Donald Trump’s time in Bill Barr’s barrel
Bill Stepien might have backed out of Monday’s hearing, but William Barr brought the fireworks. Barr appeared via prerecorded video, but the impact of his testimony was no less compelling. Barr, of course, told Trump that there was no “widespread fraud” in the 2020 election, but Trump refused to believe it even though his daughter/adviser Ivanka Trump did.
Barr said that Trump became “detached from reality” when he lost the election. Barr called claims of fraud “bullshit, bogus, and idiotic,” and he resigned shortly thereafter. He told the committee: “I didn’t want to be a part of it.” Who would have wanted to remain embroiled in this nonsense? Mass Live reported that even Jared Kushner tried to bring Trump back to reality by keeping Trump away from Rudy Giuliani and his “far-flung theories” that none of Trump’s advisers believed to be true.
Still, Trump carried on with this foolishness and even collected $250 million in fundraising to fight the alleged “stolen” election. Zoe Lofgren accurately said: “Not only was there the big lie, there was the big ripoff.” Ripping off gullible supporters is nothing new for Trump, and he certainly would not miss an opportunity to continue to do so. Barr, however, became the star of Monday’s hearings.
Barr testified that he met with Trump on December 14, 2020, after Trump claimed to have new evidence that Dominion voting machines were “rigged,” NBC News reported. Barr reportedly looked through Trump’s “evidence” and said he saw “nothing that gave credence to such a startling claim.” He went on to say: “I was somewhat demoralized because I thought, ‘Boy if he really believes this stuff, he has, you know, lost contact with-he’s become detached from reality.'” Barr even began to question Trump’s sanity, though what took him so long with that is interesting. Trump always acted like he was a few sandwiches short of a picnic, but his behavior after the election apparently went even farther. The real star of these hearings so far, however, is Liz Cheney, one of the very few Republicans willing to put country over party.
According to MSNBC, Cheney brought up the subject of members of Congress who sought pardons from Trump before he left office, including Scott Perry. If these people truly thought that fraud existed in the election that required their intervention, why would they then seek pardons? Because they knew what they were doing was criminal. Cheney is not going to allow their actions to slide.
MSNBC quoted Cheney: “There will come a day when president Trump is gone. But your dishonor will remain.” The truth of that statement may be lost on some, but the truth does hurt sometimes. Hopefully, some of these people will wake up. Listen to Liz Cheney. Listen to William Barr. Listen to this committee and the evidence they are presenting. The truth will come to light, and cliché aside, the truth can set them free.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years