Ex-Attorney General Bill Barr has accused Donald Trump of an outrageous act of obstruction' over his conduct in the classified...
Ex-Attorney General Bill Barr has accused Donald Trump of an outrageous act of obstruction' over his conduct in the classified documents case
Barr told Fox News that Trump had even misled his lawyer by hiding files in his Mar-a-Lago residence.
'He could have given the documents to the government and then sued to bring them back and made his legal arguments as to why they're really his,' he said.
'But he didn't do that. What did he do? He engaged in an outrageous act of obstruction and deception that obstructed that subpoena.'
![Bill Barr has become a staunch critic of his former boss in recent weeks, slamming him over his conduct in the classified documents case](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/15/17/72181553-12199003-image-a-13_1686846158441.jpg)
Bill Barr has become a staunch critic of his former boss in recent weeks, slamming him over his conduct in the classified documents case
His comments echo remarks made by Francis X. Suarez, the mayor of Miami who has just announced his own presidential run.
Barr served in Trump's administration, but resigned in December 2020 over the ex-commander-in-chief's bogus claims that Joe Biden's victory was a fix.
The 77-year-old real estate mogul, who celebrated his birthday on Wednesday, hit out at his former presidential legal eagle, branding him 'gutless.'
'I think he's a coward who didn't do his job. He was desperately afraid of being impeached,' Trump said in an interview with long-time friend Roger Stone.
'We had unbelievable people, as you know, in the administration. But you also had some that we got wrong. And Bill Barr was a mistake,'
Barr has disputed claims made by Trump loyalists that the federal case in Miami should be handled under the Presidential Records Act.
The top lawyer has backed the more serious charges brought under the Espionage Act by special counsel Jack Smith.
He said in a previous interview with Fox that Trump would be 'toast' if they are proven to stand up in court.
The National Archives and Records Administration soon discovered after Trump left the White House in January 2021 that he had taken presidential papers with him.
Gary Stern, counsel at the National Archives, asked the former president's team for the return of documents.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/15/17/72157965-12199003-image-a-2_1686845936978.jpg)
![Donald Trump was advised for over two years by his lawyers to hand the documents back, but refused](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/15/17/72157967-12199003-Donald_Trump_was_advised_for_over_two_years_by_his_lawyers_to_ha-a-1_1686845931849.jpg)
Donald Trump was advised for over two years by his lawyers to hand the documents back, but refused
In the spring of 2021, some of Trump's lawyers and advisers began recommending he hand the documents over.
By the fall of 2021, Alex Cannon, who at the time was a Trump lawyer, told his client he needed to give them back.
He warned the former president that archives was threatening to go to Congress or the Justice Department if he did not return them.
He eventually returned 15 boxes of materials to the National Archives in January 2022.
Yet more remained, and Trump was angered by repeated attempts to get him to hand over the rest.
![Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, urged Trump to fight efforts to get him to hand over the documents, according to The Washington Post](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/15/17/72157969-12199003-Tom_Fitton_the_president_of_Judicial_Watch_urged_Trump_to_fight_-a-15_1686846240176.jpg)
Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, urged Trump to fight efforts to get him to hand over the documents, according to The Washington Post
![Alex Cannon, a former Trump lawyer, told the businessman in the fall of 2021 he needed to hand the documents over, and warned that the national archives was threatening to go to Congress or the Justice Department if he did not return them](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/15/17/72157971-12199003-Alex_Cannon_a_former_Trump_lawyer_told_the_businessman_in_the_fa-a-14_1686846236451.jpg)
Alex Cannon, a former Trump lawyer, told the businessman in the fall of 2021 he needed to hand the documents over, and warned that the national archives was threatening to go to Congress or the Justice Department if he did not return them
Seven people with knowledge of the probe indicate he misled his own advisers, telling them the boxes contained only newspaper clippings and clothes.
In April 2022, he was issued with a subpoena to force him to return them, and his new attorney, Evan Corcoran, told him he had to comply.
But Trump was persuaded by other allies such as Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton and adviser Boris Epshteyn that he should fight efforts to reclaim the papers.
That move sparked the investigation led by Jack Smith, a former war crimes prosecutor turned Trump hunter.
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