President Donald Trump's DOJ got a tongue-lashing on MS NOW's "Deadline: White House" on Thursday as anchor Nicolle Wallace dismantled their botched efforts to criminally prosecute Democratic lawmakers.
"There are signs everywhere that there are, in fact, some checks remaining on the Trump administration's worst impulses and excesses," said Wallace. "We saw it this week with the Department of Justice, when they were handed a resounding defeat by a grand jury, when Jeanine Pirro's office tried and failed to indict six Democratic lawmakers who simply released a video, 90 seconds, urging the men and women of the military to refuse any illegal orders."
This flat rejection of a grand jury indictment, called a "no true bill," was "nothing short of an embarrassment for the Trump administration, and it is something so rare for any U.S. Attorney that many go their whole careers without that happening to them, without ever facing rejection from a grand jury like this one," said Wallace. "But it is now a common occurrence for Donald Trump's political appointees inside DOJ."
As if that weren't enough, she noted, a federal judge also blocked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from military punishment of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), one of the six lawmakers from the video.
"That judge wrote this, quote: 'Secretary Hegseth relies on the well-established doctrine that military servicemembers enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections, given the fundamental obligation for obedience and discipline in the armed forces. Unfortunately for Secretary Hegseth, no court has ever extended those principles to retired servicemembers, much less a retired servicemember serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility over the military. This court will not be the first to do so," said Wallace.
"In the face of these checks on Donald Trump's autocratic tactics, his foot soldiers are doubling down and trying to carry out his desire for revenge. Punchbowl is reporting that the Trump administration will try to indict the six lawmakers again," noted Wallace. However, she noted, the upshot is "so much losing for Donald Trump."
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