Bill Barr -- the former U.S. Attorney General during the administration of former President Donald Trump -- just offered Trump's legal team some free legal advice: do not let Trump take the stand in his own defense.
Barr said as much on Sunday, during an appearance on the Fox News Channel's Fox News Sunday.
This comes after Trump, on Thursday, was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the grand jury that he convened. And, it comes before Trump has surrendered to Bragg or made his first court appearance.
There are still many unknowns about the situation as the indictment itself remains sealed. But, Trump, during his arraignment on Tuesday, is expected to plead "not guilty" to whatever the charges may be because Trump maintains that he has done nothing wrong and that Bragg's motivations are political.
Just about everyone in politics has weighed in on the Trump indictment, and this now includes Barr.
In fact, Barr, during his Fox appearance on Sunday, argued that Bragg is actually "interfering with a federal election process" with his indictment of Trump.
Barr said:
It's actually Bragg that seems to me that's jumped into the federal arena. He's interfering in a federal election process and his case is built on an alleged violation of federal law. He wouldn't be able to survive the statute of limitations and not be able to juice what is a misdemeanor into a felony without claiming there's a violation of federal law. So, he's the one that's essentially weighed into the federal arena.
Bragg is "interfering in a federal election process," of course, because Trump is the Democrats' chief opposition for the 2024 presidential election. And, by indicting Trump, Bragg, in a way, has already affected the outcome of the 2024 election - regardless of how the Trump indictment proceeds from here.
But, Barr made it clear on Sunday that, "based on what's been reported," in his view, Bragg's "case lacks any legal basis."
So, legally speaking, Barr believes that the law is on Trump's side.
Having said that, though, there is one thing that Barr believes that Trump ought to not do, and that is to testify at trial in his own defense.
"Generally, I think it's a bad idea to go on the stand, and I think it's a particularly bad idea to put Trump because he lacks all self-control and it'd be very difficult to prepare him and keep him testifying in a prudent fashion," Barr said.
Whether or not Trump will heed that advice remains to be seen.
Trump, at the time of this writing, has not responded to Barr's comments.
