Former Attorney General Bill Barr dismantled a slew of defences put out by Donald Trump's supporters for his improper handling of secret materials after giving a damning evaluation of his legal standing.
If "even half" of Jack Smith's 37-count federal indictment proves to be accurate, the former Trump attorney general declared that the former president is "toast." Barr achieved this by claiming that Trump's improper handling of materials jeopardized national security. He also categorically rejected the idea that Trump was a "victim" of political persecution.
Barr told Shannon Bream of Fox News that the documents investigation differs from RussiaGate in that the former was based on "responsible government action" and the latter on a "false assertion."
They offered him every chance to turn in the papers. They behaved sensibly. They were really patient and deferential with him. He pulled them about while they spoke to him for over a year to obtain those documents. What did he do when they eventually proceeded to a subpoena? The government claims that he lied and disobeyed that subpoena. And after doing a search, they discovered several other papers. They may not even be certain that they have everything at this point. According to the government and the indictment, they faced particularly severe obstruction as a result of their very patient actions.
Bream questioned Barr about Smith's obligation to answer to Attorney General Merrick Garland prior to the release of the indictment because the Justice Department has highlighted Smith's independence in the inquiry.
According to the regulation, only the special counsel may make the decision, according to Barr. However, I'm confident that they had a plan in place wherein he would keep the attorney general informed and, if the attorney general had strong opinions, he would express them. The attorney general, I believe, stated quite early on that he would follow the counsel's advice.
Bream questioned Barr on his response to individuals who would attempt to compare Trump's case to how previous officials have handled similar material in the past after he underlined that the public has access to all of the papers related to the president. Barr commented on prior presidents who took their own collection of papers, saying that "those were situations where they arranged with the Archives to set up special space under the management control and security provided by the archivist to temporarily put documents until the libraries were ready."
These weren't just folks putting stuff in their basement, according to Barr. The president having the ability to deem any document personal, he continued, is "facially ludicrous."
That ruling dealt with the distinction between personal papers and official documents, which are items made by the president, such as a journal or notes, as opposed to unofficial records, which are records created by government agencies for the purpose of government action. These documents are official ones. It is beyond dispute. Donald Trump does not have access to the intelligence committee's daily brief to the president. Period.”
If "even half" of Jack Smith's 37-count federal indictment proves to be accurate, the former Trump attorney general declared that the former president is "toast." Barr achieved this by claiming that Trump's improper handling of materials jeopardized national security. He also categorically rejected the idea that Trump was a "victim" of political persecution.
Barr told Shannon Bream of Fox News that the documents investigation differs from RussiaGate in that the former was based on "responsible government action" and the latter on a "false assertion."
They offered him every chance to turn in the papers. They behaved sensibly. They were really patient and deferential with him. He pulled them about while they spoke to him for over a year to obtain those documents. What did he do when they eventually proceeded to a subpoena? The government claims that he lied and disobeyed that subpoena. And after doing a search, they discovered several other papers. They may not even be certain that they have everything at this point. According to the government and the indictment, they faced particularly severe obstruction as a result of their very patient actions.
Bream questioned Barr about Smith's obligation to answer to Attorney General Merrick Garland prior to the release of the indictment because the Justice Department has highlighted Smith's independence in the inquiry.
According to the regulation, only the special counsel may make the decision, according to Barr. However, I'm confident that they had a plan in place wherein he would keep the attorney general informed and, if the attorney general had strong opinions, he would express them. The attorney general, I believe, stated quite early on that he would follow the counsel's advice.
Bream questioned Barr on his response to individuals who would attempt to compare Trump's case to how previous officials have handled similar material in the past after he underlined that the public has access to all of the papers related to the president. Barr commented on prior presidents who took their own collection of papers, saying that "those were situations where they arranged with the Archives to set up special space under the management control and security provided by the archivist to temporarily put documents until the libraries were ready."
These weren't just folks putting stuff in their basement, according to Barr. The president having the ability to deem any document personal, he continued, is "facially ludicrous."
That ruling dealt with the distinction between personal papers and official documents, which are items made by the president, such as a journal or notes, as opposed to unofficial records, which are records created by government agencies for the purpose of government action. These documents are official ones. It is beyond dispute. Donald Trump does not have access to the intelligence committee's daily brief to the president. Period.”
