Former Trump Administration Attorney General Bill Barr likes to see himself on TV, evidently. It seems not a Sunday goes by when he does not appear on a talk show, usually slamming his former boss for “reckless” behavior. This time, he appeared on “Face the Nation” for an interview with CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa.

Barr unloaded on Trump concerning the latest classified documents case but felt that the Georgia election meddling case wasn’t nearly as strong. First, he said that although The Donald has been the subject of an overzealous Department of Justice in the past, that doesn’t mean that he’s innocent:

He provoked this whole problem (the classified documents indictment) himself.

Yes, he has been the victim of unfair witch hunts in the past. But that doesn’t obviate the fact that he’s also a fundamentally flawed person who engages in reckless conduct, and that leads to situations, calamitous situations like this, which are very destructive and hurt any political cause he’s associated with. And this was a case, entirely of his own making.

He had no right to those documents. The government tried for over a year, quietly and with respect, to get them back, which was essential that they do, and he jerked them around. And he had no legal basis for keeping them.

When asked if he believes former President Trump lied to the Justice Department as part of the classified documents case, former Attorney General Bill Barr tells @costareports: "Yes, I do."

On whether Trump has been mischaracterizing the Records Act, Barr says, "Absolutely." pic.twitter.com/PsTRCsG1Tt

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 18, 2023

Trump has maintained that he was fully cooperating with authorities and the Mar-a-Lago raid was unnecessary. In addition, President Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence have since been found to be in possession of classified docs, yet you don’t see either one of them being hounded by the Department of Justice.

Asked specifically about the charge of obstruction, Barr said the former president is at risk:

Well, it’s very strong, because a lot of the evidence comes from his own lawyers. And furthermore, there’s evidence of him saying things that are completely incompatible with any idea that this was an innocent document dispute.

He’s referring to an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which Trump boasts about having a classified Pentagon document in his possession.

Regarding Trump’s claim that, when president, he could declassify anything just by thinking about it, Barr was dismissive: “The legal theory by which he gets to take battle plans and sensitive national security information as his personal papers is absurd.”

Barr was less impressed with the probe by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis into allegations that Trump and his allies broke Georgia law by trying to overturn the election results. Trump allegedly called Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and said that he “owed me votes because the election was rigged.”

BARR: Yeah, I don’t know much about her case. I don’t know if it’s, you know, a sound case or not. I’m skeptical about that.

Again, because of the First Amendment interests. You know, we don’t want to get into a position where people can’t complain about an election, and claim that an election–

ROBERT COSTA: Trump said on tape he wants the Secretary of State to find votes.

BARR: Yeah, I know. But, you know, there’s- they’re innocent interpretations of what he said, you know, which is, look, of all the votes that we think are bad. You certainly can find among them some that are slam dunk, but whether that’s the proper interpretation or not, I- I am more skeptical of that case. But on the other hand, I think it’s likely that will be brought.

I’m guessing Barr will be back on the talk show circuit next week as well.

See also:

Bill Barr Lets Loose: Trump Indictment ‘Epitome of the Abuse of Prosecutorial Power’

Bill Barr Reveals That Jamie Raskin Lied About the Biden Bribery Investigation