‘This Is a Huge Win for the Former President’: Levinson on the Impact of Judge McAfee’s Ruling

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
MOHYELDIN: “Jessica I will start with you. You point out that at the heart of this issue is the public confidence in the legal system. You know the judge said there’s no conflict of interest but the damage in the public perception is certainly something we should be concerned of. Do you believe this case has been indefinitely tainted? Will it be hard to put together a jury that is not biased if you will.”
Levinson: “Well let’s start with outside the courtroom, this is a huge win for the former president. The fact that these hearings occurred. The fact that you have the judge say the odor of mendacity remains, that Fani Willis used terrible judgment. This ruling really was saying, okay, defense you didn’t prove an actual conflict of interest but something here is so problematic that the appearance remains and an appearance is a problem when it comes to the criminal justice system. To your point, it’s not just the jurors, it is not just the defendants and the prosecution. We all need to have faith in the system as something that functions because prosecutors go forward with cases not because it’s good for them but because the facts and the law indicate that they should. Now obviously jury selection, to your question, is going to be a big deal here. It was always going to have to be a very carefully picked jury because let’s remember, show me a juror who has never heard of Donald Trump and has no opinion of Donald Trump before. The question for a jury isn’t do you have any views of these people. The question for the jury is now you have a different job. It’s not your opinion of Fani Willis or it is not your opinion of the former president, go in and look at the facts as presented, look at the applicable law, and make that decision. I do have faith that jurors can do that.”