On CNN’s “The Source” Friday, Elie Honig, CNN’s senior legal analyst, said sanctuary policies are bad ideas, but they are not illegal, and that the DOJ’s investigation into “elected leaders engaging in speech that is essentially protected by the First Amendment” is a “derailed” move by the DOJ.
Host Kaitlan Collins said, “I think a big question tonight, given that this is so clearly focused on Mayor Frey and Governor Walz’s comments, is whether or not anything they said meets the definition of obstructing law enforcement.
Honig responded: “Absolutely not. This is political speech protected by the First Amendment. … If public officials – as we do here – make a political speech, even if it’s explosive, inflammatory, aggressive, and then causes people to protest or call 911, that simply does not constitute obstruction of justice. If they bring an obstruction indictment, I promise you, they will lose. And in a broader perspective, Kaitlan, over the last week or so the DOJ has lost its mind I There’s no better way to say it Renee Good was shot nine days ago, right It’s immediately clear that we need an investigation, that the details, the moments, the movements are going to matter. of all facts for, again, First Amendment protected activity And now we learn that they are criminally watching elected leaders engage in First Amendment protected speech.
Later, Collins asked, “One thing that they also said that they were very critical of is they say that the cops in Minneapolis, the officials in Minneapolis and Minnesota in general are not going to let federal officials into their prisons on this. Is that something that they could be investigated for?”
Honig responded: “I’m glad you asked that question. I’m personally an opponent of sanctuary cities, and I’ve acted – when I was in the state of New Jersey and at the federal level – I think sanctuary city policies are counterproductive. When state officials say we’re not going to share information, we’re not going to let you into our jails to make arrests, I think that’s a bad idea, a bad policy. But it’s not criminal. The state is not obligated to cooperate with the state. The federal government cannot obstruct, but there is no positive obligation to cooperate. So if you say we’re not going to share information, we’re not going to let you into our public facilities, that’s not a crime.
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