Figures on CNN and MSNBC claimed the Trump-appointed judge was ‘corrupt’ and that the decision would benefit the former president.
A Trump-appointed judge granted Donald Trump's special master request, thereby delaying parts of the Justice Department's criminal probe. “When you allow Republicans to control the courts you get nothing,” legal expert Elie Mystal says to Joy Reid, adding his view that, “Trump judges do not believe in the rule of law.”
Following a federal judge’s ruling to grant former President Trump a special master to review evidence obtained by FBI agents from his Mar-a-Lago estate, left-leaning media figures on MSNBC and CNN cried foul, and slammed the judge for her decision.
MSNBC’s "The ReidOut" host Joy Reid hosted an entire panel of disgruntled interviewees on Monday, with guests claiming that the judge’s decision was wrong and "corrupt," among other things.
"Trump—he always looks at things as my or mine. My generals, my Kevin, my classified documents, my judges. Apparently he’s got one," Reid said as she smirked.
She then past on the baton to frequent MSNBC guest and The Nation justice correspondent Elie Mystal, who made bold claims about the judge’s credibility and character.
"She’s biased and corrupt. Like, I don’t know what to tell everybody anymore," Mystal said. "Like, I’ve been saying this since he took office. When you allow Republicans to control the courts you get nothing. Trump judges do not believe in the rule of law, they do not believe in precedent, they do not believe in facts, they do not believe in logic—they just believe in whatever’s going to help Donald Trump, and they’ve proven it again and again and again."
The conversation continued on over on "Morning Joe," where the show discussed the Trump court ruling at length. Former top Obama official Neal Katyal, described the judge’s ruling as a "grafted on solution." He also suggested that the ruling looked like it was meant to "protect their guy" or at the very least, "delay justice."
Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews, who was forced to exit the network in 2020, returned as a guest to "Morning Joe" on Tuesday, and echoed Katyal’s perspective that the ruling acted as a delay, and a possible short term win for the former president.
"It’s a classic Trump delay," he said.
MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissman also weighed in on the decision to appoint a special master. He claimed that the ruling seemed "so out of the ordinary" and did little to help "people’s confidence" in the case, if it appeared Trump was receiving "special rules."
"It isn’t the case that because you’re the former president, you get more justice. You should get equal justice. You shouldn’t be treated worse, but he shouldn’t be treated better," he added.
Over on CNN, New York Times senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman said she found the decision "striking" and surmised that the judge was giving Trump "more deference" than perhaps other people would be entitled to.