CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig called Attorney General Pam Bondi’s press conference a “bizarre” display of incompetence Wednesday on CNN’s “The Source.”
At the press conference, Bondi said, “We’re here today because we have filed charges against the state of New York. We have filed charges against Kathy Hochul. We have filed charges against Letitia James and Mark Schroeder who is with the DMV.”
Host Kaitlan Collins asked, “Based on what we know so far, I still don’t think it has been filed yet. And because of that, in a statement, Governor Hochul responded to this and said, quote, ‘We can’t comment further on a press conference announcing a potential lawsuit that has not been filed yet in any court.’ Elie, is that normal? Is that typical to not have it filed before you announce a lawsuit like this?”
Honig said, “No, Kaitlan. It can only be the result of incompetence. It is 101 when you’re announcing a case as a prosecutor, you don’t get out there, announce it, and then file it later. Sometimes you have to file it five minutes after your presser ends or 10 minutes after your presser ends. But to have it go hours without filing anything is completely inexplicable. Look, if they needed more time to investigate this thing, God bless. Take the time you need, but don’t hold the presser when you haven’t even put anything on the books yet.”
He continued, “What a bizarre way to open this press conference… In the first 10 seconds of this press conference, the attorney general of the United States said three times she had, quote, “filed charges against New York, against Kathy Hochul, against Letitia James.”
Honig added, “Now, 99 out of 100 civilians understands that to mean criminal charges. One hundred out of 100 prosecutors understands that to mean criminal charges. When she said that, my phone went crazy with people saying, ‘Wait, has Pam Bondi indicted Letitia James?’ Now, it turns out the answer is no. This is a civil lawsuit. But to use that terminology is either an inexplicable screw-up by the new attorney general – although she’s been a prosecutor for 20 years, or was an intentional choice of overheated, misleading rhetoric.”
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