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A former Republican insider on Saturday questioned the motivations of Donald Trump, citing seemingly "arbitrary" moves the President-elect has been making.

Brendan Buck, a former key adviser to ex-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), appeared on MSNBC over the weekend and was asked about Trump's recent "bizarre" proposals, such as renaming the Gulf of Mexico "Gulf of America."

According to a former SDNY Criminal Division Deputy Chief, Attorney General Merrick Garland can resolve his dilemma over the release of special counsel Jack Smith's investigation of Donald Trump's stolen government documents with a simple instruction to his Department of Justice.

Appearing on MSNBC with host Katie Phang on Saturday afternoon, ex-prosecutor Kristy Greenberg claimed Garland's decision to release the report to select lawmakers is wrongheaded and easily fixed.

At issue, she noted to the host, is Garland's fears that information revealed in the report could impact the potential trials of Trump associates Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira which is currently under appeal after being shut down by Trump appointee Judge Aileen Cannon.

ALSO READ: Merrick Garland's last task and the explosive evidence that could save America

According to Greenberg, "Merrick Garland has, you know, made I think, a really bad call here. He said, 'Well, because this appeal of Cannon's dismissal of the case, as to those two co-defendants is still going on, because that's pending, we're not going to publicly release the classified documents volume, and we're just going to share it with certain members of congress privately, because releasing it publicly could potentially prejudice those two co-defendants.'"

"Well," she added. "In nine days, that case against those two co-defendants is going away. Trump is going to have his DOJ drop that appeal, so why not just drop the case against them, drop that appeal against them now? And then you can release this report."

"It's silly, it's not pragmatic," she added.

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Recalling how he was pursued when Donald Trump was in the White House the first time, a former Trump lawyer suggested that critics of the president-elect would be foolish if they didn't ask President Joe Biden for a pardon or turned one down if offered

Appearing on MSNBC's "The Weekend," Michael Cohen, the man who was once called Trump "fixer" described his own time in jail –– including solitary confinement –– and said anyone possibly facing being investigated by the incoming Trump administration should take the threat seriously.

Speaking with co-host Symone Sanders Townsend, Cohen was asked if he has heard from anyone in the Biden administration prompting him with, "Folks who have prominently gone out and said, 'I do not want a pardon,' the president is not going to issue a pardon to people that don't want one."

Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann called out Attorney General Merrick Garland on MSNBC on Saturday morning for stalling on releasing special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his Donald Trump investigations.

Speaking with the hosts of MSNBC's "The Weekend," Weissmann stated that the attorney general is wrong to limit the release of the portion of Smith's report having to do with the stolen government documents the president-elect hoarded at his Mar-a-Lago report.

That led to the normally placid Weissmann to blurt out, "Come on!"

Also read: 'Bring it on': Defiant Raskin responds to GOP threats of retaliation for J6 investigation

"It is not so much Judge [Aileen] Cannon or the 11th Circuit that we have to worry about," he told the hosts. "It is that Merrick Garland has said that he, Merrick Garland, does not want to release that publicly. He only wants to give that to Congress and certain people in Congress. Why? Because he says that there's two co-defendants of Donald Trump, still may have a criminal case pending in Florida. I think he's wrong on that; technically, there is no case pending."

With MSNBC co-hosts Michael Steele and Symone Sanders Townsend interrupting and excitedly asking, "Where's the case?" Weissmann stated, "I think he got something technically wrong when he said there is a pending case."

"Judge Cannon pointedly, when she dismissed the case before her, as to all three defendants not just Donald Trump, she ordered the case closed," he elaborated. "Now, it is true that the Department of Justice is appealing that decision as to the two co-defendants but come on! There's no pending case in the district court per Judge Cannon's own order and everybody knows that on January 20th that that case is never going to go forward."

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During an appearance on MSNBC's The Weekend," a former FBI general counsel urged the release of special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his investigation into Donald Trump stealing government documents and suggested it could contain "interesting details" that could have a bearing on one of his Cabinet picks.

Speaking with the hosts, Andrew Weissmann explained that he was interested in seeing what Smith found which could have a bearing on the nomination of Kash Patel to be the next FBI director.

"Basically on Monday, unless things change, the temporary stay that Judge [Aileen] Cannon issued is over," he began. "She shouldn't have even issued that with respect to either part of the report, but certainly the January 6th part is not a case that's in front of her."

ALSO READ: Trump intel advisor Devin Nunes still dismisses Russian election meddling as a 'hoax'

"So by Monday, unless things change, we should see that report related to the January 6th investigation, and there could be interesting new details in that report," he continued. "With respect to the Mar-a-Lago part, the classified document part, I think that is something really worth keeping our eye on because there could be lots of information in there, not just about Donald Trump and why he did what he did, but also about Kash Patel, who is reported to have gone to the grand jury and has said that he was there when Donald Trump allegedly declassified everything."

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What began as an on-air spat between former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan and conservative former CNN host Piers Morgan has quickly spilled over into a full-blown social media brawl.

The tension between the two British-born broadcasters began Thursday on Morgan’s show “Piers Morgan Uncensored” as the two engaged in a heated debate about issues surrounding the UK child abuse controversy, race and President-elect Donald Trump’s lawsuits against media organizations like CBS and ABC News.

Former Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann acknowledged that he's happy that the courts remained intact despite Donald Trump's attempts to intimidate his way through the legal process. But he's disappointed that Trump got away without punishment after being found guilty on 34 felony indictments.

"In some ways, this is a great day," said Weissmann, "and in many ways, it is just an incredibly sad day for the country. And I think a great day is that it happened — that in spite of enormous adversity, a credit to Alvin Bragg, a credit to Judge [Juan] Merchan, to the prosecution, to the jurors, to the witnesses that this happened and to all of the lawyers, the defense lawyers and the prosecutors on that, on the case."

Southern California residents are beginning to see the aftermath of the raging wildfires and the extent of the devastation.

The World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization founded by Chef Jose Andres, is in southern California, helping to prepare hot meals for displaced people. This led actress Jennifer Garner to ask how she could help.

A right-wing attorney who has issued a bevy of threats in recent months to perceived foes of President-elect Donald Trump appeared to do so again, this time taking aim at the judge who presided over Trump's hush money trial.

Prominent conservative attorney Mike Davis, founder and president of the Article III Project who previously served as chief counsel for nominations to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, sent his message to Judge Juan Merchan on Friday.

MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance on Friday hammered Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for taking a phone call from President-elect Donald Trump shortly before he was due to issue a ruling on Trump's criminal sentencing in the Manhattan hush-money case.

Appearing on Andrea Mitchell's show, Vance was asked about Trump talking with Alito on Tuesday to purportedly ask him about a former law clerk as a prospective candidate to work in his administration.

Appearing on MSNBC after sitting in Judge Juan Merchan's courtroom as Donald Trump was sentenced on 34 felony counts on Friday, the New York Times' Susanne Craig reported on the president-elect's demeanor when given a chance to make a statement.

Speaking with hosts Ana Cabrera and José Díaz-Balart, Craig noted that Trump's "weaving" allocution seemed unfocused as he leapt from topic to topic while making irrelevant claims.

Asked what she observed in the courtroom with the president-elect appearing by video feed with attorney Todd Blanche, Craig recalled, "I have to say, when I kind of left and was sort of digesting what had happened, I think that the air in the courtroom and the mood was very much one of frustration on every side."

ALSO READ: Merrick Garland's last task and the explosive evidence that could save America

"It started out with the lawyer from the Manhattan DA's office, Josh Steinglass, got up and he agreed that the unconditional discharge made sense, but then kind of went into his closing arguments about everything that had happened in the trial and the wrongs that had led to the guilty verdict and the frustration there."

"Then Donald Trump and his lawyers got up, and Donald Trump gave a very weaving speech about how unjust it was and how, I don't know, he sort of talked again about how he won the popular vote, it was sort of all over the place," she reported.

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A retired judge bluntly called B.S. on Donald Trump's post-sentencing social media tirade.

The president-elect avoided jail time after his conviction was unconditionally discharged by the trial judge, who Trump again called "highly conflicted" in a Truth Social post that claims "there never was case" and described the prosecution as a "scam."

Former Manhattan prosecutor Jeremy Saland reacted with mirth right after Donald Trump's felony sentencing hearing concluded on Friday morning during an appearance on MSNBC.

Sitting down with hosts Ana Cabrera and José Díaz-Balart, the legal analyst helped break down the proceedings as they were reported from Judge Juan Merchan's courtroom but was quick to offer up his own verdict as the sentencing hearing came to a close.

With host Cabrera noting the hearing concluded after approximately 30 minutes, Saland commented, "Yeah, not shocking. This doesn't need to be a whole played out in front of the TV cameras, Judge Merchan is doing his job."

ALSO READ: Trump intel advisor Devin Nunes still dismisses Russian election meddling as a 'hoax'

"I mean, this is almost like the ghost of [special counsel] Jack Smith not yet biting Donald Trump on the be-hind," he joked which made fellow panelist and lawyer Kristin Gibbons Feden burst out laughing.

"And you know what?" he continued. "At the end of the day, incarceration or not, you are a felon. No matter what he says, no matter how many times he jumps up and down, he has a right to appeal. And ultimately that will be decided. But Donald Trump is a felon with a capital 'F' –– period, and no punishment."

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