Juan Williams said Thursday that the Justice Department dropped charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in order to protect President Donald Trump.
Williams got into a tense exchange with “The Five” cohost Jesse Watters, who referred to Flynn’s prosecution as “out of control” and gave Williams a chance to apologize for defending it. (RELATED: ‘Was That Like Therapy?’: Juan Williams Slams Trump Acquittal Victory Lap)
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“I mean, this is prosecution out of control at the very worst,” Watters began. “Juan. You’ve got to just level with the audience, my man. You are wrong on this thing. Every time we have been talking about this, each pillar of this investigation, this Russia witch hunt has crumbled. It continues to crumble. You can just apologize if you want to, so the floor is yours.”
“Well, thank you, Jesse. I will apologize for you but I don’t think I have much to apologize for,” Williams shot back. He went on to say that he didn’t understand how the prosecution could have dropped charges against Flynn after he pled guilty and after Trump said he’d been fired for lying to Vice President Mike Pence.
“You think about something you just said, Jesse, about the judge,” Williams continued. “The judge in this case, Emmet Sullivan, just last week said there was no reason to dismiss the charges because there was no basis to the idea that either the evidence had been manipulated, that he had been coerced into a confession, or that somehow there had manufactured a charge against him. The judge dismissed all of those and said the charges and the guilty plea stood. So now you have Bill Barr acting politically —”
“Before the evidence came out, Juan,” Watters interrupted.
“No, there’s no added evidence now. All Bill Barr is saying is he had somebody,” Williams protested.
Watters pushed back, saying, “Yes, there was, Juan. The 302s that came out last week.”
“Hang on, let me finish, Jesse. The top investigator in this case has now withdrawn in protest. This is a political move by Barr to take the pressure off Trump when Trump was going to issue a pardon for his buddy. This is the politicization of law in America, and it’s just sickening.”
“Okay. We don’t have that long for me to knock down every false statement you just made to America so I won’t,” Watters replied, moving on.