Former Attorney General Bill Barr said this week that he would testify in the trial of former President Donald Trump regarding special counsel Jack Smith’s latest charges if asked. The statement by the former cabinet member represents a potential challenge for Trump as he fights allegations stemming from the aftermath of the 2020 election.
Barr spoke to CBS News this weekend and was asked about the case. He replied no when asked if he was interviewed by Smith.
When asked if he would testify if called, Barr said, “Of course.”
Barr said that he disagreed with Trump’s beliefs after the 2020 election. He said that Trump was “mixing apples and oranges.”
The former attorney general also said that the current case against Trump was not regarding the former president’s First Amendment rights.
Barr separately told a Fox affiliate that he does not “like the idea of putting former presidents in prison.”
“I hope this doesn’t end up with him in prison even if he is convicted,” he added.
Barr says the indictment is validhttps://t.co/BEBKUDsLtE
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 6, 2023
The former attorney general also told the media that the investigation into President Joe Biden’s son Hunter stood on legitimate grounds.
He said that Hunter Biden’s actions could be “shameful without being illegal” and that the actions by the president’s sons were “grotesque the cashing in on the office like that.”
Barr said that the situation “has to be investigated as to whether there was a crime there and that’s one of the things I’m concerned about is that it was thoroughly investigated after I left.”
The former attorney general cited testimony from two IRS whistleblowers regarding the investigation into Hunter Biden. He asked whether or not the First Son was not thoroughly investigated by the Justice Department because he is Biden’s son.
In response, Barr said that a special counsel should have been named in the case.
However, it said that the window for such a prosecutor “may have passed because there’s not very much time to get to the bottom of things” unless U.S. Attorney David Weiss has been conducting the investigation “conscientiously.”