MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough continued his rantings against Special Counsel John Durham and conservative media on Friday when he concluded that Durham's latest filing was written by "a third grader" and it was deliberately incomprehensible.
Responding to news that Durham has distanced himself from conservative reaction to his filing, Scarborough was not willing to let him off the hook that easily:
Most right-wing outlets wildly and let me underline wildly misrepresented the facts and Special Counselor Durham had to distance himself from the frenzy saying what the other outlets made of his documents was not his fault. Oh, really, you write pleadings like that, you throw the bait out there and -- and -- then you say it's not your fault? Why -- why -- don't you get somebody other than a third grader to write your pleadings next time and -- and -- keep them clear?
After a digression into other Trump news, Politico White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemire asked ABC Chief Washington Correspondent and Betrayal author, Jonathan Karl: “...as much as conservative media latched onto it, at least briefly, in the last few days, there seems like there is not much ‘there’ there. Give us a sense from your perspective just what a disappointment this must be to Trump and his allies.”
Karl distanced himself a little from Scarborough’s earlier comments, calling Durham, “a serious prosecutor,” but alleged “it’s nothing like what Trump is claiming…Nothing remotely like what he says, but because the full results aren't out there, he can kind of pump it up and -- and pretend it's something it's just not.”
Scarborough then returned, unconvinced of Durham’s serious nature:
I mean, here’s a guy who’s a respected prosecutor, been a respected prosecutor for some time. He’s now gone three years, longer investigating the investigator than the underlying investigation, itself and he’s been going at a slow pace. As I’ve said all week, if this guy had been going at a fast clip, if he had a lot to do, I'd be the first to say, keep digging ‘okay, keep digging, man. Take as long as it takes,’ but it seems that he’s dragging his feet and this last pleading was just pathetic, it -- the -- and what was drawn out of it by the Trump press was -- was an absolute joke.”
He then alleged: “Even the one charge of lying to the FBI appears to be on the shakiest of ground and then he had a fact pattern that it took I think most of us…as a former lawyer, I was sitting there reading it for a day-and-a-half trying to figure out what exactly what the prosecutor was trying to say and by the end, I just had to assume he was trying to keep it as murky as possible.”
Karl concluded the Durham portion of the segment by countering that Durham’s methodical nature makes him more credible, but reiterated that he thinks ultimately his conclusion will be a “disappointment to Trump and his allies.”
One can only imagine how greatly disappointed Durham is for not living up to the expectations of Joe Scarborough.
This segment was sponsored by E-Trade.
Here is a transcript for the February 18 show:
MSNBC Morning Joe
2/18/2022
8:17 AM ET
JOE SCARBOROUGH: On the same day, conservative media was railing over new filings from Special Counsel John Durham, but most right-wing outlets wildly and let me underline wildly misrepresented the facts and Special Counselor Durham had to distance himself from the frenzy saying what the other outlets made of his documents was not his fault. Oh, really, you write pleadings like that, you throw the bait out there and -- and then you say it's not your fault? Why -- why don't you get somebody other than a third grader to write your pleadings next time and -- and keep them clear?
…
8:21 AM ET
JONATHAN LEMIRE: Hey Jon, good morning, Jonathan Lemire. You and I have both covered the Trump presidency and heard on a near daily basis, the anticipation and excitement about the Durham Report. That they thought this was going to be the rebuttal to Robert Mueller, this was going to prove the president right, that he was spied upon, they thought would be a real political game-changer. And as much as conservative media latched onto it, at least briefly, in the last few days, there seems like there is not much "there" there. Give us a sense from your perspective just what a disappointment this must be to Trump and his allies.
JONATHAN KARL: Well, you know, we'll -- we’ll see what’s -- what’s actually there. Durham is a serious prosecutor. He’s been methodically going through; he’s already pointed out some -- some clear issues with -- with aspects of the Russia investigation. But it’s nothing like what Trump is claiming. He actually has a new statement out saying that Durham has demonstrated that Hillary Clinton broke into the White House. I don't know -- I don’t know what he's talking about. But -- but -- but -- Trump has been manifestly obsessed with this investigation. It was a big point of contention with his relationship with -- with Bill Barr in -- in 2020. Constantly furious that Barr wasn't, you know, releasing the Durham investigation before the election, you know, as something that would theoretically, you know, help him out.
But -- but, yeah, I mean, it's nothing like what he has said. I mean, nothing that we have seen in anything Durham has done, including this filing over the weekend says anything about spying on -- on Donald Trump and Trump Tower or in the White House. Nothing remotely like what he says, but because the full results aren't out there, he can kind of pump it up and -- and pretend it's something it's just not.
SCARBOROUGH: Can you give us insight on Durham? I mean, here’s a guy who’s a respected prosecutor, been a respected prosecutor for some time. He’s now gone three years, longer investigating the investigator than the underlying investigation, itself and he’s been going at a slow pace. As I’ve said all week, if this guy had been going at a fast clip, if he had a lot to do, I'd be the first to say, keep digging “okay, keep digging, man. Take as long as it takes,” but it seems that he’s dragging his feet and this last pleading was just pathetic, -- it -- the -- and what was drawn out of it by the Trump press was -- was an absolute joke.
Even the one charge of lying to the FBI appears to be on the shakiest of ground and then he had a fact pattern that it took I think most of us, I’m sure you were like me, I was, as a former lawyer -- as a former lawyer I was sitting there reading it for a day-and-a-half trying to figure out what exactly what the prosecutor was trying to say and by the end, I just had to assume he was trying to keep it as murky as possible. What insight can you give us on Durham? What insight can you give us on the investigation?
KARL: I mean, it’s -- it’s -- it's a real -- it’s a real riddle. As you said, it's been going on methodically for a long time. I think that if Durham had intended to be, you know, playing a, you know, some kind of role to aid Trump here, a political role, you know, if he was not just simply being a methodical prosecutor then he would have done something before the election. He absolutely didn't. So, he doesn't seem like he is been, you know, too prone to political influence on either side. The last filing, though, was -- was particularly odd because if he had been trying to hide it, he probably couldn't have done much of a better job.
It was -- it was a side pleading on whether or not a lawyer at a conflict of interest he wasn't trying to wave a big banner, a “ha ha, there was -- there was spying going on,” and now he’s, sort of, got a subsequent filing that has come out where he’s, you know, suggests that -- that it’s been misinterpreted in -- in the press and it wasn't an effort to -- to gin up anything politically.
But I, the honest answer Joe is, I just don’t know. I mean, it's so strange. You remember that when -- when it started he was returning around Italy with -- with Attorney General Barr, which seemed to be chasing, you know, a conspiracy theory about the origins of the investigation, nothing seemed to have come from that, but he -- he does seem to be chasing down, you know, absolutely everything. But I -- I got to believe that when it finally, when he finally concludes his work, and by the way, we don't know what he’s going to do when he concludes his work. Is there going to be a report? Is there, I mean, there’s -- there’s no -- there’s no suggestion of -- of exactly what the end game here is. But -- but I imagine despite what’s happened over the past week, it’ll be a disappointed to Trump, disappointment to Trump and his allies.
