NBC’s Dilanian: Dismissal Of Comey Indictment Is A “Victory For The Rule Of Law”
NBC News justice correspondent Ken Dilanian on MSNBC reacted to the dismissal of the James Comey indictment.
CHRIS JANSING, MS NOW HOST: I also want to bring in Ken Dilanian, and Ken, again, I’m very quickly trying to read through this document. But the judge goes back and talks about when the previous acting attorney was resigned, and then Donald Trump the next day put a very long social media post on, including claiming that they had a great case. And many lawyers and legal pundits, as he often will state, he says, agree with that. Lindsey Halligan, he wrote, is a really good lawyer and likes you a lot. We can’t delay any longer. It’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice. They indicted me five times over nothing. Justice must be served now. There’s a lot in here that doesn’t necessarily apply directly or could apply to some of these other questions that James Comey has raised. Tell me your take on what you’re seeing in this decision by the judge. KEN DILANIAN, NBC JUSTICE CORRESPOMDENT: No, you’re exactly right, Chris. But just to underscore what Fallon just said, this is a procedural victory. It is not a substantive victory. It’s a procedural move, just the way Judge Aileen Cannon throwing out the indictment against Donald Trump on appointment clause grounds was a procedural defeat for that case, but not a substantive defeat. So James Comey is no doubt happy that this is happening, but assuming this indictment gets refiled with a different U.S. attorney, he’s still going to have a legal battle on his hands, and he’s still going to want to win the substantive fight and argue that this is a vindictive prosecution. But it does underscore that Donald Trump has been playing games with the appointments clause in all of these cases for a long time, and finally, it’s caught up to him. A judge has said, no, thank you. You can’t do this. The rules are very clear. Now, they can, of course, appeal this, and they probably will, and so we’re in for a bit of litigation here. But nonetheless, this is a significant ruling, and some will see it as a victory for the rule of law, Chris. JANSING: Well, he’s certainly right.
