William Barr, Donald Trump’s former attorney general, said he believed Trump’s legal problems would boost him in the Republican primary, but “very much hurt” him in the 2024 general election, which Barr said the former president could not win.
“He’s already, I think, a weak candidate who’s going to lose, but I’m sure of this,” Barr, who previously said she would not support Trump’s re-election, told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.
Barr said it was not because of Trump’s arrest last week in New York on charges related to payments during the 2016 campaign. The former attorney general called the case “unfair” and an “abuse of prosecutorial power,” with complaints from Trump allies and some critics.
However, Barr said the federal investigation into classified documents – reportedly more than 300 – found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and other investigations into Trump’s actions related to the January 6, 2021 violence at the US Capitol. Trump is also being investigated for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.
Those first two investigations, Barr said, would make him an undesirable candidate for most voters.
“They have no claim to these documents,” Barr said of the series of classified files that have been recovered. “They belong to the government. I think they are interfering with the government.
Trump continues to insist that he has the power to automatically declassify documents, told the crowd last week that “the process is automatic if I take it with me.”
The seriousness of any charges related to the documents, Barr said, will be based on how sensitive the documents are and if there is evidence of obstruction, such as that they directed people to lie or provide false information to the government.
“I think this is a potentially serious case. I think we have very good evidence,” Barr said.
“They don’t have a say in the document … I think they’re harassing the government.”
– William Barr, showing secret documents found at Trump’s Florida home
Citing people familiar with the matter, The Washington Post reported last week that the Justice Department and the FBI had gathered new evidence pointing to possible obstruction by Trump.
Regardless, Barr said he believes the criminal charges against Trump will motivate his supporters to rally behind him ahead of next year’s primary election. But that support won’t spill over into the general election, he predicted.
“I think, in the end, smart Democratic strategists know that this is going to help Trump, and they want him to be the nominee because he’s the weakest of the Republican candidates, the most likely to lose again to Biden,” Barr said.
While Trump could face any punishment if he is convicted of any crime, Barr said he does not believe it will happen before the 2024 election.
“This will drag out through ’24, and it will stymie and disrupt the entire Republican primary process,” he said.
Trump’s next private hearing on the spending spree is scheduled for Dec. 4, about two months before the 2024 Republican presidential primary.