Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr advised the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop the charges brought against President-elect Donald Trump to ensure the “best interest” of the American people is at heart.
Trump, who won the 2024 election early Wednesday, currently faces two separate cases brought forth against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly engaging in conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election on January 6, 2021 and for allegedly storing classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago home. Smith is reportedly in talks with the DOJ about dismissing the charges following Trump’s victory, which Barr said should occur in order for him to direct his attention toward the American people.
“I think all cases are a matter of discretion. There’s no rule that says just because you can make a case or think you can make a case or put a case together, you have to pursue it. It’s always a question of what’s in the best interest of the country,” Barr said. “In this situation, there’s no doubt in my mind that the best interest of the country are served by them dismissing the case. They’re not going to be able to go forward with it while he’s the sitting president, either the federal cases or the state cases, because we don’t want these kinds of things distracting the chief executive from dealing with the people’s business.”
WATCH:
A jury convicted the president-elect in May on 13 counts of falsifying business records to cover up an $130,000 hush money payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep her from disclosing an alleged affair before the 2016 election. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, postponed his initial Sept. 18 sentencing date to Nov. 26.
Barr said the cases against Trump are “very weak” that would require years of litigation if officials attempted to revive them after his term.
“The cases are very weak cases,” Barr said. “After they were brought, there were a number of appeals court decisions and Supreme Court decisions that essentially shot it, their cases like Swiss cheese. They’re not compelling cases and trying to pursue them after the president leaves would involve years and years of arcane litigation over legal doctrines because these cases are not meat and potato criminal cases, they’re very novel cases, they raise all kinds of constitutional issues, and at the end of the day, the juice is not worth the squeeze as far as the public interest is concerned.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump with 18 counts in August 2023 under violating Georgia’s “Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations” (RICO) Act for allegedly attempting to overthrow the 2020 election results in the state. The Georgia Court of Appeals put the case on hold in June over a pending case deciding whether to disqualify Willis over an alleged undisclosed relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The former attorney general said Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James’ multi-million civil fraud case against Trump, which alleged that he overvalued his assets and inflated his net worth, was an “abomination” that would have never been brought against anyone except the president-elect. James vowed to continue taking legal action against Trump Wednesday, stating she will continue to “protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers.”
Former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll brought forth a separate civil case against Trump alleging that he raped her in the mid-1990’s and defamed her publicly. A jury found the president-elect liable of sexual assault and defamation against Carroll in May 2023, but was not found liable of rape.
Barr said both James and Carroll’s cases gave Trump “strength” and “backfired” against those who brought forth the cases.
“A lot of the votes we see today, the vote levels we see today, are people are tired of this nonsense,” Barr said. “Tired of seeing the legal system used like this.”
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Fox News)
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