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How It Happened

Trump's Last Stand Part III: The Break With Barr

How It Happened

Axios

News, History, Politics

4.84.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2021

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

National political correspondent Jonathan Swan reveals the story behind President Trump's break from Attorney General William Barr, who had been deeply loyal and a key bridge between Trump and the Republican establishment. Swan takes listeners into the room for two explosive, consequential meetings that led to Barr's resignation. By examining the breakdown of the relationship between Trump and Barr, Swan shows how Trump began to turn on not just his campaign team, but his most crucial allies in his administration. Note: This episode contains some explicit language. Credits: This show is produced by Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin and Alice Wilder. Dan Bobkoff is the executive producer. Additional reporting and fact checking by Zach Basu. Margaret Talev is managing editor of politics. Sara Kehaulani Goo is Axios’s executive editor. Sound design by Alex Sugiura and theme music by Michael Hanf. For more on this series and our sourcing, click here.

Transcript

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0:00.0

One of the most important stories to understand Trump's final days is the story of how Donald Trump destroyed his relationship with his attorney general Bilba.

0:11.5

A terrific man, a terrific person, a brilliant man.

0:16.0

How did Trump destroy this relationship?

0:19.0

And why?

0:21.0

It's a complete and utter madness.

0:24.0

Self-sabotage.

0:26.0

There is no way to see this in Trump's self-interest to drive out his most loyal defender in the government and someone who he relied on day after day to keep his administration on track.

0:38.0

I'm Jonathan Swan.

0:41.0

For this story, like all the stories I've reported in this series, I spoke to a range of senior administration officials, people who work in the West Wing, senior campaign officials, and other close advisors to the president.

0:54.0

I spoke to them on the basis of deep background, meaning I could use the information but not say where it came from.

1:01.0

From Axios, this is how it happened.

1:04.0

Trump's last stand.

1:06.0

Part 3. The Break with Bar.

1:10.0

There's this video of Bilba being sworn in as attorney general for the first time.

1:24.0

It's 1991.

1:27.0

Bilba's leadership in particular will help us with a new crackdown against career criminals who use firearm.

1:34.0

And it shows just how long Bilba has been a mainstay in the Republican Party.

1:39.0

It's all together his idea to try to drive drug dealers out of our neighborhoods by playing his bagpipe.

1:49.0

When I hear this, I think of the clubby atmosphere that defined the Republican Party of that era.

1:56.0

The jokes between old boys and the sense of camaraderie, Bar had platinum membership in that club.

2:13.0

After George H.W. Bush lost re-election and Bilba left office, he went to work in the private sector.

2:20.0

He made the occasional appearance on the press circuit to advocate for tough on crime policies, criticized the Clintons, you know, pretty standard Republican messages.

...

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