Former US Attorney General says Trump will be 'finished' if this happens

"I was shocked by the sensitivity of those documents and the amount of documents... and I think the allegations that he intentionally withheld those documents, under the Espionage Act, are very strong," Barr, who served in the Trump administration, said on a Fox News program on June 11.

“If even half of that is true, he's finished,” the former US Attorney General said.

Cựu bộ trưởng tư pháp Mỹ nói ông Trump sẽ 'xong đời' nếu chuyện này xảy ra - Ảnh 1. — Mr. Barr and Mr. Trump (right)

The remarks by Mr. Barr, who led the US Justice Department from February 2019 to December 2020, are noteworthy and come at a time when many other prominent members of the Republican Party seem reluctant to criticize the former president, the party's leading candidate in the 2024 White House race.

Mr Trump responded to Mr Barr's comments with criticism and insults. Describing Mr Barr as a "lazy" and "weak" attorney general, Mr Trump said Mr Barr was speaking out of frustration and that it was misinformation. "Turn off Fox News when 'Cowardly Pig' comes on," Mr Trump said.

Former President Trump continues to be prosecuted

The former president will appear in federal court in Miami, Florida, on June 13 for his first appearance after being indicted in an investigation into his storage of hundreds of sensitive government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Of the 37 charges against Mr. Trump, 31 relate to classified and top secret documents he took with him after leaving the White House in early 2021, according to Reuters.

Mr Trump told Politico on June 10 that he would continue his presidential campaign even if he was convicted in the case, saying “I will never leave”.

In the past, Mr. Barr has been a fierce defender of Mr. Trump, even appointing a special prosecutor to look into whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) committed wrongdoing in its investigation of Mr. Trump's ties to Russia during his 2016 presidential campaign.

But towards the end of his term, the relationship between the two men deteriorated after the former president tried to pressure the US Justice Department to launch investigations into election fraud, in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 race between Mr. Trump and the current US president, Joe Biden.

Mr. Trump and his allies have tried to argue that the sensitive documents found at Mar-a-Lago and leading to Smith’s investigation are personal, governed by the Presidential Records Act.

Former Vice President Pence challenges Mr. Trump: Putting yourself above the constitution cannot make you the US president

But Mr Barr said it was “absurd” to claim the documents were Mr Trump’s personal documents. He said the documents referred to in the indictment were “official documents” compiled by federal intelligence agencies and therefore US government property.

"Combat plans for an attack on another country or Department of Defense documents about our capabilities are not Donald J. Trump's personal documents," Barr told Fox News.

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