William Barr ‘had a running joke’ about Trump’s links to Russia

Former attorney general William Barr thought of the "Russiagate" investigation as something of a joke.

A federal judge sharply criticized Barr's handling of the report issued by special counsel Robert Mueller at the conclusion of an investigation into Donald Trump's ties to Russia, but the former attorney general told NPR that he and other senior administration officials thought the probe was a laughing matter.

"We had this running joke that, whenever the president was chewing out Mike [Pompeo] about something in a private Oval Office meeting, all Mike had to do was mention Russiagate or something like that," Barr said, "and the president would, you know, take it and run for quite a while, he'd rant."

"He wouldn't remember what he was angry at Pompeo about," Barr added.

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Barr, who is promoting his new memoir "One Damn Thing After Another," claims he advised the former president not to obsess over his personal grievances.

"At one point, I said to the president: 'You know, Mr. President, you're like a bull in a bull ring and your adversaries have your number. They know how to get under your skin, and all they have to do is wave a red flag over here and you go charging and attack it,'" Barr said, "and I said, at the end of the day, you're going to be in the middle of the ring sweating and someone's going to come and put a sword through your head."

"He didn't think much of that metaphor," Barr added.