Barr admits Donald Trump indictment is strong: In a Sunday show appearance, former Attorney General William Barr admits the former president he served could be “toast,” following the federal documents indictment.
Donald Trump Might Be in Serious Legal Danger
Ever since the announcement last week that former President Donald Trump had been indicted on 37 counts in federal court, the reactions have been mostly predictable, with most of Trump’s staunchest supporters calling the indictment a “witch hunt,” a “hoax,” or pointing out the unfairness of Trump getting charged while various Democrats and other politicians were not.
Those claims are coming from the sort of people who would always defend Trump, no matter what he is accused of.
The indictment was Trump’s second of the year, and also the first-ever federal criminal indictment of a former president.
But some conservative-leading legal figures who typically side with Trump did not do so this time. Jonathan Turley, the law professor who frequently defends Trump, said on Fox News that “it is an extremely damning indictment…This is not an indictment you can dismiss,” while ex-prosecutor and conservative legal writer Andrew McCarthy wrote for National Review that “Trump’s ‘Witch Hunt’ Cries Ring Hollow in Face of DOJ Indictment.”
But perhaps most damning was the interview given on Fox News over the weekend by William Barr, the former attorney general who served during the Trump Administration, and often ran interference for Trump, especially at the end of the Mueller investigation. Barr has since fallen out with Trump, including resisting the former president’s “Stop the Steal” narrative, and resigning prior to the end of the Trump presidency.
On Fox News Sunday, Barr depicted the indictment as strong and damning.
“I was shocked by the degree of sensitivity at these documents and how many there were,” Barr said on Fox. “I do think we have to wait and see what the defense says and what proves to be true. But I do think … if even half of it is true, then he’s toast … It’s a very detailed indictment and it’s very very damning.”
He added that Trump is not a “victim” in this case.
“He’s been a victim in the past. His adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims and I’ve been at his side defending against him when he is a victim, but this is much different. He’s not a victim here,” the former attorney general added.
Barr was especially taken with the haphazard way that the documents were stored at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
“Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets that the country has. They have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to maintain them and retain them. And he kept them in a way at Mar-a-Lago that anyone who really cares about national security, their stomach would churn at it.”
Trump, predictably, went after Barr on Truth Social following the interview.
“Virtually everyone is saying that the Indictment is about Election Interference & should not have been brought, except Bill Barr, a ‘disgruntled former employee’ & lazy Attorney General who was weak & totally ineffective,” Trump said on Truth Social after Barr’s appearance.
“He doesn’t mean what he’s saying, it’s just MISINFORMATION.Barr’s doing it because he hates “TRUMP” for firing him. He was deathly afraid of the Radical Left when they said they would Impeach him. He knows the Indictment is Bull…. Turn off FoxNews when that ‘Gutless Pig’ is on!”
“Virtually everyone,” of course, is not saying that, and there has been no reporting at any point that Barr was fired as attorney general. He announced that he would resign and then departed a couple of weeks later.
Donald Trump continued to rail against the indictment in public appearances over the weekend.
“They took one charge, and they made it 36 different times. And we have a thug who is in charge. This is a political hit job, Republicans are treated far differently at the Justice Department than Democrats,” Trump said at the Georgia state Republican convention.
Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
