Reports breaking Tuesday night by The Washington Post, later confirmed by CNN, ABC News and the Associated Press state that Attorney General William Barr has told associates he is considering resigning over President Trump’s tweets and ‘interference’ with the Department of Justice.

UPDATE: Barr spokeswoman Kerri Kupic tweeted, “Addressing Beltway rumors: The Attorney General has no plans to resign.”

Addressing Beltway rumors: The Attorney General has no plans to resign. — KerriKupecDOJ (@KerriKupecDOJ) February 19, 2020

One can parse the denial as “no plans to resign” not being the same as considering resigning, but that’s the statement.

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Attorney General William Barr, November 2019 file image.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported, “CNN: Attorney General William Barr has considered resigning over President Trump’s interference with Justice Department matters, mainly his tweets, according to a source close to the situation.”

CNN: Attorney General William Barr has considered resigning over President Trump’s interference with Justice Department matters, mainly his tweets, according to a source close to the situation. @kaitlancollins — Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) February 19, 2020

ABC News:

Just hours after President Donald Trump openly defied his public pleas to stop tweeting about criminal matters in the Justice Department, Attorney General Bill Barr told people close to Trump Tuesday that he is considering resigning over the tweets that Barr had previously told ABC News make it “impossible” to do his job, sources tell ABC News. …In an exclusive interview with ABC News last week, Barr had warned Trump that his tweets about the DOJ, in particular the sentencing process of his former long-time advisor Roger Stone, were disrupting his ability to manage the department. “I’m not going to be bullied or influenced by anybody.” Barr said. “Whether it’s Congress, newspaper editorial boards, or the president. I’m gonna do what I think is right. And, you know, the, I think the — I cannot do my job here at the department with a constant background commentary that undercuts me.”

The AP:

Attorney General William Barr has told people close to him he’s considering quitting his post after President Donald Trump wouldn’t heed his warning to stop tweeting about Justice Department cases, an administration official told The Associated Press…

The Washington Post, which broke the story, headlined: “Barr has told those close to Trump he is considering quitting over the president’s tweets about Justice Dept. investigations”

Attorney General William P. Barr has told people close to President Trump — both inside and outside the White House — that he is considering quitting over Trump’s tweets about Justice Department investigations, three administration officials said, foreshadowing a possible confrontation between the president and his attorney general over the independence of the Justice Department. So far, Trump has defied Barr’s requests, both public and private, to keep quiet on matters of federal law enforcement. It was not immediately clear Tuesday if Barr had made his posture known directly to Trump. The administration officials said Barr seemed to be sharing his position with advisers in hopes the president would get the message that he should stop weighing in publicly on the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigations. “He has his limits,” said one person familiar with Barr’s thinking, speaking on the condition of anonymity, like others, to discuss internal deliberations. …Some people familiar with Barr’s thinking cautioned that he would not make a hasty decision to leave, and it is unclear what precisely would trigger him to take such a dramatic step…

President Trump spoke to reporters earlier Tuesday about Barr, as he prepared to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, outside Washington, D.C., for a four day West Coast trip for campaigning and official business.

Excerpt from White House transcript: