Lisa Rubin on Letitia James: The Validity of the Indictment It’s on ‘Whether Lindsey Halligan Was Lawfully Appointed’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
RESHEF: Joining us. Now. MSNBC justice and intelligence. Correspondent ken. Dilanian, MSNBC legal correspondent. Lisa Rubin. Former assistant. Attorney general. Who led. The. Justice Department’s criminal division, Leslie Caldwell. And. Former assistant district. Attorney. At the Manhattan district. Da’s office. And MSNBC legal. Analyst Catherine Christian. Ken, first bring us up to speed on. What happened. Today in court. How is Letitia James defense shaping up? Ken, you got me. Okay, well, we’ll. Start. Out with Lisa. You know. Letitia James. Defense wants. This case tossed. Out to begin with. Saying that U.S. Attorney Lindsey. Halligan shouldn’t be in her. Position to begin with. That’s a similar argument we’re seeing from James Comey’s. Defense attorneys. How realistic is that?”

RUBIN: “It’s. First of all. It is realistic to the extent that two other courts have already granted those motions in Nevada and in New Jersey. And so, while, generally speaking, this is kind of an odd motion, we’re also seeing this president use interim and acting positions with a frequency never before seen. Now he’ll say that’s because he can’t get his nominees through what’s called the blue slip process, which allows home state senators to essentially pass judgment on nominees before they’re brought to the Senate floor for confirmation. But notwithstanding that, Lindsey Halligan is in her role after somebody else was already in that role for 120 days, that’s the basis for the motion here. Jim Comey and Letitia James motions about Lindsey Halligan’s appointment and its lawfulness have been consolidated as of today. They’ll likely go to a judge outside the eastern district of Virginia, and I think they have a pretty good shot. The difference here, though, is that the very validity of the indictment turns on whether Lindsey Halligan was lawfully appointed. Why? Because she’s the only person who went into the grand jury. She’s the only person who signed the indictment.”