The whole purpose of playing this out on national TV is so that Barr can testify truthfully (at any time) that he and President Trump never had any conversations about open DOJ cases.
I don’t believe that at all. This was an unintended consequence of the President’s off the cuff twitter comment.
Barr could have called a press conference and stated what the prosecutors had done and why his position is this or that. Now he has to endure smears, weeks of testifying, Nads and others bringing in witnesses, statements, documents, et all.