Maddow promptly demolishes Trump lawyers' new 'liar liar' defense

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow on Monday suggested that a "liar, liar, pants on fire" legal strategy by President Donald Trump's new lawyers may not work as a compelling argument within a court of law.

"The president has now hired a brand-new team of lawyers, whose entire job -- specifically -- is to keep the president's tax returns secret and any related financial information as well, we learned today," Maddow noted.

Maddow attempted to summarize the legal argument by "Trump's secrecy lawyers."

"Never mind, they say, that the language of the law is plain as day. The law says, black letter law -- it says that the IRS shall furnish the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee with any tax return he requests," she noted. "They say the reason he shouldn't get the president's tax returns despite the letter of the law is because the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee is a liar -- nobody believes him when he says he wants the president's tax returns for legitimate congressional oversight and if you won't take our word for it, well, here are some Republicans in Congress who also think that he is a liar," she explained. "That's their argument."

The host offered her thoughts on their legal strategy.

"As I have noted frequently, I am not a lawyer," Maddow noted. "But I am really sure that it is not a hugely compelling legal argument to block a congressional request depending on black letter statute to just say, 'liar, liar, pants on fire, everybody knows that guy sucks!' I mean, I understand these new lawyers gotta make their billable hours, but I really don't know what leg they are standing on here."

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