Former Attorney General Bill Barr warned Republicans to “be careful” of getting caught in former President Trump’s “carnage,” after the property manager of his Mar-a-Lago resort was added to the classified documents case last week.
Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira was charged in Thursday’s superseding indictment, alongside Trump aide and co-defendant Walt Nauta, for allegedly helping the former president attempt to delete surveillance footage at the resort.
“Loyalty is a one-way street for [Trump],” Barr told CNN Wednesday night. “And in many ways, these two people down in Mar-a-Lago represent many Republicans who feel that they have to man the ramparts and defend this guy no matter what he does and go along with him.”
“I think they have to be careful, or they’re going end up as part of the carnage in his wake,” he continued.
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The Justice Department (DOJ) brought additional charges against Trump in the new indictment Thursday over his efforts to delete the Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage, as well as his retention of a classified military document that he boasted of having during a July 2021 meeting.
“He leaves in his wake ruined lives like this — the people who went up to Capitol Hill, these individuals, many of the people who served him in government that got sucked into things,” Barr added.
Trump was also indicted Tuesday on four counts over his efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.
In that 45-page indictment, prosecutors accused the former president of engaging in three conspiracies — a conspiracy to defraud the U.S., a conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of the election on Jan. 6, 2021, and a conspiracy against the right to vote. He was also charged with obstructing an official proceeding.
While Barr said Wednesday that it will be “very hard” to persuade Republicans that the latest indictment “isn’t political,” but he believes the case is “legitimate.”
“As a legal matter, I don’t see a problem with the indictment,” he said. “I think that it’s not an abuse. The Department of Justice is not acting to weaponize the department by proceeding against the president for a conspiracy to subvert the electoral process.”