct role.

Barr is also facing criticism from congressional Democrats, intelligence veterans, and legal experts over a Washington Post report that says he urged foreign officials to cooperate in the Justice Department's probe into the origins of the Russia investigation. The attorney general also reportedly urged Trump to ask the prime minister of Australia to aide in the Justice Department's inquiry.