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Trump’s Former AG Bill Barr Lowers the Boom in Stunning Analysis on Fox News Sunday: ‘If Even Half of it is True, He is Toast’

https://www.mediaite.com/news/trumps-former-ag-bill-barr-lowers-the-boom-in-stunning-analysis-on-fox-news-sunday-if-even-half-of-it-is-true-he-is-toast/#:~:text=In%20a%20stunning%20analysis%20of,it's%20very%2C%20very%20damning.%E2%80%9D


In a stunning analysis of the former president’s legal peril on Fox News Sunday, Barr cited and concurred with the assessment of Fox News legal contributor Andy McCarthy.

“If even half of it is true, he is toast,” Barr said. “I mean, it’s a very detailed indictment, and it’s very, very damning.”

Barr went on to take a flamethrower to Trump’s claims that he is being politically persecuted.

“This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here or a victim of a witch hunt is ridiculous,” Barr said. “Yes, he’s been a victim in the past. His adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims. And I’ve been at his side defending against them when he is a victim. But this is much different. 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. They have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to maintain them and retain them.”

The former attorney general acknowledged there has been bad blood between him and his old boss. But he cited other instances where he has supported Trump to make clear he views this case as a completely different animal.

“He’s been angry with me for a while,” Barr said. “But you know, I defended the president on on Russia-gate. I stood up and called out (Manhattan District Attorney) Alvin Bragg’s politicized hit job. And I have spoken out for 30 years about the abuse of the criminal justice process to influence politics. But this is simply not true. This particular episode of trying to retrieve those documents, the government acted responsibly. and it was Donald Trump who acted irresponsibly.”

Full video in article

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[–] Pagliacci@lemmy.ml 41 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A large part of Trump's initial rise was "draining the swamp", right? Cleaning up the corrupt of D.C.

If we can't indict a former President for stealing nuclear secrets, what the fuck are we even doing here?

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 year ago

He never said which direction he was going to drain the swamp,though.

Turns out he drained it straight into his cabinet.

[–] gabuwu 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He wanted HIS "swamp" to replace the old "swamp" it seems.

[–] SuddenDownpour@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Same thing with all right-wing "populists". Out with the out-group and their crimes, in with our in-group and our sins.

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Trump enabler trying to cash in on his own notoriety by doing the talk show circuit when he ought to be in prison.

[–] chicory@midwest.social 12 points 1 year ago

Absolutely, I think this is a classic Barr move. Trying to straddle a line between Trump (“he’s been a victim before”) and reality.

[–] mantisteabaggin@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Seriously. I’m so fucking tired of these clowns.

[–] TechyDad 21 points 1 year ago

I'll argue with Barr saying that past allegations were just "political enemies on a witch hunt," but he's right about these allegations being extremely serious. Just one of these charges could put Trump in federal prison for 20 years. For a nearly 77 year old man used to luxury, this might as well be a life sentence. If Trump enters a federal penitentiary, I don't think he'll be exiting alive. (Assuming no Republican president pardons him.)

[–] mikeymike@partizle.com 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Don’t underestimate his way of lying and cheating out of anything. All it takes is one closeted MAGA cultist on that jury.

[–] argv_minus_one 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Jury? There's a non-closeted MAGA cultist on the bench in this sham of a trial.

[–] mikeymike@partizle.com 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

While judges do a have a lot of power, they aren't necessarily beholden to the politicians who appoint them. Trump learned that the hard way already at the Supreme Court.

[–] mshade 8 points 1 year ago

This one has already shown her bias in his favor.

[–] macarthur_park@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In theory this is true but this particular judge, Aileen Cannon, already demonstrated excessive fealty to Trump back when the FBI first seized the classified documents from his estate. She granted his request for a special master to go through the documents, despite not having the jurisdiction to do so. This let trump stall the case for a few months until an appeals court overturned her ruling.

Three months ago, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon made the controversial call to appoint an independent expert to examine documents — including classified government materials — seized by FBI agents from former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach residence.

She did so despite expressing initial doubts in her own ruling about intervening in the politically charged case.

In a scathing ruling issued Thursday night, a federal appellate court in Atlanta found she should have heeded her first legal concerns. A three-judge panel, all Republican-appointees like Cannon, reversed her decision to name a “special master” because she had no authority to do so and effectively killed the case as legal experts consider a potential appeal unlikely to succeed.

The impact is immediate: Cannon’s decision will not only be thrown out based on her lack of jurisdiction but the special master’s still-unfinished review will be shut down, bringing Trump’s lawsuit to dead end.

source: Miami herald

[–] meldroc@infosec.pub 2 points 1 year ago

On one hand, she's obviously a Trump MAGAhead who wants to put her thumb on the scale, OTOH, she already got a spanking from the appeals court.

Seems like a wash at the moment. We're probably not going to learn much more today - he's just pleading not-guilty and being Officially Informed™ of the charges & his rights & such.

[–] mikeymike@partizle.com 2 points 1 year ago

That does sound pretty bad. Hopefully a new judge can be assigned.

[–] feetongrass 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unfortunately he’s now considered a ‘RINO’ so it doesn’t matter.

[–] Yoreo@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The no true Scotsman fallacy at play with the GOP.

[–] TechyDad 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's also how the GOP gets more and more radical. Right now, there are two types of Republicans:

  1. True Believers. These people actually think that globalist socialist Democrats are using rainbows bought by Soros to turn kids trans. (Or whatever their conspiracy of choice is today.) They 100% believe this is true and will fight with everything to prevent it.

  2. Power/Money Seekers. These people know that the Conspiracy Of The Day is total bull. They know that repeating it can be dangerous. However, they see that repeating this can get them more power and money. So they continue to repeat it.

The problem for the Power/Money Seekers, though, is that even they tend to have a line they won't cross. If they hesitate for even a second in crossing a line, then the True Believers will swoop in, call them RINOs, and replace them.

Over time, there will be less and less Power/Money Seekers and more and more True Believers which just will make the GOP even more dangerous. (There is a theoretical third kind of Republican, the Sane Old School Conservative, but spotting one of these in the party is rarer than spotting a unicorn riding a unicycle.)

[–] Yoreo@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

I feel the 3rd kind have have mostly abandoned the GOP entirely which is unfortunate, because they are typically pragmatic and can be reasoned with. The true believers are definitely concerning since they're typically far more ideologically extreme and reactionary. I feel the power/money seekers are slowly being purged and replaced by the aforementioned true believers which is just a powder keg waiting to be lit.

Hopefully it'll never reach critical mass, but I fear it'll likely occur in the not too distant future...

[–] Lauchs@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I agree with a lot of this analysis but I'm not sure there will be fewer power/$ seekers. They seem like weeds, another one will just sprout up. If there's money to be made, well, grifters, like nature, abhor a vacuum.