In a lengthy interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Barr said he would talk with the panel and believes that the former president was responsible for the January 6 riot “in the broad sense” but stopped short of saying Trump had illegally incited the attack.

In his new book of memoirs, One Damn Thing After Another, Barr blames the election fraud conspiracy theories Trump continues to push on what he calls his “whack job” legal team, which included Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.

Asked by Holt whether he was letting Trump off the hook with this remark, Barr said: “He’ll follow his wants and his desires and where other people might be more demodulated by logic and reason, he will push, push, push, push, push.

“After the election, I think there were no guardrails, he had nothing to lose and he was going to go as far as he could.”

When asked if he will talk to the January 6 committee, Barr replied: “If they felt there was some area that was within their purview that I could be helpful, then I would certainly try to cooperate.”

Barr then answered “sure” when asked to clarify that he would help with the inquiry into the attack.

In January, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, the chairman of the committee, told CBS’s Face the Nation that the panel “had conversations” with Barr as part of the probe.

Though details of the talks were not specified, an unnamed source with close ties to Barr confirmed to CBS that the former attorney general had what they described as an informal conversation with the panel.

The January 6 panel has been contacted for comment.

Elsewhere in the interview, Barr described the moment when he handed in his resignation in December 2020 as Trump continued to falsely claim the election was rigged even after Barr told the Associated Press that the Justice Department had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Soon after the comments were published, Barr, who served as attorney-general under both Trump and President George H.W. Bush, said he was called into a meeting with Trump.

“That’s the maddest I’ve ever seen him,” Barr said. “He said, ‘You must hate me, you must hate Trump.’ I don’t hate Trump, I told him that. Well, this stuff was bulls***, this stuff about election fraud, and it was wrong to be shoveling it out the way his team was.”

Barr said Trump went on to raise the possibility of seizing Dominion Voting machines as part of desperate attempts to prove his dismissed voter fraud claims, to which Barr replied that there was “simply not probable cause” to do so.

Dominion’s voting equipment has been at the center of conspiracy theories about the presidential election and it has filed defamation lawsuits against right-wing broadcasters and Trump allies.

After also referring to Trump’s legal team as a “bunch of clowns,” Barr says he offered to hand in his resignation.

“He [Trump] slapped the desk and he said, ‘accepted, accepted,’” Barr said. “‘Go home, you’re done.’”

Barr said he hasn’t spoken to Trump since he resigned. Asked if he thinks Trump actually believes he was the rightful winner of the last election, Barr suggested the former president’s frame of mind is “either it was stolen or if it wasn’t stolen, I want people to believe that it was stolen. It’s useful.”

Barr added: “I’m not sure he’s really fixated on finding out what the truth is.”

In a three-page response to the NBC interview, which the former president’s spokeswoman Liz Harrington published on social media, Trump criticized Barr for caring “more about being accepted by the corrupt Washington Media and Elite” than serving the American people.

“He was slow, lethargic, and I realized early on that he never had what it takes to make a great Attorney General,” Trump added.

“I would imagine that if the book is anything like him, it will be long, slow, and very boring. I made many great appointments during my Administration, and we accomplished more than most Administrations could even dream of, but Bill Barr was not one of my better picks.

“He crumbled under the pressure, and bowed to the Radical Left—And that is not acceptable. Now he is groveling to the media, hoping to gain acceptance that he doesn’t deserve.”

Trump also claimed that it is “incorrect and a total fabrication” that Barr handed in his resignation, and that he was the one to ask for it.

“I never said ‘You must hate Trump,’ rather, I said ‘If you didn’t see corruption in the Election, of which so much has already been revealed (and massive amounts up until this date), than you are not capable of being Attorney General. You don’t have the energy or backbone to stand up to the Radical Left. Please give me your Letter of Resignation,’” Trump said.