As the January 6 Committee nears its season finale tonight, TV news has been abuzz with pre-game coverage and speculation, especially about whether or not Donald Trump would be indicted by the Justice Department. Not so for CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp on Thursday, whose fellow panelists on New Day looked on with concern as she ranted in disgust about Trump being “above the law.”
After the panel agreed that the Committee’s work would most likely not prove that Trump did anything illegal, New Day co-host John Berman opined, “It might be that there are other issues here that are just as significant, the political implication, the moral implications of all this that the Committee is laying out...But it does get to Merrick Garland's decision about what he does with all of this.”
Berman then played a clip from a press conference on Wednesday, where Attorney General Merrick Garland broke his usual calm demeanor to retort to a reporter, “No person is above the law in this country. I can't say it any more clearly than that.”
After CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin reminded the panel of the deliberate pace of DOJ investigations, Cupp snapped:
Uh — I agree with you and I appreciate all of that and that the DOJ has to take its time to build its case. All due respect to Merrick Garland, that is not true.
Donald Trump today, where we sit right now, is above the law. Donald Trump has been charged with nothing. Uh, one legal watchdog has said that there are at least 48 potential crimes committed by Donald Trump over the course of his Presidency or while he was campaigning. He has not been charged for any allegations of sexual assault — um, using the government to punish his opponents, anything in connection with January 6, meddling in elections.
An odd assertion, given that Trump is seemingly in the legal sights of a Fulton Country grand jury and the entire January 6 Committee has been trying their hardest to prove he was derelict in his duty on January 6.
But who could forget how Trump sicced the IRS on his political opponents? No one, except that that was actually the Obama-era IRS targeting Tea Party organizations.
Cupp tried to salvage an appearance of non-partisanship by saying, “I'll be super, super, hyper, uber fair, nor has Bill Clinton. He is not alone as being a powerful man who has been thus far above the law.”
But when CNN senior political analyst John Avlon specified, “what he's thinking is that he can do a brushback pitch if he runs and say, look, I'm — I’m engaged in the political process again, therefore, any — uh, you know, indictments are — are therefore political,” Cupp shouted, “He might be right!”
Cupp finally quieted down when told by CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins that “Lisa Monaco at the Justice Department has tried to push back on that, saying...that's not something that factors into our decision-making.”
When it comes to Donald Trump, unlike Hunter Biden, there is no presumption of innocence by the media or allowance for a thorough and fair investigation.
This case of TDS-induced hysterics was made possible by Liberty Mutual and UPS. Their contact information is linked.
Click “Expand” to see the relevant transcript.
CNN’s New Day
07/21/22
6:05:11 AM ETJOHN BERMAN: You know, I keep asking questions I find about is it legal or not legal, does this get to a legal question. And it might be that that's not always the right question. It might be that there are other issues here that are just as significant, the political implication, the moral implications of all this that the Committee is laying out. So — so I am aware of that.
But it does get to Merrick Garland's decision about what he does with all of this. And Merrick Garland was pressed on this, the Attorney General of the United States, yesterday. Let's — let's play a little bit of how he responded to whether or not — or where he is on the possibility of charging Donald Trump.
[Cuts to clip]
MERRICK GARLAND [during press conference, 07/21/22]: No person is above the law in this country. Nothing stops us —
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even a former President?
GARLAND: No — I don't know how to — maybe say that again. No person is above the law in this country. I can't say it any more clearly than that.
[End of clip]
KAITLAN COLLINS: That's a really notable sound bite from him saying — you know, the reporter is, like, trying to follow up. And he's like, no, no, no, just let me get this out and say this and make this clear. I mean, I'm assuming he will be watching very closely tonight.
JEFFREY TOOBIN: He will be watching closely. But it's also worth remembering how the Justice Department works. You know, Merrick Garland is not going to wake up five months from now or six months from now and say, you know, we're going to indict Donald Trump.
There's going to be a process. You know, there will be line investigators. There will be the FBI investigating Donald Trump. There will be a review process of people deciding whether or not an indictment is warranted, and then it will move up the chain to Merrick Garland. He is not going to make this decision in a vacuum.
Um, the — the question that so many people have is how aggressively are they conducting the investigation now that will lead to that — that — that decision several months from now. And that question, I think, remains somewhat mysterious.
S.E. CUPP: Uh — I agree with you and I appreciate all of that and that the DOJ has to take its time to build its case. All due respect to Merrick Garland, that is not true.
Donald Trump today, where we sit right now, is above the law. Donald Trump has been charged with nothing. Uh, one legal watchdog has said that there are at least 48 potential crimes committed by Donald Trump over the course of his Presidency or while he was campaigning. He has not been charged for any allegations of sexual assault — um, using the government to punish his opponents, anything in connection with January 6, meddling in elections.
Um — and, look, I'll be super, super, hyper, uber fair, nor has Bill Clinton. He is not alone as being a powerful man who has been thus far above the law.
I'm not a legal analyst, nor a scholar of the law. I'm a normal person. And I think if you're a normal person with — you know, some reason — um, you think, well Donald Trump has been above the law. It's been 18 months since the insurrection.
JOHN AVLON: I mean what — what — what Garland was addressing is this idea that had been reported out that somehow the OLC opinion that said a president is beyond prosecution could be extended.
Now, in the grand scheme of things, I know it's emotionally unsatisfying for people, but it is good for Merrick Garland to be taking extra steps to try to depoliticize the Justice Department after prior politicization. That's good for the republic.
What's not good, and what I think he was trying to clear up yesterday, importantly, is equal justice under law. Even for ex-Presidents.
CUPP: Right.
AVLON: And this is an unprecedented situation.
CUPP: Right.
AVLON: And I do think the Committee has probably — seems to have urged on and created more urgency around the DOJ. But he was trying to be very clear yesterday with regard to at least criminal liability for over — trying to overturn an election.
CUPP: But even Donald Trump knows. Donald Trump is telling people in his inner circle he wants —
AVLON: This is the point.
CUPP: — to run again —
AVLON: This is the point.
CUPP: — Because he knows the presidency will be a shield from indictments and jail time.
AVLON: No — no — what he's thinking is that he can do a brushback pitch if he runs and say, look, I'm — I’m engaged in the political process again, therefore, any — uh, you know, indictments are — are therefore political.
CUPP: He might be right.
COLLINS: Well Lisa Monaco at the Justice Department has tried to push back on that, saying —
AVLON: Yeah.
COLLINS: — that's not something that factors into our decision-making. But it is something that factors into everyone else's decision-making.
(...)
