‘Cowardly!’ MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell Erupts at ‘Disgraced’ CBS, ABC Legal Teams for ‘Acquiescence’ to Trump

MS NOW host Lawrence O’Donnell launched a blistering tirade against CBS and ABC lawyers branding them “cowardly” and “disgraced” in “their acquiescence” to President Donald Trump.

The primetime host’s rant was triggered by The Late Show host Stephen Colbert’s claim his network nixed his interview with Texas state lawmaker James Talarico (D). On Monday, Talarico was due to appear on the show but Colbert told viewers it had been scrapped following advice from CBS News lawyers, who warned the segment could breach the Federal Communications Commission’s “equal-time” rule. The interview was later posted to YouTube, where it quickly drew millions of views.

CBS denied Colbert’s claims in a statement released on Tuesday.

The decision prompted a furious response from O’Donnell during the opening monologue of The Last Word on Tuesday night:

Remember this about the CBS lawyers: they are the weakest, most cowardly corporate lawyers in America, they are actually in a tie with ABC’s lawyers who we will get to in a moment. The CBS lawyers who are now trying to tell Stephen Colbert, who can be a guest on his show, work for a parent company that agreed to pay Donald Trump $16 million to settle a frivolous lawsuit by Donald Trump against 60 Minutes, which Donald Trump had no chance of winning, absolutely zero chance of winning.

But those cowardly corporate lawyers agreed to pay Donald Trump $16 million in what Stephen Colbert correctly called, ‘A big, fat bribe.’ Those lawyers should be witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump in the United States Senate right now, for that bribe. That is their filthy spot that they now occupy in American political and corporate legal history.

O’Donnell continued, blasting ABC’s lawyers for agreeing to a separate £15 million settlement with Trump in 2024 to end a defamation suit brought over comments made by ABC News host George Stephanopoulos. He argued:

[CBS lawyers rank] right beside the ABC lawyers, for their corporate parent, Disney, that agreed to pay Donald Trump $15 million in a frivolous lawsuit against ABC News, a lawsuit that Donald Trump would not have won. The entire legal team at ABC and Disney disgraced themselves, along with the corporate chieftains of Disney’s magic kingdom, in their acquiescence to Donald Trump in their settling a lawsuit that Donald Trump would not have won. The lawyers did not have the courage to use their legal skills to fight Donald Trump’s attempt to get money from this company – Donald Trump’s illegal interference in their business.

O’Donnell continued, arguing that of the “three legacy networks” that “two of them have handed over big, fat bribes to Donald Trump with the approval of the most cowardly corporate lawyers known to be currently working in America.”

He followed that “not one of those lawyers offered a principled resignation” the kind of which he said had been seen by Justice Department prosecutors in response to policies and added that the companies had “disgraced” themselves.

“Instead, they are busy policing Stephen Colbert’s guest list,” he concluded. “They interfere with Stephen Colbert’s show yesterday and then lie about the law today to desperately try to defend their own cowardice.”

Watch above via MS NOW.

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