Bill Barr calls Trump’s characterization of Presidential Records Act ‘absurd’
Jack Birle
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Former Attorney General William Barr is calling out former President Donald Trump‘s characterization of his rights to maintain documents under the Presidential Records Act as “absurd.”
Barr disputed Trump’s claims that he was entitled to maintain the classified documents, while speaking on CBS News’s Face the Nation on Sunday.
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“The legal theory by which he gets to take battle plans and sensitive national security information as his ‘personal papers’ is absurd,” said Barr, explaining that the purpose of the statute was to prevent presidents from taking documents out of the White House.
“It was passed after Watergate; that’s the whole purpose of it. And therefore, it restricted what a president can take. It says it’s purely private, that had nothing to do with the deliberations of government policy,” said Barr.
He continued, “Obviously, these documents are not purely private. It’s obvious. And they’re not even now arguing that it’s purely private. What they’re saying is the president has sweeping discretion to say they are, even though they don’t squarely fall within the definition. It’s an absurd argument.”
When asked if he personally believes Trump lied to the Justice Department about the documents, Barr said he did believe that Trump lied to the DOJ. The former Attorney General also said that while Trump has been the victim of “unfair witch hunts in the past,” this indictment is not the case.
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The former president was charged with 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count for a scheme to conceal, and one count related to alleged false statements.
He appeared in federal court for his arraignment in Miami, Florida, last week, where he pleaded not guilty.