Former attorney general William Barr is President Trump’s top candidate to replace Jeff Sessions as head of the Justice Department, a new report said Thursday.
Barr, 68, a Republican lawyer who served in the post from 1991 to 1993 under President George H.W. Bush, is the favorite candidate of a number of Trump administration officials, The Washington Post reported.
One source told the paper that while Barr is the leading candidate, the decision was not final and Trump could change his mind.
Another source said Trump’s advisers saw Barr as someone who knows the department and is a competent manager.
“He’s a serious guy,” the person said. “The president is very, very focused on [a candidate] looking the part and having credentials consistent with the part.”
Trump fired Sessions — whom he blamed for the special counsel’s ongoing Russia investigation — the day after the midterms.
He replaced him with Matthew Whitaker, who served a stint as a federal prosecutor in Iowa.
But Whitaker — who also worked for a company accused of scamming customers — faced criticism from lawmakers, who called him unqualified for the post and were wary of his attacks on Robert Mueller, casting doubt on whether he could be confirmed.
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