Former federal prosecutor and CNN’s senior legal analyst, Elie Honig was stunned by the level of “incompetence” displayed by Attorney General Pam Bondi who announced on Wednesday that she had “filed charges” against the state of New York and top Democrats in the state.
“We have filed charges against [Governor] Kathy Hochul. We have filed charges against [Attorney General] Letitia James and [DMV Commissioner] Mark Schroeder,” Bondi said.
It eventually became clear that Bondi was not filing criminal charges as she may have implied but was actually bringing a civil suit against the state’s leaders over immigration policies.
Hours later on CNN, host of The Source, Kaitlan Collins noted that Bondi still hasn’t filed a lawsuit yet and asked Honig if it is “typical to not have it filed before you announce a lawsuit like this?”
He did not hold back.
“No, Kaitlan. It can only be the result of incompetence,” Honig said. “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.”
Collins noted that there was some confusion around Bondi’s announcement because she had implied that the Justice department is bringing criminal charges when they are merely suing.
“What a bizarre way to open this press conference,” Honig said, noting that at the beginning of the presser Bondi said she “filed charges” three times.
“Ninety-Nine out of 100 civilians understands that to mean criminal charges,” he continued. “One hundred out of 100 prosecutors understands that to mean criminal charges. When she said that, my phone went crazy. People saying, ‘wait, has Pam Bondi indicted Letitia James?”
“Now, it turns out the answer is no,” Honig said. “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.”
