Former Attorney General Bill Barr would testify against President Trump
Aug 7, 2023, 9:00 PM
Attorney General William Barr speaks alongside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, right, and acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Edward O’Callaghan, left, about the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report during a news conference, Thursday, April 18, 2019, at the Department of Justice in Washington. Photo credit: Patrick Semansky, AP. Attorney General William Barr speaks alongside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, right, and acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Edward O’Callaghan, left, about the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report during a news conference, Thursday, at the Department of Justice in Washington.
SALT LAKE CITY — Over the weekend, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr said he would testify against former President Donald Trump, if he were called as a witness.
The comment came during an interview Sunday with CBS News.
KSL NewsRadio Legal Analyst Greg Skordas explains what this could mean for the former president’s latest indictment – the January 6th indictment. He also discusses why Barr would need to testify.
Skordas says the former president has been accused of insurrection-type crimes and conspiracy to defraud the electorate and conspiracy to defraud the people who voted in the election.
“And his defense has been clear that he honestly believed what he was saying was true,” Skordas said. “In other words, he honestly believed what we call a big lie was not a lie. He thought it was true.”
Bill Barr testimony key to government’s case
Skordas continues by saying:
“And if that’s the case, … He lacks the culpability to be found guilty of the crime. And so, the government is going to people, sources including Mike Pence, including Bill Barr, his own attorney general, to say ‘Did you tell him? Did you inform him? Mr. President, these are lies, you can’t do this anymore.'”
Skordas also says if either former Vice President Pence or former Attorney General Barr did say that and are willing to testify, former President Trump will have a more difficult time proving it was an honest mistake.
Skordas says it all comes down to knowing the law.
“There’s no law that says you have to support the election,” he said. “… But there is a law that says you can’t lie, you can’t misrepresent the people. You can’t defraud Congress so to speak. You can’t try to interrupt a proceeding. And so, ignorance isn’t the issue. The issue is ‘Did you knowingly and intentionally, did you willfully misrepresent facts?'”
Skordas points out that a grand jury can indict on probable cause that a crime probably did occur. During a jury trial, however, the case will have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
He says that’s why the government needs witnesses such as the former vice president and attorney general. The grand jury’s bar is lower than what will be required of the government in a jury trial.
Barr resigned as Attorney General shortly after the 2020 election.
