MS NOW host Rachel Maddow appeared stumped after a Justice Department lawyer apologized to a federal judge for withholding information about an arrest warrant that led to a “patently false” Department of Homeland Security press release about said judge, leading the judge to consider contempt charges against the department.
“Lying to a federal judge, lying about a federal judge is a really big deal if you’re a lawyer or a government official,” Maddow said on Monday.
The “Rachel Maddow Show” host then broke down the case in Rhode Island involving the state’s U.S. Attorney’s office and U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose, a Biden appointee. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Bolan apologized to DuBose on Monday after a Homeland Security press release on Thursday — titled “Activist Biden Judge Releases Violent Criminal Illegal Alien Wanted for Murder” — accused her of knowingly releasing an ICE detainee who had been accused of murder in the Dominican Republic.
Bolan acknowledged on Monday that the press release “simply was not true” and said he didn’t inform DuBose about the warrant because he believed authorities in the Dominican Republic hadn’t signed off, according to Politico. DuBose said the “completely erroneous and dangerous” press release put “judicial security at risk” and was “setting up a false narrative,” saying she would consider contempt charges for both federal departments.
Maddow put it succinctly: “That is very not good.” The pundit further noted how the case shows that the Trump administration is “failing,” both in the legal sphere and in the court of public opinion.
“Even some of their schemes and scams are falling apart every day, every news cycle,” she said. “The list just piles up of things at which they are failing.”
Maddow also brought up a request last week from the Southern Poverty Law Center to a judge to get the transcript of the DOJ’s presentation to a grand jury, believing the department may have withheld information. The department accused the civil rights group of fraud in a criminal case last month.
“The fact that this is even in play in a high-profile case like this is unheard of for Justice Department lawyers,” Maddow said. “But in Trump’s Justice Department, that’s kind of how they roll. They are not great at this.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
