CNN's Anderson Cooper slams Bill Barr's corruption: 'Not even trying to hide it anymore'

On CNN Monday, anchor Anderson Cooper ripped into Attorney General William Barr for his complicity in President Donald Trump's ongoing scheme to milk Ukraine for opposition research.

"They're not even trying to hide it anymore," said Cooper. "The president's TV lawyer and former infomercial spokesman for LifeLock, Rudy Giuliani, is still digging up dirt on Ukraine and there's now a process, that's the word Lindsey Graham used, a 'process' to get that information directly to the Department of Justice ... and today, Attorney General Barr confirmed it, saying he has an obligation to, quote, 'have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant.' He also said this."

"There are a lot of agendas in the Ukraine," said Barr. "There are a lot of crosscurrents, and we can't take anything we receive from the Ukraine at face value. And for that reason, we have established an intake process in the field, so that any information coming in about Ukraine could be carefully scrutinized by the department and its intelligence community partners."

"This applies, apparently, he adds, to anything that Giuliani might provide, which certainly sounds more skeptical than Lindsey Graham was yesterday," said Cooper, playing a clip of Graham saying, "Rudy Giuliani is a well-known man. He's a crime fighter. He's loyal to the president. He's a good lawyer."

"Well, he is a well-known man," said Cooper. "Not sure about the lawyer. He's not a crime fighter. Keeping 'em honest, it's also reported he may be under federal investigation by the Southern District of New York, which has already indicted his two Ukrainian go-betweens, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. He's not a federal investigator or any kind of official. He doesn't have a badge. He's just some disinterested private citizen. He's not just disinterested, he is the president's personal attorney. If Attorney General Barr was telegraphing a certain sense of caution about wholeheartedly embracing whatever Giuliani hands him, it's hard to argue he's got no reason for it."

"By the same token, it's also hard not to wonder how much of what he said there was the same kind of anodyne language he offered up when presenting what later turned out to be a misleading summary of the Mueller report," continued Cooper. "He's accused of acting more like the president's personal attorney than the attorney general. His client is Barr's boss. The arrangement they apparently have is now raising questions."

"Maybe the Republican senators are right," concluded Cooper. "The president has learned his lesson. He's learned he can do whatever he wants."

Watch below: