John Yoo
The Democrats’ star witness Tuesday for President Trump’s impeachment hearing has threatened legal action if Fox News does not retract an opinion segment that was critical of him from a few weeks ago. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman sent a letter through his lawyer to the news network saying they were “liable for punitive damages” for “false and defamatory allegations it published about LTC Vindman, knowing they were false.”
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, who earlier this year said falsely said that Donald Trump is “talking about exterminating Latinos,” on Tuesday struck again. She lashed out at Fox News host Laura Ingraham, calling her “chickenshit.” Wallace played a clip of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who is testifying in front of the impeachment probe, and attacked Ingraham and her Fox News guests for criticizing him: “Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman.”
During a mini-monologue Wednesday night, All In host Chris Hayes complained that “someone like John Yoo wrote a legal memo that facilitated the US implementing torture, which is a war crime” has a “nice tenured perch at Berkeley Law School.” Yoo, who worked on the Office of Legal Counsel during the George W. Bush administration, responded to Hayes’s attack; in part by calling the MSNBC host a “pipsqueak.”
Regular viewers of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart are accustomed by now to the verbal battles that ensue when Stewart brings conservative guests on his show. The guests usually leave with a bit of egg on their faces, and Stewart comes off as the hard hitting, divisive and sarcastic critic.
But viewers were treated to a rare dose of sincerity and intelligent debate on Monday, when Stewart hosted former legal counsel for the Bush Justice Department John Yoo. Following up on what was a meaningful and intelligent interview Monday night, Stewart apologized to his audience on Tuesday for not being his usual cutthroat self, and daring to discuss issues in a civilized tone.
Yoo and Stewart duked it out for almost 30 minutes (videos below the fold), but the host did not manage to get the better of Yoo, who is now infamous among liberal circles for writing the legal briefs justifying expanded executive powers to combat terrorism under the previous administration.
Stewart ended the segment with a very uncharacteristic--given his tendency to demonize conservatives--call for civility in the public discourse (brief partial transcript after videos):