Bill Barr Tells Lester Holt that Trump ‘Was Responsible’ for Jan 6th Capitol Attack

Colby HallMar 4th, 2022, 9:56 am
 

Former Attorney General Bill Barr revealed to Lester Holt that he believes former President Donald Trump was responsible for the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. He also says, however, that he hasn’t “seen anything to say he was legally responsible for it in terms of incitement.”

Barr sat down with Holt to promote his forthcoming book One Damn Thing After Another,  the full interview of which will air this coming Sunday as a primetime special called Bill Barr: In the Eye of the Storm.  As the NBC press release reveals,  it marks Barr’s first television interview since resigning as attorney general in the Trump administration.

An excerpt of the video was shared on TODAY, which was sent with a press release that read:

March 4, 2022 – In an NBC News exclusive, former U.S. Attorney General William Barr tells NBC News’ Lester Holt that he believes President Trump was responsible for the January 6 Capitol Hill attack, saying, “I do think he was responsible in the broad sense of that word, in that it appears that part of the plan was to send this group up to the Hill. I think the whole idea was to intimidate Congress. And I think that that was wrong.”

He also says, “I haven’t seen anything to say he was legally responsible for it in terms of incitement.”

Additionally during the sit-down, Barr says that while President Trump was claiming election fraud in 2020, he told Trump, “The reason you are where you are is because you wheeled out a clown show of lawyers.”

Barr’s needle threading in saying Trump is responsible for the attacks but falling short of saying he is legally responsible will surely be viewed by his critics as the sort of craven behavior that enabled the behavior of Trump.

A previously released clip of the interview featured Barr retelling how he came to resign from the Trump administration after telling the then-president that claims of a stolen election were bullshit.

Watch above via NBC.

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Colby Hall - Founding Editor

Colby Hall is the Founding Editor of Mediaite.com. He is also a Peabody Award-winning television producer of non-fiction narrative programming as well as a terrific dancer and preparer of grilled meats.