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WASHINGTON — Former Attorney General Bill Barr said in an interview on Sunday that he would appear as a witness in the trial targeting Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election − calling the case against the former president “legitimate.”
A federal grand jury indicted Trump last week on four counts in the case, and Trump pleaded not guilty in a D.C. federal courtroom. He was accused of recruiting fake electors to undermine President Joe Biden’s win, directing his supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence to reject Biden’s electoral votes, among other allegations.
While Trump’s lawyers have raised a free speech defense in the case, Barr suggested on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that such a defense wouldn’t be successful.
“It’s certainly a challenging case, but I don’t, I don’t think it runs afoul of the First Amendment…This involved a situation where the states had already made the official and authoritative determination as to who won in those states, and they sent the votes and certified them to Congress,” said Barr, who was appointed by Trump.
He also noted that Trump was accused of a number of crimes that go beyond his false claims of election fraud. Asked directly whether he would “appear as a witness, if called,” Barr told CBS’ Major Garrett “of course.”
When asked to describe his interactions with Trump, Barr said he’s told the former president on multiple occasions that there was no evidence of fraud in the 2020 election.
Like Barr, Pence did not rule out testifying in Trump’s trial in a separate appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He said that while he has no plans to testify against the former president, he will “respond to the call of law.”
Trump’s next court hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 28.
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