President Donald Trump's Washington, D.C. prosecutor Jeanine Pirro made a massive blunder in the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting case, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig told CNN's Jake Tapper on Friday — and it could cause huge problems down the road.
Specifically, she is not going to recuse herself from the case, despite having described herself as a victim, since she was at the dinner when the shooting happened.
"Elie, just from a practical standpoint, I mean, there are thousands of prosecutors, federal prosecutors who were not at the dinner," said Tapper. "Wouldn't it make sense just to make sure that there's no grounds for appeal, that this guy, if he's found guilty, if he is guilty, is locked up forever, and there's no grounds for appeal? Wouldn't it make sense just to have one of those federal prosecutors who wasn't there be in charge of it?"
Honig concurred. "This is a huge mistake, Jake."
"If Jeanine Pirro and Todd Blanche refuse to recuse themselves, it's such an easy, obvious call," he continued. "They are witnesses, no fault of their own. They were in the ballroom. They heard the gunshots. They saw the reaction. They are witnesses. They also are likely potential intended victims. If you look at this individual's writings, he said, 'I'm going after the administration members top to bottom.' Jeanine Pirro herself said, I was in the line of fire. She didn't mean that literally."
"It is a bedrock rule of prosecution that if you are a witness or potential witness, and especially if you're a victim, you have to recuse yourself," said Honig. "It's not punishment. It's the smart tactical move. As you said, Jake, what would happen if they recused themselves? There are dozens, hundreds of other prosecutors in DOJ more than capable of trying this case and of supervising this case. And on the flip side, you take away an appeals issue. If they stay on this case, Pirro and Blanche, they are handing this individual where the proof of his guilt seems to be overwhelming, an issue to raise on appeal."
"Now, it doesn't mean he automatically wins," he added. "But I will tell you, Jake, there are federal courts of appeals in this country that have thrown out guilty verdicts because prosecutors refuse to recuse when they should have recused. So this, to me, is a really dangerous path that DOJ is going down. And for the good of the case and the prosecution, Pirro and Blanche need to do the right thing and step off and recuse themselves."