CNN panelist rips Trump use of Erik Prince: 'Someone running from the law shouldn't negotiate for the US'

Reacting to reports that Blackwater founder Erik Prince met with Donald Trump's transition team at Trump Tower in December, followed by a secret meeting in the Seychelles islands with an associate of Vladimir Putin, a CNN panel questioned why he was used.

Appearing on Anderson Cooper 360, CNN contributor Kirsten Powers went beyond the questions over what exactly Prince was doing to wonder why Trump would use a person like Prince with his high-profile and highly controversial past.

Noting the secret meeting was set up by representatives from the UAE, host Anderson Cooper said that Prince had contacts in many countries helping build private paramilitary forces across the Middle East.

"Clearly Erik Prince does have global business interests in a lot of different countries, forming armies for different governments, " Cooper stated.

"Even if you were going to do this, he's a very controversial person to choose to do it with," Powers explained. "This is someone who's moved to Abu Dhabi basically, reportedly, because he needs to get out of the United States because there are so many lawsuits, whether they're civil lawsuits or criminal lawsuits against executives of Blackwater."

"I think most people know that Blackwater got in a lot of trouble for opening fire on a bunch of civilians in Iraq, I mean these are pretty serious charges." she continued. "You have Blackwater people,  contractors who are accused of murdering people in Afghanistan. And so somebody who has to move to the UAE to basically outrun the law probably isn't somebody you should be choosing to be negotiating on behalf of the United States"

Watch the video below via CNN: