CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig appeared in awe of the “incompetence” exhibited by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who confused many by announcing she brought “charges” against top New York Democrats.
“We’re here today because we have filed charges against the state of New York,” Bondi said at a news conference on Wednesday. “We have filed charges against [Governor] Kathy Hochul. We have filed charges against [Attorney General] Letitia James and [DMV Commissioner] Mark Schroeder.”
For a moment, Bondi appeared to be announcing criminal charges against the trio over their resistance to the Trump administration’s efforts to round up undocumented migrants in the state. However, it eventually became clear that Bondi said she was suing the state to get its leaders to comply with federal enforcement efforts. Even still, no suit had been filed at the time.
Hours later, Honig – a former federal prosecutor – appeared on CNN’s The Source, where Kaitlan Collins asked for his reaction.
“Elie, based on what we know so far, I still don’t think it has been filed yet,” she said. “And because of that, in a statement, Governor Hochul responded to this and said, quote, ‘We can’t comment further on a press conference announcing a potential lawsuit that has not been filed yet in any court.’ Elie, is that normal? Is that typical to not have it filed before you announce a lawsuit like this?”
Honig’s response was blunt.
“No, Kaitlan. It can only be the result of incompetence,” he said. “It is 101 when you’re announcing a case as a prosecutor, you don’t get out there, announce it, and then file it later. Sometimes you have to file it five minutes after your presser ends or 10 minutes after your presser ends. But to have it go hours without filing anything is completely inexplicable. Look, if they needed more time to investigate this thing, God bless. Take the time you need, but don’t hold the presser when you haven’t even put anything on the books yet.”
Collins said Bondi’s remarks were “confusing” because it was not exactly clear what kind of legal action the attorney general was taking. Honig replied:
What a bizarre way to open this press conference… In the first 10 seconds of this press conference, the attorney general of the United States said three times she had, quote, “filed charges against New York, against Kathy Hochul, against Letitia James.”
Now, 99 out of 100 civilians understands that to mean criminal charges. One hundred out of 100 prosecutors understands that to mean criminal charges. When she said that, my phone went crazy. People [were] saying, “Wait, has Pam Bondi indicted Letitia James?” Now, it turns out the answer is no. This is a civil lawsuit. But to use that terminology is either an inexplicable screw-up by the new attorney general – although she’s been a prosecutor for 20 years, or was an intentional choice of overheated, misleading rhetoric.
Watch above via CNN.
