A new video showing a top Justice Department official ordering the arrest of a Democratic mayor during a protest at an immigration detention facility could create serious problems for department leadership, a former New York prosecutor said Tuesday.
The footage features Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche instructing law enforcement to arrest Newark, New Jersey’s Mayor Ras Baraka — an order that had previously only been alleged in court documents.
Former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg appeared on MSNBC’s *Deadline: White House* to discuss the stunning video.
“I wish I could have this thing people talk about, being numb or not being shocked anymore. This is shocking to me,” said anchor Nicolle Wallace. “The deputy attorney general of the United States is on the phone with law enforcement, not just talking about an arrest, but stagecrafting it. What happened to Todd Blanche? Why is he involved at that point in the stagecraft?”
Greenberg responded, “I mean, that’s so far outside what he should be discussing. And, yeah, where is the U.S. Attorney at that point?”
“It was Alina Habba. Like, why is Todd Blanche getting involved? It shows she kind of really wasn’t — wasn’t the one leading the show here. It’s coming all the way from the top, the number two at the Department of Justice.”
Greenberg added that this incident aligns with recent reporting in *The New York Times* that may be cited by defense attorneys representing the Democratic lawmakers involved.
“There was a passage about Todd Blanche that really stuck out to me and is really going to be cited, I think, by any defense attorney of any of these Democratic lawmakers,” she said. “It talked about the fact that, according to the reporting, Todd Blanche understands that Donald Trump still sees him as his personal attorney, and that he knows his client wanted revenge and not a legal lecture, so he knew it would be futile to protest too much.”
Greenberg described the situation as “a complete abdication of any responsibility that he has,” warning that it could also expose Blanche to legal liability if the political officials he tried to prosecute pursue action against him.
“This story, which is all captured on tape, is about law enforcement officers on the phone with the second most powerful law enforcement official in the United States of America, saying, quote, ‘Turn off your body cams, we’re walking out of the gates and arresting him,’ per the deputy attorney general, right?” she explained.
“And not only that, they then had to drop those charges because the whole thing was bogus. Now, you have the mayor of Newark bringing a malicious, vindictive prosecution lawsuit against… Alina Habba. But maybe, after seeing this, he has to add Todd Blanche to the lawsuit.”
Watch the video [here](https://www.youtube.com).
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*Source: MSNBC, The New York Times*
https://www.rawstory.com/todd-blanche-2674141269/