But also, [the FBI subpoena and search of Mar-a-Lago] were taken after a long period, about a year-and-a-half of trying to get the documents from him, which he had no claim to. He had no claim to those documents, especially the classified documents. They belonged to the government. And so, I think he was jerking the government around. And they subpoenaed it. And they tried to jawbone him into delivering documents.
But the government is investigating the extent to which games were played and there was obstruction in keeping documents from them. And I think that's a serious potential case. I think they probably have some very good evidence there.
Ross Douthat argued that if the evidence in the documents case was that Trump “gave them to the Saudis” he should be prosecuted. If it turned out Trump was just being an asshole, then no. I understand Barr’s “jerking the government around” motive to be Douthat’s Trump’s being an asshole for which he should not be prosecuted. The Douthat Test is not a legal test however, and General Barr thinks legally that obstruction of justice is sound and is supported by sufficient evidence.
