Talk about letting the cat out of the bag...
MSNBC would like to project Team Biden's talking points that Merrick Garland's Justice Department is the dictionary definition of independent.
What an MSNBC guest said Saturday morning was so revealing of the hostile attitude toward Donald Trump of Garland's DoJ, that another guest had to try to clean up his mess.
On Jonathan Capehart's Saturday Show, Anthony Coley, a former senior adviser to Garland, expressed delight with the choice of Judge Tanya Chutkan, an Obama appointee, to preside over Trump's January 6 trial:
"I want to go back to your previous questions to both Neal and to Maya. Because they deal with, they deal with who this judge is. And that is so important for your viewers to understand. Judge Chutkan is a Jamaican-born jurist. She is well known in legal circles for being both fair and tough.
Importantly, on more than one instance in her courtroom she has charged, she has sentenced January 6th defendants to even more time than the government asked for. So, she is the real deal. And I'm pleased that someone like her, someone who is both fair and tough, is the one who's going to oversee the second trial of the, the second federal trial of the former president.
Coley having said the quiet part out loud, former Obama Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal tried to ride to the rescue:
"Anthony is right that this is a tough judge. But I just want to say, tough on everyone, including tough on the prosecutors. So this is someone who, I, think, both sides should be pleased that they drew."
Chutkan sure wasn't "tough on prosecutors" when it came to sentencing J6 defendants! To the contrary, she favored them beyond their wildest dreams, sentencing defendants to longer sentences than the prosecutors themselves requested!
So not surprising that Coley, and by implication the Garland DoJ, is "pleased" [to say the least!] that Chutkan will be presiding over the trial—and potentially the sentencing—of another J6 defendant: Donald Trump!
Katyal managed to keep a straight face while claiming that "both sides should be pleased that they drew" Chutkan as the trial judge. But he had to admit that Trump obviously isn't pleased, and is attempting to get the case moved to West Virginia--an effort that Katyal said is "going nowhere fast."
On Jonathan Capehart's MSNBC show, a former senior adviser to Attorney General Merrick Garland saying he's pleased that the judge picked to preside over Donald Trump's J6 trial is someone who has sentenced other J6 defendants to longer sentences than had been requested by the prosecution was sponsored in part by Procter & Gamble, maker of Mr. Clean, Chase, Dell, Intel, and Advil.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Saturday Show With Jonathan Capehart
8/4/23
9:11 am EDTANTHONY COLEY: I want to go back to your previous questions to both Neal and to Maya. Because they deal with, they deal with who this judge is. And that is so important for your viewers to understand. Judge Chutkan is a Jamaican-born jurist. She is well known in legal circles for being both fair and tough.
Importantly, on more than one instance in her courtroom she has charged, she has sentenced January 6th defendants to even more time than the government asked for.
So, she is the real deal. And I'm pleased that someone like her, someone who is both fair and tough, is the one who's going to oversee the second trial of the, the second federal trial of the former president.
. . .
NEAL KATYAL: Anthony is right that this is a tough judge. But I just want to say, tough on everyone, including tough on the prosecutors.
You know, I've seen her in court. She's remarkably well-prepared. And she's really fair. This is a judge who, basically, was a public defender for many years. A criminal defense lawyer. So she brings that experience to the bench with her.
So this is someone who, I, think, both sides should be pleased that they drew. Obviously, Trump is not pleased. He's trying to tweak to get this case out of D.C., and change venue to West Virginia. Which he says is fairer because he has more voters that support him there. That is of course not a thing. That is not a legal argument. It's going nowhere fast.
