Good evening. We begin with what sounds like a very public declaration of independence

from Attorney General William Barr, along with questions about his motivations and how

much credence to give his statements, because there's new reporting casting doubt on what

Mr. Barr is saying, which hit almost the exact same time that he was actually saying it.

First, here's what the Attorney General told ABC News' Pierre Thomas about being his own

man and making his own calls.

I will make those decisions based on what I think is the right thing to do, and I'm not

going to be bullied or influenced by anybody.

I said at the time whether it's Congress, newspaper, editorial boards, or the president,

I'm going to do what I think is right.

He also took issue with the president tweeting about Justice Department cases, which the

president continued to do again today concerning his friend and convicted felon Roger Stone.

He appeared to suggest that any connection between the president's tweeting and his own

decisions, well that would be just a coincidence.

You know, the fact that the tweets are out there and correspond to things we're doing at

the department, sort of, give grist to the mill, and that's why I think it's time to stop

the tweeting about Department of Justice criminal cases.

He says it makes it impossible to do his job, which of course raises the question, what

job and for whom?

Is he really staking out his independence here, or merely begging the president not to

say the quiet part out loud?

Or is this just a public relations attempt to appear independent after a number of actions

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