Morning Joe examines Bill Barr's warning about 'horrifying' risk of indicting Trump
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough examined Bill Barr's declaration that the Department of Justice had enough evidence to indict Donald Trump -- but shouldn't.
The former attorney general has criticized Trump for absconding with classified documents to Mar-A-Lago, where FBI agents seized them after months of trying to get them back, but the "Morning Joe" host said Barr's conclusion was absolutely wrong.
"Given his performance as attorney general, which, for the most part, was deplorable, I actually find myself saying that, actually, Barr is asking the right questions," Scarborough said. "I think he's come to the correct conclusions -- the special master decision was flawed, the opinion was wrong, it should be overruled. It will be overruled unless the courts decide to become even more politicized. The government can indict Donald Trump, they have a case to indict Donald Trump. Then Barr asks the question that certainly won't be popular among many watching this show, won't be popular among many Democrats, but asks the question, should they indict him?"
Scarborough agreed the former president deserved to be indicted, but he said that would almost certainly set off bitter recrimination.
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"Of course, I made it very clear over the past several years, that we can't send the message out that one man is above the law," Scarborough said. "I look back at the standards. It's the same standard I used in the impeachment of Bill Clinton on the grand jury. I asked what would happen if somebody lied in front of a federal grand jury, [and] I came to the conclusion that they'd be indicted, they'd be charged. That's the question we have to ask, also, of Donald Trump. The standards have to be the same. At the same time, it is a bit horrifying to think about the consequences of this, and I say that, of all the terrible legacies that Donald Trump has left this nation, this may be one of the more long lasting."
"If he is indicted, as the law would suggest he should be indicted, then you can bet your bottom dollar that Republicans will do everything they can, a Republican administration, to indict the next Democratic predecessor that they have," he added. "You know, there is a reason why Jerry Ford got, won his profile in courage, because he is willing to sacrifice a presidency to stop the long national nightmare that Richard Nixon was responsible for. Over time, when people cooled down, they decided that was best for our republic."
As much as Scarborough believes Trump deserves to be indicted, he also agrees that it would mark a sad and dangerous chapter in American history.
"I think the extent of what Donald Trump has done is so egregious that no attorney general, no fair-minded attorney general would have any choice to indict him," Scarborough said, "but that doesn't also make it true that it will set, as Barr was saying, an absolutely horrendous precedent."
Watch the video below or at this link.
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