Barr says Trump holds responsibility for Jan. 6 Capitol attack

In an interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt, William Barr, attorney general during the Trump administration, said he believes the ex-president is “responsible, in the broad sense of that word,” for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Video Transcript

LESTER HOLT (VOICEOVER): Now he was being summoned to the president's private dining room after saying in an interview with the AP that Trump's claims of election fraud were wrong.

WILLIAM BARR: And I told him that all this stuff was bull [BLEEP] about election fraud. And you know, it was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was.

LESTER HOLT (VOICEOVER): He also told Trump what he thought of his legal team-- not a lot.

WILLIAM BARR: I said, the reason you are where you are is because you wheeled out a clown show of lawyers.

LESTER HOLT: A clown show?

WILLIAM BARR: Yeah, a clown car or something like that. I said, it's just a bunch of clowns.

LESTER HOLT: Who are you referring to you? Rudy Giuliani?

WILLIAM BARR: His crackerjack legal team, among others.

LESTER HOLT (VOICEOVER): Barr says the president shot back, listing the ways he said Barr had failed him. That's when Barr says he offered up his resignation.

WILLIAM BARR: I said, OK, well, look, I understand you're upset with me. And I'm perfectly happy to tender my resignation. And then, boom--

LESTER HOLT: He slaps to the desk?

WILLIAM BARR: He slapped the desk, and he said accepted, accepted. And then, boom, he slapped it again, accepted. Go home. Don't go back to your office. Go home. You're done.

LESTER HOLT (VOICEOVER): When we asked the former President about this meeting. He disputed Barr's account and told us he was the one who demanded Barr's resignation. Either way, Barr handed in a resignation letter two weeks later and has not spoken with Donald Trump since. He does not want him to run for president again.

GROUP: (CHANTING) Stop the steal! Stop the steal!

LESTER HOLT: January 6, the riot--

GROUP: (CHANTING) Stop the steal!

LESTER HOLT: Do you think that President Trump was responsible for what happened here, ultimately?

WILLIAM BARR: I do think he was responsible in the broad sense of that word, in that it appears that part of the plan was to send this group up to the Hill. I think the whole idea was to intimidate Congress. And I think that that was wrong.