Barr calls Trump's defense in classified documents case "absurd"
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Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr at a September event in Washington, D.C. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said Sunday the case against former President Trump that resulted in his indictment on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents was "entirely of his own making."
What he's saying: "He had no right to those documents," the former Trump administration official told CBS. "The government tried for over a year, quietly and with respect, to get them back, which was essential that they do, and he jerked them around. And he had no legal basis for keeping them."
- "But beyond that, when he faced his subpoena, he didn't raise any legal arguments. He engaged in a course of deceitful conduct, according to the indictment. That was a clear crime if those allegations are true, and was outrageous," added Barr on CBS' "Face the Nation."
The big picture: Trump last week pleaded not guilty in Miami to charges related to retaining classified information and obstruction of justice as he became the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges.
- Trump and his supporters have said that the Presidential Records Act gave him the ability to take some of these records to Mar-a-Lago — though Axios' Alex Thompson notes that the indictment doesn't mention this act and the bigger issue is whether the former president had the power to keep national security documents.
Zoom in: "The legal theory by which he gets to take battle plans and sensitive national security information as his personal papers is absurd," Barr said of his former boss during his CBS interview Sunday.
- "It’s just as wacky as the legal doctrine they came up with for, you know, having the vice president unilaterally determine who won the election," he told CBS' Robert Costa.
- Barr also called Trump "a defiant 9-year-old kid" and a "consummate narcissist" who "constantly engages in reckless conduct."
Yes, but: "I don't like the idea of a former president serving time in prison," he said.
Zoom out: Barr was once considered a Trump ally, but the former president lashed out at him in September after the former attorney general said there was "no legitimate reason" for classified documents to be at Mar-a-Lago.
- Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
