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Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr on Sunday defended Special Counsel Jack Smith's 37-count indictment against Donald Trump on Sunday, saying if the allegations the former president willfully retained hundreds of highly classified documents are proven true, then "he's toast."
"I was shocked by the degree of sensitivity of these documents and how many there were ... and I think the counts under the Espionage Act that he willfully retained those documents are solid counts," Barr, who was Trump's attorney general from February of 2019 through December of 2020, told "Fox News Sunday."
"If even half of it is true, then he's toast," Barr added.
Trump responded to Barr's comments with criticism and insults. Describing Barr as a "lazy" and "weak" attorney general, Trump on his social media platform Truth Social said he only made the comments because he was disgruntled and that they were misinformation.
The former president is due to appear in a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday to make his initial appearance on the charges, which include the willful retention of highly sensitive national defense records under the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice, making false statements, conspiracy and concealment.
Trump and his allies have separately tried to argue that the records at the heart of the case are personal in nature and covered by the Presidential Records Act.
But Barr said the claim that the documents were Trump's personal records is "facially ridiculous," noting that the records referenced in the indictment are "official records" prepared by government intelligence agenciesthe and property of the U.S. government.
Previously on Saturday at Georgia's state Republican convention, Trump alleged that the current President Joe Biden, a Democrat, orchestrated the criminal charges to undermine his main political rival's presidential campaign.
"It's called election interference. They are trying to destroy your reputation so they can win an election," he posted on Truth Social. Meanwhile, the White House said Biden had no advance knowledge of the indictment.
Trump said on Saturday that he would continue his presidential campaign, even if he were convicted in the case.
（CGTN）
