Bill Barr responds to Bannon’s threats: ‘I don’t lose any sleep over it’

Lauren Sforza
·2-min read

Former Attorney General Bill Barr dismissed threats from ex-Trump aide Steve Bannon that he should face prosecution for his testimony to a House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked Barr in a Monday interview about how Trump would act in a second term, noting that he might view any punishment for going after his opponents as an “afterthought.” He replied that he believed the people working around the former president would ensure they are not violating the law.

“Well, I would say, the president acts through people and maybe he wouldn’t worry about it, although I think he would,” Barr said. “But the people that are around them that are being asked to do things, certainly, I think they’re gonna make sure that they’re behaving within the law.”

He then brushed off threats from Bannon, who has repeatedly suggested Barr be investigated over his video testimony before the House panel after the insurrection.

“I understand people’s concern, especially given his frequently incendiary rhetoric,” he told Cavuto. “I’m just saying, having experienced working with the person and being a subordinate of his, Bannon says I’m the first to go to prison under the under President Trump. I don’t lose any sleep over it. I’m not worrying about that.”

Shortly after Barr’s video testimony was shown to the committee in 2022, Bannon threatened to come after him “legally.”

“Bill Barr, we’re coming for you, bro,” he said on his podcast at the time, adding, “We’re going to deconstruct this and we’re going to rub your nose in it and then we’re going to come after you legally.”

Bannon reported to federal prison in Connecticut Monday after his bid to delay his four-month sentence at the Supreme Court last month.  He was found guilty of contempt of Congress over failing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots.

When Cavuto noted that Bannon was in prison Monday, Barr broke out in laughter.

In an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Bannon gave out a list of people that he believes Trump should go after in a second term, which included Barr.

“It’s not retribution. It’s justice,” the former Trump adviser said, when asked if Barr could be going to prison “as part of this retribution campaign.”

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