Australia Offered Barr Help With Investigating Origins of Mueller Inquiry Long Before NYT Article Claiming ‘Trump Pressed Australian Leader’
Details have emerged that contradict a loaded Sept. 30 New York Times report that claimed President Donald Trump “pressed” Australia‘s leader and used “American diplomacy for potential personal gain.”
The New York Times ran a report late Sept. 30 citing two anonymous U.S. officials who said President Donald Trump “pushed” and “pressed” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a recent telephone call to help Attorney General William Barr in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) probe into origins of the Russia investigation. One of the sources said that Barr had asked Trump to speak to Morrison.
The Times in its intro also editorialized that the conversation between the two leaders was “another instance of the president using American diplomacy for potential personal gain.”
Following the report, a number of details emerged that conflict with the Times’ insinuation that Australia had been “pressed” by Trump to cooperate with Barr.
A letter shared by a reporter from Australian news outlet Nine on Sept. 30 showed that Australia under the new leadership of Prime Minister Scott Morrison had reached out and expressed its willingness to support the attorney general’s investigation into “the origins of the Federal Bureau of Investigation‘s probe into Russia links to the 2016 U.S. election.”
The letter dated May 28 was addressed to Barr from Joe Hockey, the Ambassador of Australia to the United States, in response to the president’s comments that he hoped Barr’s team would “look at” Australia, and also the UK and Ukraine, “because there was a hoax that was perpetrated on our country.”
A report released by Mueller on April 18 after he took over the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, produced no evidence that Trump or his campaign had knowingly conspired or coordinated with the Russian government to sway the outcome of the election in his favor.
“The Australian government will use its best endeavours to support your efforts in this matter,” Hockey wrote. “While Australia’s former high commissioner to the UK, Alexander Downer, is no longer employed by the Government, we stand ready to provide you with all relevant information to support your inquiries.”
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