Bill Barr tells Fox News if 'even half' Trump indictment is true, 'he's toast.' Trump calls Barr a 'gutless pig.'
Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to turn himself in for arraignment in Miami on Tuesday and expected to plead not guilty to the 37 felony counts detailed in a Justice Department indictment unsealed Friday. Trump spent the weekend proclaiming his innocence and attacking the investigation, but most legal experts — including some who previously defended Trump — say this indictment is serious, substantial and a real threat to the former president.
It's important to hear Trump's legal defense, but "if even half" of the indictment's charges are "true, then he's toast," former Attorney General William Barr told Fox News Sunday. "It's a very detailed indictment and it's very, very damning. And this idea of presenting Trump as a victim here, a victim of a 'witch hunt,' is ridiculous."
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) echoed Barr's assessment on CBS's Face the Nation, saying "if even half of this stuff is true, he's in real trouble, and it is self-inflicted." Sununu is a Trump critic, but Barr was picked to be Trump's final attorney general in large part because he wrote a letter criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller's earlier investigation of Trump and his campaign's ties to Russia.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump has been a victim of "phony claims" before, "and I've been at his side defending against them when he is a victim, but this is much different," Barr said on Sunday. "He's not a victim here. He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets that the country has," and Trump "kept them in a way at Mar-a-Lago that anyone who really cares about national security, their stomach would churn at it."
"Battle plans for an attack on another country or Defense Department documents about our capabilities are in no universe Donald J. Trump's personal documents," Barr said.
"I'm guessing that you're not going to join his legal team," host Shannon Bream deadpanned, and she asked Barr how he thought Trump would respond to his legal analysis. "Well, he's been angry with me for a while," Barr said. "I defend the president on 'Russiagate,' I stood up and called out Alvin Bragg's politicized hit job," but "this particular episode" is different.
Trump did respond on his Truth Social account, and he still appears to be angry with Barr. "Virtually everyone is saying that the Indictment is about Election Interference & should not have been brought," Trump claimed, falsely, "except Bill Barr, a 'disgruntled former employee' & lazy Attorney General who was weak & totally ineffective. ... He knows the Indictment is Bull…. Turn off FoxNews when that 'Gutless Pig' is on!"
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump starts term with spate of executive orders
Speed Read The president is rolling back many of Joe Biden's climate and immigration policies
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pardons or commutes all charged Jan. 6 rioters
Speed Read The new president pardoned roughly 1,500 criminal defendants charged with crimes related to the Capitol riot
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump declares 'golden age' at indoor inauguration
In the Spotlight Donald Trump has been inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'The death and destruction happening in Gaza still dominate our lives'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Silicon Valley: bending the knee to Donald Trump
Talking Point Mark Zuckerberg's dismantling of fact-checking and moderating safeguards on Meta ushers in a 'new era of lies'
By The Week UK Published
-
Will auto safety be diminished in Trump's second administration?
Today's Big Question The president-elect has reportedly considered scrapping a mandatory crash-reporting rule
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
DeSantis appoints Florida's top lawyer to US Senate
Speed Read The state's attorney general, Ashley Moody, will replace Sen. Marco Rubio in the Senate
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published