According to MSNBC host Katie Phang and ex-FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann, acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove will likely be called into the courtroom of Judge Dale E. Ho of Federal District Court in Manhattan to explain his rationale for letting New York City Mayor Eric Adams walk away from corruption charges.
Former prosecutor Phang kicked off her show by first referring to Donald Trump as a "convicted felon" before introducing her guest and asking about the chaos Bove has created among SDNY prosecutors that ended up turning into a major scandal as career prosecutors resigned rather than accede to his demands.
After Pang prompted her guest with a suggestion that Judge Ho will jump into the fray, Weissmann replied that the judge had good reason to. Two reasons he subsequently added.
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"I agree with you, and I think one of the reasons that that's going to happen is because as you and I know, this does not happen," Weissmann told Phang. "This is so, just so unusual to see career people resigning rather than follow an order and they do that when they believe that the order is illegal and or unethical."
"In fact, the only other time in recent history I can think of that is in Trump 1.0, when prosecutors resigned in the Roger Stone case, rather than carry out instructions that they believed were also improper," he explained. "So I think that Judge Ho is going to have a hearing, and he has every reason to do it."
"I can give you two reasons," he elaborated. "One is, as you noted, Danielle Sassoon and her colleagues say, that there's this improper quid pro quo and that has been disputed by Eric Adams' counsel, so there is a factual dispute and that gives every reason for a judge to hold a hearing. That's what judges do when there's a factual dispute and he can say to Emil Bove, 'If you think this is wrong, if you think that this is not what happened, you can come here and take the stand and put your right hand up and swear to tell the truth and I will make credibility determinations.'"
"And oh, by the way, and this is something you will appreciate as a trial lawyer, 'You know those notes that you confiscated and you didn't want anyone to see? Bring those with you I want to see what the contemporaneous notes are, that you didn't want anyone to take out of that room to see what people were saying about that meeting.'" he added with a grin.
Watch below or at the link.