During a panel discussion on her 12:00 p.m. ET hour MSNBC show on Tuesday, anchor Andrea Mitchell and her guests feared that the resignation of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over domestic abuse allegations would hurt ongoing legal challenges to President Trump’s policy agenda and be a “big loss” for the Democratic Party.
“And he’s had a very prominent role in a number of cases, against Trump University successfully. He was one of the litigants, one of the chief litigants against the Muslim ban, setting that back,” Mitchell observed as she fondly looked back at Scheiderman’s career as a left-wing public official. She then worried: “So does this put the legal opposition to the President, at the state level, on its back heels?”
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Rogers fretted: “Well, it could. It really depends on who takes over....there are a lot of areas that Schneiderman has been very active and whether that continues or not will depend a lot on who’s sitting in the chair.”
Turning to The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, who actually co-authored the article that revealed Scheiderman’s alleged abusive behavior toward women which led to his resignation, Mitchell voiced concern for the fate of the Russia investigation: “And Jane, he has been considered by a lot of people, defenders of Mueller, who are worried about him being fired as the result of a domino effect in the Justice Department, he’s been kind of the insurance policy to the Manafort and other cases.”
Despite exposing the accusations against Schneiderman, Mayer still mourned his downfall:
He has been. I mean, he’s been a tremendous voice for progressive Democratic politics and a real rising star in the Democratic Party. So this is a big loss on that side. There are other attorney generals – attorneys general I guess it is – in the states. Maura Healey in Massachusetts, who’s been another big activist. There’s a group of Democratic attorneys general that’s been very active. So he’s not the only one.
Mitchell followed up with hand-wringing over potential political fallout for the Democratic Party: “And does this ding the Democrats in general? Cuomo’s up for reelection, he’s got a prominent woman – woman opponent, of course, that we know about. But does this hurt the Democrats in general or did they move quickly enough?”
Mayer actually argued that Scheiderman deserved “credit” for his handling of the situation: “I just don’t know....you have to at least give some credit to the fact that he stepped down right away. He realized that this – he denied it – but at the same time, realized he had to get out of way.”
She then laughably claimed that Democrats had the moral high ground on the issue:
It’s very different from how the Republican Party has acted. They haven’t acknowledged, in many cases, that this is something that a politician ought to resign over, when these kinds of allegations are made. And so, the Democratic Party realizes that it has to respect, you know, allegations like this of sexual misconduct that are made by women against men.
Apparently Mayer forgot that Bill Clinton’s presidency ever happened.
When even the reporter who takes down a liberal politician laments doing so, it shows how deep in the tank the media truly are for Democrats.
Here is a transcript of the May 8 segment:
12:35 PM ET
(...)
ANDREA MITCHELL: And he’s had a very prominent role in a number of cases, against Trump University successfully. He was one of the litigants, one of the chief litigants against the Muslim ban, setting that back. So does this put the legal opposition to the President, at the state level, on its back heels?
JENNIFER ROGERS [FMR. ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NY]: Well, it could. It really depends on who takes over. Currently, the Solicitor General Barbara Underwood, who is in the office, is going to be acting until the legislature appoints someone who will be in the seat until November, when the election is.
So there’s been a lot of things that Schneiderman has been very aggressive about, the civil litigation that you mentioned. And also, he’s spoken about being willing to charge New York State offenses against people like Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen, who could potentially be pardoned by the President so that they wouldn’t cooperate with the Russia investigation.
So there are a lot of areas that Schneiderman has been very active and whether that continues or not will depend a lot on who’s sitting in the chair.
MITCHELL: And Jane, he has been considered by a lot of people, defenders of Mueller, who are worried about him being fired as the result of a domino effect in the Justice Department, he’s been kind of the insurance policy to the Manafort and other cases.
JANE MAYER [THE NEW YORKER]: He has been. I mean, he’s been a tremendous voice for progressive Democratic politics and a real rising star in the Democratic Party. So this is a big loss on that side. There are other attorney generals – attorneys general I guess it is – in the states. Maura Healey in Massachusetts, who’s been another big activist. There’s a group of Democratic attorneys general that’s been very active. So he’s not the only one.
But the question is, who’s going to replace him? And the names that people are already beginning to talking about are Preet Bharara and Zephyr Teachout and Kathleen Rice, are some of them that I’ve heard that might be interested in it. And then – but meanwhile, the assembly and the senate in Albany get to choose someone. There’s an election in the fall though.
MITCHELL: And does this ding the Democrats in general? Cuomo’s up for reelection, he’s got a prominent woman – woman opponent, of course, that we know about. But does this hurt the Democrats in general or did they move quickly enough?
MAYER: You know, I just don’t know. I mean, it’s – the thing is, it’s – you have to at least give some credit to the fact that he stepped down right away. He realized that this – he denied it – but at the same time realized he had to get out of way. It’s very different from how the Republican Party has acted. They haven’t acknowledged, in many cases, that this is something that a politician ought to resign over, when these kinds of allegations are made. And so, the Democratic Party realizes that it has to respect, you know, allegations like this of sexual misconduct that are made by women against men.
(...)
