唐纳德·特朗普的前司法部长威廉·巴尔周日警告说，在他看来，特朗普面临更多的法律风险联邦对他持有机密文件的调查卸任后比从纽约市的情况封口费支付给斯托米·丹尼尔斯。
“我不认为它有任何优点。我认为这显然是滥用检察权来达到政治目的，”巴尔告诉美国广播公司“本周”的联合主持人乔纳森·卡尔，他指的是曼哈顿地区检察官阿尔文·布拉格，民主党人。
然而，巴尔补充说，“我最担心的是Mar-a-Lago的文件。”
“我认为这是一个严重的潜在案例。我认为他们可能有一些非常好的证据，”他说。
他指出，根据法庭记录，特朗普拒绝归还机密材料，导致联邦调查局去年搜查了他的家，这导致了特朗普与政府之间的长期反复。
更多:特朗普的律师表示，特朗普的法律优先事项将是寻求撤销对他的起诉
“我认为他在愚弄政府，政府传唤了他，并试图迫使他交出文件。但是政府正在调查范围玩游戏，有障碍并向他们隐瞒文件，”巴尔说。
在他发表上述言论之前，特朗普上周因涉嫌伪造商业记录的34项重罪指控而被传讯，这些记录与向色情女演员丹尼尔斯支付报酬有关，丹尼尔斯长期否认他们有婚外情的说法。特朗普在周二的传讯中辩称无罪。
地方检察官布拉格声称，这笔钱是违反州选举法的“计划”的一部分，以确保丹尼尔斯的指控不会在2016年总统竞选期间浮出水面，并在政治上伤害特朗普。
在这张2022年9月20日的档案照片中，前美国司法部长威廉·巴尔在华盛顿特区联邦主义者协会的一次会议上发表讲话
赢得麦克纳米/盖蒂图片社
巴尔在“本周”节目中表示，相反，特朗普被指控可能有助于他目前的总统竞选。
“它...可能会完成他的目的，那就是进入共和党初选过程的中间，把它变成一个马戏团，”巴尔说。“我认为，最终，精明的民主党战略家知道这将有助于特朗普，他们希望他成为被提名人因为他是共和党候选人中最弱的也是最有可能再次输给拜登总统的人。"
然而，特朗普目前至少陷入了其他三项刑事调查，包括他在离任后拥有机密文件，他与2021年1月6日国会山骚乱有关的行为，以及他在2020年推翻他在佐治亚州选举失败的努力。
特朗普否认在每个案件中都有不当行为，并坚称自己受到了迫害。
巴尔特别提到了对特朗普拥有机密材料的调查，尽管总统乔·拜登和前副总统迈克·彭斯也被发现在离任时保留了机密文件。
巴尔指出，这些案件的不同之处在于，拜登和彭斯似乎在发现文件后立即通知了政府，而特朗普则试图保留这些文件。
巴尔说:“在他们在拜登的房子和副总统彭斯的房子里找到文件之前，我的解读是，他们将起诉(特朗普)，我仍然认为这是一个非常好的机会。”。“我认为这取决于文件的敏感程度，也取决于他们有什么证据证明阻挠和为总统玩游戏，以及他是否指导人们撒谎或给他们虚假的信息以传递给政府。”
巴尔还暗示，他的前老板可能会通过攻击布拉格和纽约监督他案件的法官来伤害自己的声誉。
“我认为这既不合适也不明智。众所周知，总统缺乏自制力，他经常因为这些午夜推文和其他事情给自己惹上麻烦，”他谈到特朗普的批评，包括将黑人布拉格称为种族主义者。"这些都是不必要的评论，没有什么特别的帮助。"
Barr warns Trump faces more threat from classified docs case than over hush money
Donald Trump's former Attorney General William Barr warned Sunday that, in his view, Trump faces more legal perilfrom the federal probe into his possession of classified documentsafter leaving office than from the case in New York Cityover hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.
"I don't think it has any merit. I think it is transparently an abuse of prosecutorial power to accomplish a political end," Barr told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl, referring to Manhattan District AttorneyAlvin Bragg, a Democrat.
However, Barr added, "I'd be most concerned about the documents at Mar-a-Lago."
"I think that's a serious potential case. I think they probably have some very good evidence," he said.
He pointed to the prolonged back-and-forth between Trump and the government when, according to court records, Trump resisted returning the classified materials -- leading to an FBI search of his home last year.
"I think he was jerking the government around and they subpoenaed it, and they tried to jawbone him into delivering the documents. But the government is investigating the extentto which games were played and there was obstructionand keeping the documents from them," Barr said.
His remarks come after Trump was arraigned last week on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records related to paying Daniels, a porn actress, over her long-denied claims that they had an affair. Trump pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Tuesday.
Bragg, the district attorney, has alleged the money was part of a "scheme" in violation of state election laws to ensure Daniels' allegations didn't surface during the 2016 presidential campaign and harm Trump politically.
Barr said on "This Week" that, conversely, Trump being charged could help his current presidential bid.
"It ... may accomplish his purpose, which is to get into the middle of the Republican primary process and turn it into a circus," Barr said. "And I think, ultimately, the savvy Democratic strategists know this is going to help Trump, and they want him to be the nomineebecause he is the weakest of the Republican candidatesand the most likely to lose again to [President Joe] Biden."
However, Trump is currently mired in at least three other criminal investigations, including into his possession of classified documents after leaving office, his conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot and his efforts to overturn his election loss in Georgia in 2020.
Trump denies wrongdoing in each case and has insisted he is being persecuted.
Barr singled out the investigation into Trump's possession of classified material, even though President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence were both also found to have retained classified documents while out of office.
Barr noted the difference in the cases is that Biden and Pence appear to have immediately informed the government of the documents once they were discovered, while Trump sought to keep them.
"My read was, before they found the documents in Biden's house and Vice President Pence's house, my read was that they were going to indict [Trump] and I still think there's a very good chance of that," Barr said. "I think it depends on how sensitive the documents were, but also what evidence they have of obstruction and games playing for the president and whether he directed people to lie or gave them information that was deceitful to pass on to the government."
Barr also suggested his former boss could hurt his own standing with attacks on Bragg and the judge overseeing his case in New York.
"I don't think it's appropriate or wise. The president notoriously lacks self-control, and he frequently gets himself into trouble with these midnight tweets and other things," he said of Trump's criticism, including calling Bragg, who is Black, a racist. "These are gratuitous comments and aren't particularly helpful."
