CNN analyst floored as DOJ 'circus' slapped down by judge

CNN's Katelyn Polantz walked through the drubbing the Justice Department got in court this week, as the judge presiding over the criminal case of the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter, visibly angry, chastised them for their showboating tactics.

"So, Katelyn, what did they do that upset the judge?" asked anchor Boris Sanchez.

"Well, this was just a very short blip in a very short hearing for this defendant, Cole Allen. But it's a notable moment," said Polantz. "So yesterday, Cole Allen came into court and said with his attorneys that it was fine if he would remain behind bars, which he's going to be doing as he awaits trial for this alleged attempt on the president's life. But in the hearing, the Justice Department, they wanted to give more evidence to the judge, the court, the public to Allen in that very moment to present it and to show it."

Then, Polantz noted, the DOJ went to social media and posted images of Allen's guns, which was completely unnecessary and superfluous.

"What happened in court is the judge stopped them from from presenting that additional evidence, and then she called them up to the bench, put the husher on in the courtroom. So white noise, so no one could hear," said Polantz. "And she said ... 'I don't know what's going on here. I know that you want to present your case, I guess, to some audience other than the court. I don't want this to turn into a circus.'"

"So what that is hinting at is this dynamic that is happening in this case, and a lot of other cases right now with the Justice Department, where there is an audience that's not just in court, that Justice Department officials, Trump administration officials, even prosecutors in courtrooms are trying to play to," said Polantz. "She doesn't say it explicitly, but it sure sounds like the boss — the president, or the attorney general."

In addition to this, she said, "There's another dynamic here where the Justice Department keeps pushing ahead of what is actually nailed down."

"In this case, the prosecutors are even saying in this sealed part of this hearing yesterday that they didn't have finalized evidence yet to turn over the defense team," said Polantz. "And yet you still see the U.S. attorney going on Fox News yesterday. You see the Secret Service director out yesterday, all saying that they know that Cole Allen shot a Secret Service agent and that it was at point-blank range. That's what the Secret Service director says. None of that has been in court yet, and there are questions around the video that they even released yesterday of, does it even show that?"

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