Morally bankrupt': Former Defense Secretary shreds Trump over national security failings
Former President Donald Trump's disrespect for the security of classified information really amounts to a disrespect for the men and women behind that classified information who put their lives on the line for the country, argued former Bill Clinton Secretary of Defense William Cohen on CNN Friday.
This came after the release of the 37-count indictment against the former president secured by special counsel Jack Smith.
"When you read the transcript of the former president saying to a room full of just people who were there to hear from him and suck up to him, none of whom had security clearances, saying, you know, this is highly confidential, it's secret. This is secret information. Look. Look at this, and showing them a document," said anchor Anderson Cooper. "I mean, did you ever imagine a president, or somebody who had been president, would do that?"
"Well, Anderson, I felt that he was unfit to be president, unfit to be commander in chief, from the very beginning," said Cohen. "I felt that initially and I didn't vote for him, and I spoke out against him because I saw his character shining through, how he criticized John McCain not being a hero, how he embarrassed a reporter who had a disability, how he actually criticized a Gold Star family during a convention."
Trump's behavior throughout the 2016 campaign, Cohen continued, "told me that the care he was lacking in character and was morally bankrupt."
"And as far as dealing with our men and women who serve us, he's in Arlington National Cemetery looking over the gravesites with John Kelly, General John Kelly, whose son is buried there and said, what was in it for all these people?" added Cohen. "What was in it was the fight for democracy, which is something he apparently doesn't really understand."
Watch:Prosecutors getting Trump's lawyer notes says 'all you need to know' about the case: ex-DOJ official
The fact that the government was able to pierce the barrier of attorney-client privilege and obtain Donald Trump's lawyer's notes tells you "all you need to know" about the strength of the prosecution's case, a former DOJ official said Friday evening.
In a wide-ranging interview on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, former Acting Solicitor General of the United States Neal Katyal suggested that the prosecution's ability to work within the courts to get access to traditionally barred materials says a lot about how the trial will unfold.
Katyal echoed the sentiments of Andrew Weissman, a veteran federal prosecutor who worked on the special counsel investigation into Trump's ties to Russia, who said earlier on the same panel that the "gold" in the indictment "was revealed by having pierced the attorney-client privilege" and that it "relates to the obstruction charges."
"The basic rule is, attorney-client privilege is sacrosanct until and unless you as the client are trying to solicit a crime that your lawyer is participating in," Weissman said. "So that is not something that is privileged and you obviously need to go to a judge, and the judge has to agree that you established that."
Following Weissman's comments, Katyal elaborated even further, saying the key point was the overriding of attorney-client privilege.
"I think Andrew makes the very important point," Katyal said, adding that "what ultimately was litigated and brought to this very respected judge in Washington, D.C., and then ultimately to our nation's second highest court, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, should attorney-client privilege in the current notes be given over to prosecutors?"
He further said the courts "took the radical step, really unique, of saying that this is so serious, this crime, and Trump was using his attorney to try to commit it," that it warranted the departure.
"They basically pierced attorney-client privilege," he added. "That to me, Lawrence, says that all you need to know about this case."
Katyal further noted that, because "this is such a serious matter, and Trump's actions were so lawless," that attorney-client privilege ultimately had to be pierced.
"We have to pierce attorney-client privilege, the most sacred privilege in Anglo Americana law going back centuries upon centuries. That to me is why I listened to Jack Smith's press conference today, and the most important words he said were to all Americans: read the indictment."
Watch:'Bumbling mafia don': legal expert explains how Trump made the prosecution's case stronger
Donald Trump acted like "the most bumbling mafia don in the history of mafia dons" when he coordinated the obstruction alleged in the confidential documents case, national security attorney Brad Moss said Friday night.
Moss, who said on Thursday that Trump is facing the legal challenge of his life with a legal team that isn't up for the job, was part of a panel discussing the case on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell. Moss accused Trump of "showing off documents" and being carless in other ways.
"He's talking about it to a staffer from the political action committee. He's talking about it to the ghost writers of Mark Meadows," Moss said. "He's getting these subpoenas and acting like the most mafia don in the history of mafia dons. He was joking and talking to his lawyer like, can we say that we don't have anything?"
No, Moss said, you either "comply with the subpoena or move to quash it."
"I don't see a lot of substantive defense that Donald Trump will make at trial," according to Moss.
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