Donald Trump’s former attorney-general William Barr says ‘he’s toast’ if allegations in impeachment prove true

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Former US attorney-general William Barr says Donald Trump will be “toast” if allegations he deliberately withheld hundreds of classified documents are proven true under a 37-count indictment by Special Counsel Jack Smith against the former president.

Key points: William Barr was the former attorney-general of former US president Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020 Mr Barr said the charges made against Mr Trump under the Espionage Act is “solid” Mr Trump said he will continue his 2024 presidential campaign even he was convicted.

The accusation alleges that Mr Trump, the current Republican front-runner in the 2024 White House race, is in possession of documents about military secrets and the US nuclear program after leaving the White House in early 2021.

Mr Trump kept documents originating from national intelligence agencies at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and at his golf club in New Jersey, according to the indictment.

Mr Barr, who was Mr Trump’s attorney-general from February 2019 to December 2020, defended Mr Smith’s accusation on Sunday.

“I was surprised at the level of sensitivity of these documents and how many there were, and I think the counts under the Espionage Act that he deliberately withheld those documents are solid counts,” he said.

“If half of it is true, he’s toast.”

Boxes containing classified materials were placed on a stage in Mar-a-Lago’s White and Gold ballroom, according to the indictment. (Reuters:USJustice Department/Handout)

Mr Trump responded to Mr Barr’s comments with criticism and insults, describing Mr Barr as “lazy” and “weak” on his social media platform Truth Social.

Mr Trump said Mr Barronly made the comments because he was unhappy and that they were misinformation.

“Turn off Fox News when that ‘Gutless Pig’ is on,” he said.

The former president is due to appear in a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday to make his first appearance on the charges.

Mr Trump told Politico on Saturday that he would continue his presidential campaign even after he was convicted in the case saying “I’m never going away”.

He plans to make the announcement Tuesday night at his Bedminster, New York, golf club, his presidential campaign said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of pro-Trump supporters drove in a caravan from Miami to Palm Beach on Sunday to show their support for the former president, as they have done on several previous occasions since he left office.

Cars decked out in American flags and pro-Trump slogans on placards made the 130-kilometer drive, honking most of the way and meeting in a Palm Beach grocery store parking lot for a rally.

Of the 37 counts against Mr Trump, 31 of them relate to classified and top secret documents he kept after leaving the White House in early 2021.

The indictment alleges that Mr Trump stored the documents in a haphazard manner at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, refused to return them to the government, and tried to hide them from the FBI and even to his own attorney after he was subpoenaed by the grand jury. a subpoena demanding that he return all records with classified markings.

His lawyer, Alina Habba who is not representing him in the case, told Fox News Sunday that Mr Trump is innocent of the charges and plans to vigorously defend himself in the case.

In the past, Mr Barr has been a fierce defender of Mr Trump, even appointing his own special counsel to investigate whether the FBI improperly opened an investigation into Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign over possible ties to Russia based on flimsy evidence.

But towards the end of his tenure, Mr Barr’s views on MrTrump have soured after the former president tried to pressure the Justice Department to launch bogus investigations into voter fraud, in a failed bid to overturn the results of 2020 presidential election.

Not ‘personal documents’

Mr Trump has previously defended his retention of the classified records, saying there was no evidence he declared them while in office, a defense echoed by his allies.

“I go on the president’s word that he said he did,” US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan told CNN on Sunday when asked if he had any evidence to back up Mr Trump’s claim.

Boxes of documents were also placed in a bathroom, between the toilet and shower. (Reuters:USJustice Department/Handout)

In previous litigation related to the FBI search of his Florida home, Mr Trump’s lawyers repeatedly declined to make that argument in their court filings, and the indictment also contained evidence that Mr Trump that he has records that have remained high class.

“As president, I can declassify it,” the indictment quoted Mr Trump as saying about a military document he allegedly showed at a meeting at his New Jersey golf club in July 2021.

“Now I can’t, you know, because it’s still a secret.”

Mr Trump and his allies have also tried separately to argue that the records at the heart of the case are personal and covered by the Presidential Records Act.

“He has a right to have classified documents that he declared under the Presidential Records Act,” Ms Habba told Fox News Sunday.

Mr Barr said the claim that the documents were Mr Trump’s personal notes was “ridiculous on its face”.

He said that because the records cited in the indictment are “official records” prepared by government intelligence agencies, they are considered the property of the US government.

“Battle plans for attacking foreign countries or Defense Department documents about our capabilities are not in the universe of Donald J. Trump’s personal documents,” he said.

Reuters/ABC

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