On January 30th, former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested in connection with the January 18th anti-ICE attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota that ended their church service. He was later charged with conspiracy to deprive rights, and violation of the FACE Act, and at the time many in the liberal media including his former CNN colleagues rushed to his defense. On Friday, Lemon's attorneys moved to have the charges against Lemon dismissed, and later on CNN's The Lead With Jake Tapper, Lemon's attorney Abbe Lowell was given the floor to make his case uninterrupted.
Tapper typically began the show proclaiming "the Justice Department twice today accused of using the law to punish President Trump's critics. Case number one today, Don Lemon, our former colleague here at CNN." He only repeated the defense, and not the prosecution.
TAPPER: In January, you might remember, during all that horrific mess in Minnesota, the Justice Department charged Lemon with two federal crimes. They accused him of conspiring to violate constitutional rights and violating the FACE act, which prohibits intentionally interfering with someone's First Amendment right to practice religion. The charges as -- such as they are -- stem from Lemon's presence at an anti-ICE protest inside a Minnesota church earlier this year. Lemon, who pleaded not guilty in February, has repeatedly said that he was there as a journalist covering the protests, not as an activist. In fact, he said this during his live stream of the disruption.
LEMON: I'm just here, I'm not. I'm just here photographing....I'm not a part of the group, I'm just photographing. I'm a journalist.
TAPPER: Today, Lemon's attorneys, led by Abbe Lowell, have moved to dismiss the charges, arguing they violate the First Amendment and are part of President Trump's campaign to seek retribution against his political enemies.
Tapper then put up a social media post from Trump in 2019, noting the president "has been attacking Don Lemon since at least 2016. In 2018, the President called Don, who has provided critical coverage of the president for more than a decade now, he called him 'the dumbest man on television.'"
Tapper then welcomed in Lemon's lawyer Lowell, and after discussing another one of his clients, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, who Trump may be renewing his push to fire, Tapper turned to Lemon.
TAPPER: He (Lemon) said even during the live stream that he was there as a journalist, not as a participant. You argue that he's the target of a vindictive prosecution, but that is a high legal bar to clear.
Tapper then allowed Lowell to present an uninterrupted case for Lemon, for about a minute and a half, using some of Tapper's earlier points as ammunition.
LOWELL: The case against Don Lemon in terms of showing vindictive prosecution has to be even stronger because, as you pointed out, the President has been going after Don and ridicule him and trying to take him out for ten years, and his ability to find an excuse to do so, when as again you point out, Don made extraordinarily clear that his job that day was as a journalist.
Lowell then spelled out Friday's court filings.
LOWELL: You pointed out vindictive prosecution. It's a high bar. We think we make that pretty easily under the facts that are spelled out... we are attacking this as being exactly what you said. This statute isn't passed to cover the events of what Don Lemon did, covering the news. And if it is, if they apply it, it is squarely unconstitutional under the First Amendment's protections for journalists in the media.
But if a right-wing group invaded and shut down Sen. Raphael Warnock's Sunday church service as a protest against his leftist politics, and a journalist came along to help film it live, would CNN champion the reporter?
The major problem with this whole presentation in defense of Lemon, is that it leaves out parts of the story that look bad for Lemon. On the night of Lemon's arrest, Fox News host Jesse Watters spelled much of it out.
WATTERS: ..Not a single journalist has ever done this. Why? Because it's illegal and despicable... Journalists can't commit crimes and get off because they filmed it....Don Lemon wasn't even a reporter documenting a protest, that spontaneously turned into a riot. He was in on the crime. Lemon met up with the mob ahead of time. He knew the target. And admitted he was in on the operation. Shutting down a Church service was the goal. Lemon knew it. It was premeditated.
How did all of that and more escape Jake Tapper? Why can't he present Lowell with what he'll face in court? This is CNN.
You can watch more from Watters on the video below.
