'Juvenile and nonsensical': Ex-FBI official says court will ignore Trump's Grinch remark
Trump's attorneys might as well have filed their responses in crayon.
For Chuck Rosenberg, a former career federal prosecutor and senior FBI official, a Dr. Seuss reference employed by Trump's attorneys in formal court papers casting Jack Smith as the storybook villain of the "Grinch" was hard to understand.
"I thought it was juvenile," he said.
The attorneys made hay over Smith's proposed speedy schedule that "would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans."
"It is as if the Special Counsel 'growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, ‘I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming. ... But how?’"
Trump was indicted based on his conduct on Jan. 6, 2021 to incite a mob of mostly Trump supporters who ended up engaged in a riot and then stormed the Capitol Building to thwart the certification of the presidential election.
For Rosenberg, the notion that attorneys can't find a way to work diligently as the holiday nears is hogwash.
"I will tell you this: on any holiday, military officials, federal law enforcement officials, intelligence officials, are working," he said. "That's what they do. They work."
"Because the work is important, and the work is necessary."
The stakes in this case couldn't be higher in Rosenberg's opinion.
"So the notion that the most important criminal case in the country can't be litigated by attorneys over the holidays is juvenile and nonsensical and that was my reaction, Alex."
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He also took umbrage over the casual use of name calling in formal legal documents, explaining how "calling people names doesn't get you any sort of traction."
Rosenberg believes Smith and the court won't pay the "Grinch" jab much mind.
"Jack Smith ignored it and the courts will ignore it — I promise you that."