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Barr condemns Trump: "Orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable"

07 January 2021
Dan Ackermann

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said in a statement to the AP on Thursday that President Trump's incitement of a march by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol was a "betrayal of his office."

Why it matters: As one of the most loyal members of Trump's Cabinet, Barr backed the president through some of the most high-stakes controversies of his tenure, including the use of force against protesters steps away from the White House and his impeachment proceedings for abuse of power.

  • Barr resigned last month after tensions boiled over with Trump, who had grown angry with him over his refusal to declare widespread voter fraud in the election and expedite the release of the Durham report.
  • In his last press conference before departing the Justice Department, Barr contradicted Trump repeatedly on questions about Hunter Biden, voting machines and Russia's hack of the U.S. government.

What he's saying: Barr told the AP that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable."

Flashback: In response to the siege, which led to over a dozen arrests and several deaths reported by D.C. police, Trump urged his supporters "to go home" in a video roughly two hours after the incident began.

  • "We love you. You're very special. ... I know how you feel. But go home, and go home in peace," Trump said, after repeating false claims that the election was stolen from him.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.