Former Attorney General Bill Barr has denied threats from former President Trump aide Steve Bannon that he should be prosecuted over his testimony to a House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked Barr in an interview on Monday what actions he would take in a second term, noting that the president may view any punishment for going after his opponents as an “afterthought.” Barr responded that he would make sure people working around the former president weren’t breaking the law.
“The president probably wouldn’t be concerned because he acts through people, but I would be concerned,” Barr said, “but I think he would seek to make sure he acts within the bounds of the law if he is being asked to act around them.”
Barr later dismissed threats from Bannon, who has repeatedly suggested there should be an investigation into his video testimony before a House committee after the riot.
“I understand people’s concerns because Mr. Bannon often makes inflammatory statements,” he told Cavuto, “but in my experience working with Mr. Bannon and reporting to him, he said I would be the first person to go to prison under President Trump. It’s not something that keeps me up at night or worries me.”
Shortly after Barr’s video testimony was shown to the committee in 2022, Bannon threatened to pursue Barr “legally.”
“Bill Burr, we’re coming for you,” he said. On his podcast “We will analyze this thoroughly, and once we confront you with it, we will pursue you legally,” the president added at the time.
Bannon reported to a federal prison in Connecticut on Monday after petitioning the Supreme Court last month for a four-month stay on his sentence. He was found guilty of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena from a House committee investigating the January 6 riot.
When Cavuto pointed out that Bannon was in jail on Monday, Barr erupted in laughter.
In an interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Bannon laid out a list of people he thinks Trump should target for a second term, including Barr.
“This is not retaliation. This is justice,” former Trump adviser Robert Mueller said when asked whether Barr could go to prison “as part of a campaign of retaliation.”
