Right-wing strategist Steve Bannon floated the likelihood that former U.S. Attorney General William Barr may face trial if Republicans return to energy, urging the staunch conservative to “preserve evidence.”
Bannon served because the chief government of former President Donald Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign and went on to work as a chief strategist in his White House. During his War Room podcast on Wednesday, the Trump loyalist blasted Barr, who was the previous president’s legal professional normal, and his new memoir entitled One Damn Thing After Another, which was launched in March.
Although Barr was extensively seen as certainly one of Trump’s most loyal Cabinet officers throughout his tenure serving below the previous president, he has drawn substantial right-wing backlash for repeatedly mentioning that there’s “no evidence” to help claims of widespread fraud surrounding President Joe Biden’s 2020 election win. Barr resigned as legal professional normal in mid-December 2020, simply over a month earlier than the tip of Trump’s White House time period.
The present notes for War Room‘s Wednesday episode defined: “Bannon concludes that Barr’s book will be used as evidence against him in a trial after the GOP takes back the White House.” During the episode, Bannon described Barr’s memoir as “shocking,” knocking the previous legal professional normal for performing like “some big hero.”
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“Dude, you are a wimp and a loser,” the podcaster mentioned. “And I gotta tell you, that books going to be used as evidence against you.”
Later within the phase, Bannon slammed Barr for “the lies he tells about election fraud, the lies he tells about misleading President Trump.”
“I would tell to Bill Barr, ‘Preserve your documents, preserve your documents, OK?'” he mentioned.
Trump has criticized Barr publicly, calling him “weak” and “ineffective” in a March assertion.
“Former Attorney General Bill Barr wouldn’t know voter fraud if it was staring him in the face—and it was,” the previous president claimed. “The fact is, he was weak, ineffective, and totally scared of being impeached, which the Democrats were constantly threatening to do. They ‘broke’ him.”
While some Democrats did name for Barr’s impeachment, a critical effort to take action by no means moved ahead or appeared to have sufficient help to succeed. Even if an impeachment had materialized and succeeded within the House, the previous legal professional normal would have all however actually been acquitted within the Senate, which was managed by Republicans in the course of the entirety of Trump’s presidency.
Trump and plenty of of his allies proceed to insist that the 2020 election was “rigged” or “stolen,” regardless of a scarcity of proof corroborating the extraordinary allegation. Barr mentioned publicly in December 2020 that there was “no evidence” to again the claims after he had the Justice Department examine. Barr wrote in his memoir that he informed the previous president on to his face that the allegations had been “bulls**t.” Other distinguished Republicans and former Trump administration have made related public assessments.
More than 60 election problem lawsuits introduced by Trump and his supporters within the aftermath of the 2020 election failed in state and federal courts. Even judges appointed by Trump and different Republicans persistently dismissed the authorized challenges. Meanwhile, audits and recounts throughout the nation—together with in areas the place the election was overseen by pro-Trump conservatives—have persistently reaffirmed Biden’s win.
Bannon was arrested and charged by the Justice Department in August 2020 for alleged fraud linked to a crowdfunding marketing campaign in help of Trump’s long-touted border wall. Barr was serving as legal professional normal on the time. Trump later pardoned Bannon on the final day of his presidency.
Newsweek tried to contact Barr for remark and contacted Trump’s press workplace for remark.