MS NOW’s Justice Reporter GOES OFF on Trump DOJ: Being Run Like In Russia and China

MS NOW justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Dilianian went off on President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice following news the White House is pushing for prosecutors to try yet again on a case they already abandoned.

Dialanian joined Katy Tur on The Moment on Tuesday and stressed how concerned prosecutors and lawyers are with the current direction of the Department of Justice.

According to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday, the White House is asking the DOJ to try again to charge former Olympic canoeist David Hearn for allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Hearn was facing a felony charge for destruction of government property until, but Jeanine Pirro, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, filed a motion to have the case dismissed without prejudice. Pirro’s office also filed to dismiss charges against others accused of similar vandalization.

Dilanian argued the White House pushing for new charges is unprecedented and sounds like something out of countries like Russia and China.

He said:

The vast majority of the career lawyers who are still working in the Justice Department are greatly troubled by what is happening in this case, in other cases. And let’s not mince words here. A lot of presidents care about their image and want to conform the facts to reality.

Donald Trump is doing things that we’ve only previously seen in places like Russia and China. The blind pursuit of justice has been a cornerstone of our democracy, and the idea that the White House would direct the Justice Department to, as you said, prosecute an innocent man should concern every American. It’s not partisan at all. It has nothing to do with Republican and Democrat. We’re in a really bad place when these kinds of things are happening, Katy.

Trump was reportedly furious with Pirro for dropping the ball on the vandalism cases. According to a CNN report, the president “read her the riot act” during a meeting in the Oval Office.

Dilanian argued Pirro has likely saved her job — for now.

“She appears to have saved a job in the short term because she did what she had to do, facing potential sanctions, I mean, the Brady material there, it was very clear that the case that they would have brought would not hold up and, in fact, would be thrown out and so she had to do this and she has drawn Donald Trump’s wrath,” he said.

Watch above via MS NOW.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report.

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