Former Attorney General William P. Barr says the New York indictment against former President Donald Trump is flimsy and “opaque,” but he does think the investigation into classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago poses a problem for his former boss.
Mr. Barr, a former Trump ally, said the FBI raided Mr. Trump’s Florida estate after a lengthy back and forth over documents “which he had no claim to.”
“I think he was jerking the government around,” Mr. Barr told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “The government is investigating the extent to which games were played and there was obstruction in keeping documents from them. And I think that’s a serious potential case. I think they probably have some very good evidence there.”
Special counsel Jack Smith is investigating the document situation alongside his probe of post-2020 election actions by Mr. Trump and his orbit.
Mr. Trump says his possession of documents has been overblown, that he did not commit a crime and that investigators are launching a political witch hunt to take down his 2024 campaign.
Complicating matters, classified documents were discovered among materials at President Biden’s home in Delaware and a think tank office he used in Washington. Former Vice President Mike Pence also turned over classified material mixed into papers he took home to Indiana.
Mr. Barr said Mr. Trump’s legal exposure might come down to what was stored in Florida and whether he pushed too far to keep the documents.
“I think it depends on how sensitive the documents were, but also what evidence they have of obstruction and games-playing by the president and whether he directed people to lie or gave them information that was deceitful to pass onto the government,” Mr. Barr said.
One of Mr. Trump’s attorneys, Jim Trusty, said the former president’s team has been forthright with investigators.
“Every step of the way, if we found anything of interest, even if it’s probably not classified, we’ve turned it over to the FBI and DOJ,” he told ABC.
Mr. Trusty, outlining a key argument, said the president is able to determine what’s personal and what’s presidential and that archivists were biased in going after Mr. Trump.
“We’ve had some real bad faith in the underpinnings of how this thing got started, the use of criminal investigative tools for what is a civil dispute,” he said.
He said the evidence also shows “there’s no obstruction going on.”
While Mr. Barr thinks the documents probe poses real legal peril, he is less impressed by an indictment that accuses Mr. Trump of 34 counts of false business records tied to hush payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels.
Legal experts have questioned whether Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is relying on a novel legal theory in seeking a conviction.
“I found what’s been put out, very opaque,” Mr. Barr said. “And I think if he has a good case he would specify exactly what his case is, but he’s trying to hide the ball.”
Mr. Trump lashed out at his former attorney general early Monday, dubbing him “slovenly and pathetic.”
“While he correctly puts down the N.Y.D.A. case, he plays up the equally ridiculous BOXES HOAX, where Biden should have the problem, not me,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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