CNN conservative pundit and MAGA ally Scott Jennings cautioned President Donald Trump to “table” his plan to sue the Justice Department as he defended the president’s right to seek $230 million in damages for past legal battles.
The New York Times reported earlier that day that Trump is suing over the DOJ’s years-long investigations into him.
Under former President Joe Biden’s administration, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought two high-profile cases against Trump. One of those cases was over his alleged retention of classified documents and another for efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, which were later dropped after his 2024 election victory. He is also pursuing separate damages related to the DOJ’s earlier probe into potential ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia.
Yet as CNN’s NewsNight panel debated the subject, host Abby Phillip argued that if the case closes while Trump is in office, he could be the one to sign off on the damages payment himself.
“Look, the process might have begun before he was president, but he’s certainly indicating that it could end while he is the boss of the people who ultimately decide. And he did also say, you heard him say, there: ‘It’s going to come across my desk. I might be the one to decide whether I get paid a quarter of $1 billion,’” the host said.
Turning
Jennings replied, admitting the situation was “unprecedented”: “I don’t know. If it’s true, if it has to come across his desk or not. However, because it is an unprecedented situation –”
The host interjected: “But do you think he should get paid by the Justice Department? That’s the question.”
The panelist offered the president some advice in a guarded break: “My personal advice, if he asked me, would be, you having to table this until you leave office. The process started before you came to office, you then won an election and, you look, I think he maybe was damaged and he’s entitled to the process. If it were me and I were advising him, I would just say you could table it and put it off until you leave office.”
Watch above via CNN.