5/20/2023

BARRED: Bill Barr has some bad news for Trump

by JASON MICIAK

On Friday afternoon, former Attorney General Bill Barr predicted Donald Trump will be indicted as soon as August.

Barr, however, wasn’t talking about the alleged crimes in Georgia that Fulton Country D.A. Fani Willis has already hinted will lead to indictments by then.

No, Barr predicted that Federal Special Counsel Jack Smith will indict Trump in August or early fall — and suggested that it would involve the purloined top secret files at Mar-a-Lago.

Somewhat strangely, Barr said that Trump made remarks during CNN’s town hall that left Trump “very” exposed.

It is only strange because it seemed like Trump said the same things he’s said over and over since August 2022.

According to Mediaite, Barr noted he has said all along that Trump faced more danger in the file case for one specific reason:

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“Because it doesn’t go a lot on intent or anything like that. It’s very it’s very clear that he had no business having those documents. He was given a long time to send them back. And he was, they were subpoenaed. And if there’s any games being played there, he’s, he’s going to be very exposed,” Barr explained.

To the extent that prosecutors must prove that he intended to take and keep the documents, we reported two days ago that the National Archives will give Jack Smith 16 letters sent to Trump notifying him that the law required him to return the documents.

Trump’s lawyers have floated a defense in which they claimed that it’s possible that the files were mixed with personal stuff by junior staff.

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The letters and the town hall nuke that defense.

When asked if Barr believed Smith was close to a charging decision, Barr said, “I would think they’d want to do it before the end of the year. And, you know, it could be, you know, later in the summer or in the fall,”

Democrats would have preferred if it happened last fall after the August search. Trump is already using the, “They can’t beat me, so they are going to charge me,” defense.

Except that’s not a defense.

Winning the presidency and pardoning himself is a defense and that’s a problem because there is no conceivable way indictments filed in late summer could be tried before early November 2024.

When asked why it might take so long if they’re close, Barr said what most people already know, “Because if they’re close, if they’re close to a decision, I think the process of, you know, viewing that and socializing it with the attorney general and so forth, and buttoning it up would probably take that long.

Socializing that with the attorney general?

They most certainly will have many discussions with the attorney general and not a single discussion will come over chilled shrimp, stuffed mushrooms, and fine wine.

The discussions will occur in one of the most guarded, secretive rooms in DOJ headquarters.

It will be imperative that no notice is given.

Fani Willis had to give the chief judge notice of likely indictments because there are far fewer judges, and fewer employees, which will lead to overly full courtroom calendars.

Additionally, if Georgia’s indictments are first, the situation will likely be even more dangerous.

Even though it’s a safe assumption that Atlanta has a good police department and an FBI presence, Willis does not have the near-unlimited resources that the federal government has.

There is a question still left somewhat open despite Barr’s statement.

There is no reason that Smith’s indictments couldn’t include January 6th crimes filed the same day.

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It is going to be a long, hot summer for Mr. Trump.

Seeing a legal document stating “The State of New York v. Donald James Trump,” isn’t good.

But seeing, “The United States v. Donald James Trump” is considerably worse.

Federal prosecutors have a 95% conviction rate.

JASON MICIAK IS AN ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND OPINION WRITER FOR OCCUPY DEMOCRATS. HE'S A CANADIAN-AMERICAN WHO GREW UP IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. HE IS A TRAINED ATTORNEY, BUT FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS, HE'S DEVOTED HIS TIME TO WRITING POLITICAL NEWS AND ANALYSIS. HE ENJOYS LIFE ON THE GULF COAST AS A SINGLE DAD TO A 15-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER. HOBBIES INCLUDE FLOWER POTS, COOKING, AND DOING WHAT HIS DAUGHTER TELLS HIM THEY'RE DOING.