Lawrence: Donald Trump Is Facing A Judge Who's Not Playing Games

well today Donald Trump met his judge Sarika and he met him in Brooklyn and that could mean that Donald Trump is now on a legal fast track to a very very bad outcome to the FBI's search of his Florida residents where the FBI found hundreds of government documents and classified documents including some highly classified documents that the FBI found in Donald Trump's desk in his desk Judge John cirica was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1974 because of his handling of criminal cases involving Republican president Richard Nixon it was Judge John Sarika who ordered President Nixon to hand over the audio tapes of the president's discussions in the Oval Office those tapes revealed Richard Nixon's involvement in federal crimes Richard Nixon then resigned the presidency and a month later was pardoned by his chosen vice president who had become President Gerald Ford that pardon saved Richard Nixon from becoming the first former president of the United States to be charged with a crime and tonight that historical achievement of being the first former president of the United States to be charged with a crime seems ever more likely to become an entry in Donald Trump's resume Judge John Sarika was appointed to the federal bench by Republican president Dwight Eisenhower and he took down the next Republican president Richard Nixon Donald Trump's John cirica was also appointed by a Republican president Ronald Reagan judge Raymond Deary who is now serving as the special master in the case of Donald J Trump versus United States of America became the special master in the case because Donald Trump's own lawyers suggested his name to the judge handling the case in Florida asking her to appoint Raymond Deary as special master and because judge Deary has always been widely regarded as a fair-minded reasonable and honorable jurist the federal prosecutors in the case simply agreed to Donald Trump's choice of Judge deary who serves in the eastern district of New York in Brooklyn and so it was in the federal courthouse in Brooklyn today where Donald Trump who was born in the adjacent neighborhood of Queens was told something that Donald Trump's parents never told him you can't have your cake and eat it too that's actually something parents have been telling children for literally hundreds of years beginning in medieval England where versions of that sentence were passed around in the 1500s in 1611. the English poet John Davies put it in a way that actually makes more semantic sense than the current version when he said a man cannot eat his cake and have it still judge Deary conducted a meeting with the lawyers of both sides of the case in his Brooklyn courtroom today and tonight Donald Trump is probably throwing his cake judge Deary scheduled the meeting for 2 P.M and remarkably entered his courtroom precisely at 2 pm according to our first guest tonight Andrew Weissman who was in the room that kind of precise adherence to schedule to anyone who has spent much time in courtrooms is remarkable it's just a remarkable way to start a 2 pm court session exactly at 2 pm judge Fury was quick he was simple he was direct his first question was to the Trump lawyers quote is there a real dispute about the property inventory Donald Trump's lead lawyer today former Federal prosecutor Janice trustee spoke in response to that question for a couple of hundred words but didn't answer it to which judge Deary said so the answer to my question is you don't know whether there is going to be a real dispute to the inventory Mr trustee that's fair judge Deary covered some mechanical details about how most of the 11 000 documents in the case can be made available to Donald Trump's lawyers then judge Deary turned to the most important documents saying quote the government of course wants to classified documents off the table for the moment at least I understand that we're dealing with presumably highly sensitive information if I'm going to verify the classification what am I looking at is there a claim that the document is classified that should not have been classified is there a claim that something was labeled purposefully classified that isn't the reason I ask is if the government essentially gives me prima facie evidence that these are classified documents and you the Trump lawyers for whatever reason decide not to advance any claims of declassification which I understand is your prerogative I'm left with a prima facie case of classified documents and as far as I'm concerned that's the end of it that's the end of it Donald Trump's lawyers didn't think that was the end of it they said we're not in the position without having seen the physical evidence and without having a chance to fully explore what these documents purport to be to tell the court in good faith that I know I have an argument to be made about classification to which the judge said well you did bring the lawsuit and make that claim now in judge Aileen Mercedes cannons courtroom in Florida Trump's lawyers could get away with making statements like that but not today not in Brooklyn not with judge deary judge Deary suggested the clear possibility that the Trump lawyers would not be allowed to see the classified documents in this case and the judge Deary himself might not even look at them judge Deary said let's not belittle the fact that we are dealing with at least potentially legitimately classified information the government has a very strong obligation as all of us do to see to it that that information doesn't get in the wrong hands it's not just a matter it seems to me of being cleared it's a matter of need to know and if you need to know you will know that's the way I see it if I can make my judgments without I don't want to see the material it's presumably sensitive material if I can make my recommendation to judge Cannon right or wrong without exposing myself or you to that material I will do it before the meeting with judge Deary at 2 pm today the Trump lawyers filed their response to the Justice Department's appeal of the case seeking to exclude the classified documents from the special Master process the Trump lawyers once again classified the case as quote a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control and said quote the government wrongfully seeks to criminalize The Possession by the 45th president of his own presidential and personal records the problem for the Trump lawyers is that possession is a crime possession of these records is a crime it is legally true that former presidents have access to many of the records that were found in Donald Trump's home excess but presidents are not legally allowed to take them home and own them the Trump lawyers repeatedly played the classification game in their filing the appeals filing to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals referring to quote the government's contention that the approximately 100 purportedly classified documents were in fact classified but the Trump lawyers refused to say again that the documents were not classified and Donald Trump's lawyers in writing went so far as to invite a criminal prosecution of Donald Trump to determine whether the documents are classified and whether or not they belong to Donald Trump the Trump lawyers actually said in writing whether some of the listed property does not in fact belong to president Trump is a matter best dealt with on summary judgment or at trial or at trial there are Donald Trump's lawyers in writing today to a federal appeals court saying the way to determine who should have these documents is to charge Donald Trump with federal crimes and put him on trial after a day of trump lawyering like today you don't have to be a TV fiction drama writer like I used to be to be left wondering if Donald Trump's lawyers secretly were working against him wanting him to be convicted of crimes would they have done or said anything different today I mean think about it it was Donald Trump's lawyers who suggested Raymond Deary as the special Master the special master who said today that he might not even look at the classified documents before ruling in favor of the prosecution and it is Donald Trump's lawyers who have told the special master and the appeals court that the way to find out if Donald Trump is going to claim that he Declassified those documents while he was present is to charge him with a crime they are inviting Federal prosecutors to charge him with a crime the highest price lawyer in the room today the one Donald Trump is paying three million dollars of his contributors money didn't say a word not one word and he's considered the most competent lawyer on the Trump side at what point does Donald Trump begin to wonder which side are his lawyers really on [Music]

Channel: MSNBC

Views: 1,058,770

Keywords: Lawrence O'Donnell

Id: d2dNFpbo-iw

Length: 10min 42sec (642 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 21 2022