For as loyal as a liberal foot solider as he is (see here and here for examples), CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig is not as dependable as you might think.
Tuesday's New Day provided another example of someone from the network of blind squirrels finding a nut as, on the issue of NY Attorney General Letitia James (D) issuing subpoenas against Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, Honig had a shocking take:
the Trumps' argument here is not absurd. It's not ridiculous. The crux of their argument is, we have been politically targeted by this attorney general, Letitia James. And you know what? They’re right! And that's not a matter of opinion or speculation. That’s a matter of fact. Because Letitia James herself said it over and over again when she was running for Attorney General of New York. She said, essentially, the main plank of her platform was vote for me, and I’ll nail the Trumps.
James' pledge to go after the Trumps was the prosecutorial equivalent of a bill of attainder, which the Constitution expressly forbids as a legislative matter.
Hilarious given CNN's hard bend to the left and Honig belong to that herd, Honig insisted he "object[s] to" James's behavior since "I don’t think any prosecutor, Republican or Democrat, should ever run for office as a prosecutor on a platform of, vote for me and I will nail this specific person, but more to the point, it's counterproductive because now, her own statements of politicization are being used against her."
Also on the panel was notorious Trump hater Tim O'Brien, of Bloomberg Opinion. This is the guy who ghoulishly fantasized about Donald Trump being hit by a car going 80 MPH. Not surprisingly, O'Brien laid out the case that the Trump Organization alternately deflated and inflated property values to suit their financial purposes.
On New Day, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig saying that Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump are right—in contesting subpoenas that New York AG Letitia James has issued against them—in saying that James had politically targeted them, was sponsored in part by OneADay, VRBO, Liberty Mutual, Gold Bond, Sleep Number, and Clear Choice, and Flex Seal.
Here's the relevant transcript. Click "expand."
CNN's New Day
01/04/22
6:19 a.m. EasternJOHN BERMAN: In New York State, the attorney general here has now issued subpoenas for Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump’s two children, two of his children, to testify, to come be deposed, in this civil action that they are trying to take against the company here.
(....)
6:22 a.m. Eastern
BERMAN: Elie, what happens if you don’t show up for a subpoena? What’s going on here with Don Jr. and Ivanka trying to squash this, A. And, B, if they don’t successfully do that, can they just not show?
ELIE HONIG: So they’re in court now trying to quash the subpoena. I agree with Tim [O'Brien of Bloomberg Opinion], it is very difficult legally to quash a subpoena. But I want to say this, the Trumps' argument here is not absurd. It's not ridiculous. The crux of their argument is, we have been politically targeted by this attorney general, Letitia James. And you know what? They’re right! And that's not a matter of opinion or speculation. That’s a matter of fact. Because Letitia James herself said it over and over again when she was running for Attorney General of New York. She said, essentially, the main plank of her platform was vote for me, and I’ll nail the Trumps. Now, I object to that. I don’t think any prosecutor, Republican or Democrat, should ever run for office as a prosecutor on a platform of, vote for me and I will nail this specific person, but more to the point, it's counterproductive because now, her own statements of politicization are being used against her. Ultimately, a judge will rule on this. If the subpoena is quashed, then it's over. If it's not, they’ll have to show up and testify. And if they fail to do that, then there could be further consequences. They could be held in contempt and, eventually, prosecuted for defying a court order.
