William Barr Says Trump Went To The Bunker Based On Secret Service Recommendations
On Monday evening, US Attorney General William Barr appeared to contradict President Donald Trump’s earlier comments on why he went to a bunker under the White House during a protest outside. Trump claimed he went to the bunker while protests against police brutality raged on outside in order to carry out an inspection. Barr, according to Kathryn Watson of CBS News, told Bret Baier the president went to the bunker after being urged to do so by the secret service. Barr said the decision was made after the White House security fence was breached last week.
“Things were so bad that the Secret Service recommended the president go down to the bunker. We can’t have that in our country.”
When the White House was asked about why Barr and Trump’s stories didn’t seem to match, a spokesperson said they don’t comment on security protocols. Trump’s reasoning for his visit to the bunker also contradicted what sources told CBS News last week. Watson reported those sources told the organization the president went to the bunker “out of an abundance of caution.”
In an interview the day after he went to the shelter, Trump gave a radio interview to Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade. During that interview, Watson said the president not only gave a conflicting reason for going to the bunker, but also a different time of day. Trump said he went down “for a short period of time” in order to inspect the area “sometime during the day.”
Reports from White House sources, as well as Barr’s comment, claim Trump went down as the protests outside heated up during the night. In the radio interview, Kilmeade gave the president an opportunity to clarify why he went to the shelter. The host told a story about 9/11 and how then-President George W. Bush was ordered to stay away from the White House. Kilmeade asked Trump if the secret service had insisted he go to the bunker against his will. Trump insisted it didn’t happen that way.
Watson also pointed out Barr’s comments to Baier came after the attorney general and the White House offered different explanations as to who ordered the removal of protesters from Lafayette Park last Monday. Police officers in riot gear aggressively cleared the park using pepper balls before President Trump walked through it to the nearby St. John’s Church. The White House originally told the media Barr gave the order. The attorney general said that while he didn’t give the original order, he did approve of it.
