'Tantamount to rewarding Donald Trump': Legal analyst slams Merrick Garland for special counsel move

On Friday's edition of MSNBC's "Deadline: White House," former solicitor general and legal analyst Neal Katyal sharply criticized the decision by Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate former President Donald Trump, calling it inconsistent with DOJ standards and protocols.

By all accounts, the prosecutor in charge of that investigation has an extensive set of qualifications, and Trump and his associates appear to be worried about the new probe. However, Katyal said, it really doesn't make sense to do it in this form.

"I don't think it's needed under the regulations and I think it risks delaying this investigation needlessly," Katyal told anchor Nicolle Wallace. "One of my first jobs at the justice department was drafting these regulations, and really the appointment of a special counsel is primarily about a circumstances in which you're fearing a cover-up, in which you're worried that the attorney general is being asked to investigate, perhaps, the president who appointed him or some other high-ranking executive branch official and you're worried that investigation will get truncated, short-circuited through a cover-up or something like that."

"Here, however, that investigation has already largely happened," said Katyal. "Particularly with respect to the Mar-a-Lago stolen documents piece. The January 6th one, I think, is somewhat different. But the investigation's happened. And so to me, I don't see what the case is for a special counsel. Attorney General Garland said it was because of a conflict of interest, because Trump has announced that he's running and Biden is evidently running in '24, as well. That, to me, is tantamount to rewarding Donald Trump for all of the maneuvers that he's making, including announcing his election right now. You know, I don't really get it."

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"Jeff Sessions wasn't up to the task ... Robert Mueller wasn't up to the task, and Bill Barr certainly wasn't up to the task," continued Katyal. "Now it seems Merrick Garland isn't up to it, either. Now maybe Jack Smith is up to it. I think he will indict, particularly on the Mar-a-Lago stuff, because that is such an open-and-shut investigation. But precisely because it's so open-and-shut, I don't see why a special counsel was needed. It doesn't make sense to me. And if it's because there's a conflict of interest, because President Biden is going to run in '24, I would the end to think that means there is also a conflict of interest about the Hunter Biden investigation and a special counsel would be merited there, too."

"Nonetheless, you know, the proof will be in the pudding," said Katyal. "If this special counsel can move quickly and do an indictment on Mar-a-Lago, which, as I say, is a pretty easy case, you know, people like me, the critics will recede into the background, but if this is another delay tactic that will allow Trump to stall out, even if he's indicted, if it's close to the '24 election, hope that there's a presidential election by whoever wins the Republican Party in '24, this could be a real fiasco for the rule of law."

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