MSNBC's Jen Psaki seemed surprised on Sunday by a network legal analyst's admission that he was at the "freakout stage" over the delay in Donald Trump's Jan. 6 case.
Psaki asked MSNBC legal analysts Neal Katyal and Andrew Weissman if Trump's trial could "start in June, July and still be concluded before the election," during a discussion about the delay in Trump's trial related to the 2020 election interference investigation.
Katyal said he would have expected an appeal of this "magnitude" with the "public interest at stake," to be decided by now.
"In the case of this gravity, it should be moving more quickly," he said, in a clip flagged by Mediaite.
"And so, to use your phrase, Jen, at the beginning of this show, I am officially now at the freakout stage. I resisted that for a long time, but we are now at the point," he said.
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Psaki pointed out during the media appearance that Katyal does not typically "freak out" and said, "that's important."
"I think we’re now at the point, to use a different legal phrase, justice delayed is justice denied. I mean, I can’t imagine a more compelling need for speed than the idea that American citizens deserve to know before the election whether a candidate for office is a felon and an insurrectionist," Katyal continued.
Katyal argued that this was an "easy case," and claimed no constitutional law scholars believed Trump had presidential immunity in the case.
"And Judge Chutkan set a fast schedule here. And I have no idea what the Court of Appeals is doing right now. But I can tell you that I’m really worried that this delay is going to put the trial past June. It’s possible that Trump will try and go to the Supreme Court after he loses on the Court of Appeals. That can take months. This is a real problem," he argued.
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Trump's trial stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference investigation has been delayed indefinitely.
Washington, D.C., federal Judge Tanya Chutkan formally vacated the March 4 trial date on Friday, and said the court will "set a new schedule if and when the mandate is returned."
A federal appeals court is considering Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution for his actions in office. A ruling from that court is expected, and the Supreme Court may eventually review the issue.
Weissman, the other MSNBC legal analyst, agreed with Katyal's arguments.
"This is really not looking good for the federal judiciary, in terms of their responsibility to the electorate, whether it’s Judge Cannon who has basically issued a pocket veto on that case, and it’s really slow walked that for no apparent reason," he said. "And you have the same thing going on in the DC circuit. So I agree, with Neal, that there really is no reason for the delay."
Fox News' Brooke Singman, Jake Gibson and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
