Former Attorney General Bill Barr has been making the media rounds lately, commenting on former President Donald Trump’s legal woes and other matters. During a Sunday interview, Barr had some sharp criticisms for the former president, but when it comes to one of the Democrats’ favorite political cudgels, he defended the Orange Man What Is Bad™.
While appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Barr said he believes former President Donald Trump will face charges related to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Democrats have been trying to blame Trump for supposedly inciting the riots despite a lack of evidence. Indeed, they even launched a second impeachment attempt after he was out of office over J6. The Senate did not convict Trump.
Barr acknowledged the challenges of the case due to First Amendment interests but expressed his expectation that charges would be brought this summer. Despite being initially skeptical, Barr now considers it likely that the case will proceed.
Co-host Robert Costa asked Barr if he believed Trump “is a target” in the J6 matter. Barr replied:
Yes. And I’ve said, by the way, I’ve defended him when I think there’s cases that are unfair, like the one up in New York and so forth. And I’ve always said, I think the January sixth case will be a hard case to make because of First Amendment interest. But I’m actually starting to think they will pull the trigger on that. And I would expect it to be this summer.
The former attorney general continued, “Because of the First Amendment interests, we don’t want to get in a position where people can’t complain about an election.”
“I am more skeptical of that case but I think it is likely it will be brought,” Barr added.
"Yes," former Attorney General Bill Barr tells @costareports when asked if he believes Trump is potentially a target of the federal January 6 investigation.
"I'm actually starting to think they will pull the trigger on that, and I would expect it to be this summer." pic.twitter.com/ppYxvKuwqg
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 18, 2023
As Democrats continue using the legal system to prevent Trump from becoming president again, I have often speculated that their objective is not so much to win a conviction – although that would be icing on the cake for these people – but to bombard the former president with so much legal drama that it might cause conservatives to reconsider voting for him. They are hoping this onslaught will result in Trump Fatigue among right-leaning voters. The idea is that they could prompt Republican voters to take the attitude of: “I love Trump, but he’s got too much baggage to win in the general election.”
Those watching this sordid affair know that Trump has at least one other indictment coming from Fulton County, Georgia, over the 2020 election. But if Barr is right, then it sounds like Democrats will also use J6 to take another swipe at prosecuting the former president.
It might not be an ineffective strategy, but it certainly is risky.
While it is possible that Democrats could load Trump up with legal matters to distract from his candidacy, it could also backfire big time. The former president still holds an impressive lead over his GOP competitors. These indictments only seem to have helped him so far. The more these people throw at Trump, the more powerful he could get. Democrats seem to be having trouble maintaining a balance, which means their actions could easily be seen as overkill. Perhaps this is why a recent survey showed that a whopping 30 percent of Democratic voters would support a presidential pardon for Trump if he is convicted and does not become the nominee.