Donald Trump ‘knew well he lost the election,’ according to Bill Barr.
Bill Barr, a former US attorney general, has denounced Donald Trump ahead of his court appearance for allegedly attempting to rig the 2020 presidential election.
The prior president’s appointee, Mr. Barr, claimed that Mr. Trump “knew well he lost the election”.
Federal prosecutors accuse Mr. Trump of repeatedly lying about widespread voter fraud and pressuring authorities to alter results in order to maintain his authority.
Later, he will face official charges.
When the 77-year-old Republican enters court in Washington at 16:00 EDT (20:00 GMT), he is anticipated to enter a not guilty plea. The Republican is running for office once more. He has called the accusations baseless and political.
There is nothing more protected under the First Amendment [the right to free speech] than political discourse, according to Trump attorney John Lauro, who termed the indictment an assault on free speech.
However, Mr. Barr, who resigned from his position as the head of the US legal system soon after Joe Biden won the election in November 2020, claimed that free speech is not a legitimate defense.
” They are not contesting his freedom of expression. He is free to say whatever he wants, including lying. Even though he knew better, he can still claim that the election was rigged, Mr. Barr said CNN.
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However, that does not shield you from joining a conspiracy.
Mr. Barr is challenging another tenet of Mr. Trump’s defense, according to which he was not misleading the American people because he always believed he had won, by claiming that his former boss understood he had lost the election.
Since leaving the White House, the former president has only made one trip to Washington, D.C.
According to a representative for the US Marshals Service, a federal law enforcement organization that protects courts, Mr. Trump will have his fingerprints taken and be asked for some basic information, like his date of birth and Social Security number.
Moxila Upadhyaya, a magistrate judge, will preside over Mr. Trump’s appearance, while Tanya Chutkan, a criminal court judge, will preside over the criminal trial.
An examination of the circumstances leading up to the incident at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, resulted in the indictment.
It centered on Mr. Trump’s behavior during the two months between his defeat by Joe Biden and the violence in Washington, DC, where his supporters rushed Congress as lawmakers formally proclaimed the Democrat the winner.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is in charge of the investigation, did not accuse the former president of instigating the crowd on that particular day but claimed that the violence had been “fuelled” by his lies.
In the court document against Mr. Trump, a “conspiracy to impair, obstruct, and defeat the function of the federal government through dishonesty, fraud, and deceit” is made.
In the race to choose the next presidential nominee for the Republican Party, Mr. Trump is currently the undisputed front-runner.
Republicans in Congress have backed him up, saying the most recent indictment demonstrates how the US has turned into a “banana republic,” and reiterating the former president’s assertion that the indictments amount to electoral interference.
Mike Pence, Mr. Trump’s former vice president, is mentioned more than 100 times in the indictment.
As part of his ceremonial duty to certify the election, the letter claims that he was frequently under pressure from his superior to reject the genuine electoral votes.
On Wednesday, he claimed that by refusing to comply with Mr. Trump’s requests, he had “done his duty”.
He stated, “Unfortunately, the president was surrounded by a bunch of crackpot lawyers who kept telling him what his scratchy ears wanted to hear.” In the end, the president persisted in insisting that I chose him above the Constitution.
A portion of the 45-page election-related charge against Mr. Trump is based on notes Mr. Pence made at the time of their chats in the days before the incident at the US Capitol.