When even CNN legal analysts can see through the political nature of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil case against Donald Trump, it’s pretty much time to give up the farce.
But, alas, what will probably end up happening to Elie Honig, a senior legal analyst for Chris Cuomo’s former employer, is that he joins Fredo in a search for a new job, at least if he keeps it up. That’s because people who are viewing CNN probably don’t like what Honig has to say about the lawsuit — and more specifically, the AG who brought it.
During the network’s coverage of the Trump trial on Thursday, Honig said that “Letitia James campaigned for attorney general in 2018 specifically on a promise of ‘vote for me and I’ll get Donald Trump’” and that she was on record as promising “to sue his a**” during the election.
Honig’s remarks came as a panel was discussing comments Trump made outside the courtroom before closing arguments began in the $370 million civil case, in which New York state alleges Trump inflated his assets to get better deals on loans and insurance.
“We consider this unconstitutional, which — it’s election interference at the highest level, it’s a disgrace,” Trump said in his remarks. “And it’s in coordination with the White House and Joe Biden, because he can’t win a campaign fairly. And we’re going through it, but it is indeed a terrible witch hunt.
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“At this moment, the judge is not letting me make this summation because I’ll bring up things that he doesn’t want to hear,” he continued. “And it’s a very unfair trial, nobody’s seen anything like this. I don’t think they’ve ever seen anything like this. We have a situation where a statute was used that doesn’t give me a jury. So, I have no jury, I really have no rights, and it’s sad. And nobody, nobody thinks it’s constitutional, people. Legal scholars are writing about it like it’s something they’ve never seen before. So, it’s interference, its political interference, and it’s something that shouldn’t be allowed.”
It’s worth noting, as The Associated Press did, that cases of the sort brought against Trump aren’t tried by juries in the state of New York and that he was allowed to give a summation of the case to the court in which he protested that he was “an innocent man” who was “being persecuted by someone running for office, and I think you have to go outside the bounds.”
Honig, who one guesses is no fan of Donald Trump, by the tenor of his comments, nevertheless conceded the former president and current GOP front-runner had a point.
Is the case against Donald Trump political?
While the legal analyst said that he felt “Donald Trump inflated the value of his assets by a lot,” there was still “a separate question whether anyone was actually harmed, because the banks made the loans, they knew what they were doing, they got paid back.
However, then came the point where CNN viewers — such as they may exist outside of airport terminals — began to squirm in their seats.
“Letitia James campaigned for attorney general in 2018 specifically on a promise of ‘vote for me and I’ll get Donald Trump,’” Honig said.
“That’s not something she said once. She said it dozens of times. She said it in writing. She fundraised off it. And she wasn’t even specific. She didn’t say, I’ll get him for inflating his assets. At one point, she said he could be indicted for money laundering. At one point, she said — the day after she was elected, she said, and I quote, ‘we’re definitely going to sue his a**. He’ll know my name.’”
Now, to be fair, the exact James quote, according to The Hill, was this: “Oh, we’re definitely going to sue, and we’re going to be a real pain in the a**. And he’s going to know my name personally.”
So much more even-handed, no?
But back to Honig: “When you make statements like that, how can you say there’s no political angle to this? You can maybe say the facts are there, but it’s also political. That’s Letitia James’ own doing.”
WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
Even CNN’s legal analyst says: “It is a fact that Letitia James campaigned for attorney general in 2018 specifically on a promise of ‘vote for me and I’ll get Donald Trump.’
…When you make statements like that, how can you say there’s no political angle to this?” pic.twitter.com/WeM90yVaDX
— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) January 11, 2024
And while this is CNN, it’s hard to argue with the facts: James’ entire career has been built upon going after her political enemies, deserving (former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo) or not (Trump, the National Rifle Association).
This isn’t what a state attorney general is supposed to do — but this being New York, I suppose it’s what her constituents want.
Don’t try to dress it up as anything more than a political charade, however. Even CNN legal analysts can’t buy that nonsense.
