'She knows better': Ex-FBI counsel shames Elise Stefanik for attacking Trump judge
Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY) should "know better" than to take aim at the New York judge presiding over Donald Trump's civil fraud case, a former top Justice Department official and FBI general counsel says.
The former prosecutor attacked Stefanik as one of Trump's many enablers in government for a bias complaint against Judge Arthur Engoron.
"That is so irresponsible," Weissmann said. "She knows better."
Weissmann contends Stefanik's anti-Engoron statement was part of Trump's ongoing attack against the rule of law, the judicial system, and law enforcement.
It's a question of timing, Weissmann argues.
"He has an opportunity in court to convince the judge why he is right, starting Monday," said Weissmann. "He will be calling witnesses in his case, as is his right and his co-defendants. That's the way the system works, whether it's a civil case or a criminal case. And when you don't like the outcome, especially as somebody who was in the government, attacking the umpire is not a way that you instill confidence in the system."
Weissmann believes Trump is looking to "delegitimize the system, delegitimize people in law enforcement, delegitimize journalists like you and Carol. It's to have no checks and balances. These are really the tools of an autocrat."
Stefanik began her complaint about Engoron using selective quotes from the judge that were taken out of context, legal analyst Andrew Weissmann argued. The former prosecutor also believes Stefanik is helping normalizing tactics that undermine our judicial system.
"The judge is just doing his job — you may disagree with him, you can say that, you can say he's missed evidence," said Weissmann. "But really, a complaint against him for doing his job beyond the pale."
Legal correspondent Lisa Rubin joined the conversation about Stefanik's complaint after weeks worth of coverage from the New York trial.
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace asked if Stefanik was carrying Trump's water in a congressional sense as she has done before. Rubin explained there's a little that goes both ways.
"They were hinting at allegations of campaign contributions that emanated from a Breitbart report late last week, and they told the judge on Monday, the same day Trump was on the stand, that they intend to make a motion for a mistrial about them," explained Rubin.
"My guess is that they realized that it's not the basis for a mistrial, it's not the basis for an appeal, and so what did they do? They got Elise Stefanik to be a part of this complaint and put it in her voice to a different body, not to a court but to a commission on judicial conduct where it sits under New York rules until they decide it should be dismissed or investigated. And that could take months. Which means the allegations will stay out there unchallenged unless Engoron himself decides to take them on."
Rubin also noted that the letter from Stefanik looks like a legal filing with footnotes and citations to case law. While Stefanik might have a lot of achievements to her name, being a lawyer isn't one of them. It means that a lawyer likely wrote the letter for her, and Rubin wondered if it was Trump's lawyers after it became clear their attacks weren't working.
See the full conversation in the videos below or at the link here.
Part 1:
Part 2:
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