Former Attorney General Bill Barr argued Wednesday that federal and state prosecutors should immediately drop all criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump in the wake of his decisive 2024 election victory.
“The American people have rendered their verdict on President Trump, and decisively chosen him to lead the country for the next four years,” Barr told Fox News.
“They did that with full knowledge of the claims against him by prosecutors around the country and I think Attorney General [Merrick] Garland and the state prosecutors should respect the people’s decision and dismiss the cases against President Trump now,” he added.
Trump, 78, was hit with four criminal indictments last year as he campaigned for a second term in the White House.
He was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May in a case out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office related to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s sentencing in that case is currently set for Nov. 26.
The president-elect also faces a state case out of Georgia accusing him of unlawfully interfering with the Peach State’s 2020 election – which has been on pause since June – and a federal case alleging 2020 election interference.
A federal case related to Trump’s alleged mishandling of sensitive White House documents after his presidency was dismissed in July but prosecutors are appealing.
Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general between February 2019 and December 2020, argued that the legal cases against the president-elect “have now been extensively aired and rejected by the American people.”
“Further maneuvering on these cases in the weeks ahead would serve no legitimate purpose and only distract the country and the incoming administration from the task at hand,” he said.
“The public interest now demands that the country unite and focus on the challenges we face at home and abroad. Attorney General Garland and all the state prosecutors should do the right thing and help the country move forward by dismissing the cases,” Barr added.
The Justice Department is considering winding down special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump in the aftermath of his Election Day victory, according to NBC News.
The DOJ has a longstanding policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
