When Donald Trump faced four separate indictments with a collective 88 criminal charges, Trump advisors like Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were jailed for contempt of Congress, January 6 defendants had the book thrown at them, and the FBI spied on Catholics attending Latin masses, the left claimed “no one is above the law.”
Last Thursday, a federal grand jury in Virginia indicted former FBI Director James Comey on one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction. On X, Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed the “no one is above the law” refrain, but Democrats are now singing a different tune, calling the indictment vengeful, political retribution, and a weaponization of the Department of Justice?
So, what’s changed? On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by journalist Leland Vittert to discuss his new book Born Lucky and also the hilarity that ensued when he confronted a Democratic congressman with this very obvious double standard on his NewsNation show last week.
The Exchange
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) was a guest on NewsNation’s On Balance with Leland Vittert Thursday night to discuss the Comey indictment when Vittert asked the question on everyone’s mind:
“[New York Attorney General] Letitia James said on camera, ‘I am running to get Donald Trump.’ And she did, and Democrats were just fine with that. ‘Rule of law, rule of law.’ Donald Trump ran on, ‘I am going to get my political enemies and do unto them what they have done to me,’ which he is doing right now. You didn’t mind it when Leticia James did it, you’re just justifying it. But when Donald Trump does it, it’s terrible. So what’s the difference?”
There is a difference, according to the 10-term congressman, and it apparently has something to do with… grocery prices?! “Well, the difference is because he campaigned on putting prices on grocery stores down the first day, getting control of inflation. He hasn’t,” Cohen began.
At that point, Vittert burst out laughing as his guest continued with a straight face. “Grocery prices are still high as they can be. He’s taking health care away from working people,” he added.
That’s when Vittert jumped in: “Oh, come on, Congressman. Come on.” But Cohen didn’t budge. “Nah, it’s a big difference,” he insisted. “He’s made it a point [that] he’s going to be retribution, going after all the people, and he has weaponized the Justice Department like never before.”
When Vittert again tried to get Cohen to address the “hypocrisy,” he suggested the indictment was not legitimate because of the acting U.S. attorney who brought it. Vittert tried a third time to get a straight answer, and all Cohen could muster was that there are “so many differences” due to what he called the “direct interference” of Trump in the DOJ.
Perhaps the congressman forgot about the April 2022 reporting in The New York Times that then-President Joe Biden had been pressuring his attorney general, Merrick Garland – before even a single indictment had been sought against Donald Trump – to get more aggressive, be more decisive, and to indict Donald Trump.
LOL
Regardless, Megyn said she thoroughly “enjoyed” Vittert’s reaction. “It’s so great that you called him out on it because those of us who would ask those tough, fair questions don’t usually get access to Democrat lawmakers like that,” she noted. “You did, and you took it, and he was so flat footed in the response that even sweet, down the middle Leland burst out laughing in his face.”
Vittert admitted he didn’t know how else to respond. “Honestly, I didn’t know what else to do. You ask a very kind of reasonable question… and the best you have is grocery prices,” he wondered. “When he got off TV… hopefully he went to his staff and said, ‘I need to be better prepared for my interviews; I need better talking points’ because this was the most obvious question in the world. I’m not an opinion guy… I’m a news guy, and my job is to ask hard questions to both sides.”
He believes the answer (or lack thereof) speaks to where we are as a country. “I think what this sort of proves is that we’re at the point where lawfare is the rule of law in America, and people can agree or disagree whether that’s a good thing,” Vittert added. “I think anybody would sort of say that’s probably a bad thing, but that’s just the world we’re in. And Republicans will do unto Democrats what has been done unto them, and it’s hard to argue that that’s not fair.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Vittert by tuning in to episode 1,159 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.