Barr: Trump indictment case weak, but will hurt GOP

(31 Mar 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4427285

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington DC - 31 March 2023
1. Cutaway of former Attorney General Bill Barr on stage
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Barr, Former Attorney General:
"Well, I wish I had something original to say about this. Almost all the adjectives have been used. I mean, obviously, we have to caveat it. We haven't seen it. We don't know exactly what's there. But judging from the news reports, it's it's you know, it's the
archetypal abuse of the prosecutorial function to engage in a political hit job. And it's a disgrace if if it turns out to be what we think it is. Politically, it's a it's a it's going to be damaging, I think, to the Republican Party simply because I think it's it's a no lose situation for the Democrats. I think they're actually I think the impetus is really to help Trump get the nomination. Focus the attention on him for two years. Have this thing swirling around, plus whatever else comes, which I think will be damaging to whoever gets the nomination. And legally, I think it's it's from what I understand, it's it's a pathetically weak."
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Barr, Former Attorney General:
"I saw some editorialist said something like, well, that's because Bill Barr was there. Actually, the Southern District could have done whatever they wanted. Well, I mean, they would have... (Moderator: I always heard that about them.) Well, but I want to point out that the administration ended two years ago. So Bill Barr wasn't there two years ago. And if the statute of limitations had not run federally, they could have done whatever they wanted to do after I left. So no one's done anything. (Moderator: Right.) And so for the state D.A. to try to use this as a way of bootstrapping himself into a felony is sort of outrageous."
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4. SOUNDBITE (English) Bill Barr, Former Attorney General:
"I think the statute covers two different kinds of payments. Something that's a campaign contribution because it augments the the campaign resources available to spend on a campaign. That's not what this is. Or the payment of a personal expense that otherwise wouldn't be paid but for the election. The only reason you pay the personal expenses because the elect... the dependency of the election. And this was if you know, even as alleged, this was a payment of a personal expense. And I don't think they can show it's not the kind of payment that would have been made in any case, even even it wasn't done because of the election. It was done to protect Trump's reputation. And an eponymous private company certainly has an interest in protecting the brand Trump And it's the kind of thing that probably would have been paid but for the election. So I think the whole thing is is a very weak case. But it's going to it's going to hurt our politics, obviously, for the next two or three years."
5. Cutaway of Barr
STORYLINE:
Former Attorney General Bill Barr says the indictment of Donald Trump is a weak case, but he expects it will hurt the Republican party going forward into the 2024 elections.

This comes after the Former President was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

The grand jury had been investigating payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter.

The indictment itself remains sealed for now and details are still being worked out on the exact procedure for how Trump will be handled.

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[gwenratcliffe]

I think it's just another media circus. The news media will talk about this indefinitely. It seems as though sleaze sells. Nothing really will be done with Trump. Understand, certainly, I'm not defending Trump. I have no love for the man, or any political figure, for that matter. Nevertheless, I've seen this already and it wasn't entertaining the first time around.