MSNBC hosts and guests discuss potential Trump charges: 'Weakest one'
MSNBC hosts and contributors on "Morning Joe" voiced their concerns that the potential charges against Donald Trump could be the "weakest" case against him.
The alleged charges against Donald Trump might still be that "weakest case" against the former president, MSNBC's "Morning Joe" hosts and guests warned during Monday’s show.
Recent rumors have suggested that New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg plans to file arrest charges against Trump for allegedly paying "hush money" to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet over a supposed affair in 2006. According to Trump, these charges are expected to come on Tuesday.
Ahead of that potential indictment, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy criticized the charges on Sunday, calling it the "weakest case" to bring against Trump.
"Lawyer after lawyer after lawyer will tell you this is the weakest case out there. You see the Supreme Court. You see the statue out there of the lady sitting there with a blindfold on and a scale it’s supposed to be equal to all in America, and the last thing we want or have is somebody putting their thumb on the scale simply because they don’t agree with somebody else’s political view that is what’s wrong, and that’s what infuriates people. And this will not hold up in court," McCarthy said.
A panel on Monday's episode of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" discussed potential arrest charges against Donald Trump. (MSNBC)
MSNBC contributor Charlie Sykes conceded that this may be the "weakest case" against Trump, though it could be the first in a line to come.
"What they ought to recognize is this may be, in many ways, the weakest case, but it’s perhaps only the first this is a long story, and it’s about to get longer," Sykes said.
"If this is the weakest case, then look at all the others that are in line behind this one," host Mika Brzenzinski agreed.
Additional guests throughout the show also recognized that this potential charge against Trump may be the "weakest" or least serious charge against him, anticipating better charges down the line.
"Even if this is deemed the weakest case, I’d argue that as one who has known Donald Trump, as you and Joe has, this is the heaviest case for him," MSNBC contributor Reverend Al Sharpton said.
Former President Donald J. Trump watches the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Saturday, March 18, 2023, in Tulsa, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Former U.S. attorney Chuck Rosenberg said, "People keep referring to the New York case as the weakest case. To me, as a former prosecutor, weak means a case where the evidence is thin or perhaps you don’t have a reasonable probability of conviction,' What I think they might mean is that it’s the less serious case. And how serious a case is, is reflected in how it is categorized or classified. In this case, under New York state law, it’s a misdemeanor. It’s admittedly less serious."
However, he later added, "It doesn’t make it a weak case if you look at it from the perspective of a prosecutor, you bring your case when it is ready. So it would be a political decision to bring it too soon for some other purpose or to wait for some other purpose. If the case is ready, and as the elected prosecutor in Manhattan, you believe it is an appropriate charge, you bring it. It may be less serious than the other cases out there, but that doesn’t make it weaker."
MSNBC host Jonathan Lemire reported, "I do think there is concern. Democrats I've spoken to, including some senior members of the White House, who do fear that because this case is weakest, that if it is brought first, that it will be potential--allow Trump to then paint this one as illegitimate, that it's weak, and suggest that all of the other cases against him are as well. And that is something they're worried about."
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is rumored to charge former President Donald Trump on Tuesday. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
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Various legal experts have criticized Bragg’s potential charge as being weak or overtly political. Former federal prosecutor Francey Hakes told "Fox & Friends Weekend" that "this is a really serious time because this is Banana Republic sort of stuff."