Laurence Tribe: Whitaker Is ‘the Phony Acting Attorney General’

EXCERPT:

TRIBE: "I think it’s a very strong lawsuit, and I think Pete did a great job summarizing it, except for one little thing, he suggests that it’s a kind of back door attack. I don’t really agree with that. The fact is that this is a lawsuit brought against Attorney General Sessions and the commissioner of internal revenue and the head of HHS, because of the way they are enforcing or failing to enforce the Affordable Care Act. And if the state of Maryland is right, and I think it is, that Jeff Sessions no longer being there requires that there be a legitimate acting attorney otherwise, they’re engaged in shadow boxing. And if they’re shadow boxing against someone whose every act is eventually going to be declared null and void, namely the phony acting Attorney General, Matt Whitaker, then they’re irreparably harmed. And so, they really had no choice other than to ask the judge not just to change some words on the caption but to give them a legitimate opponent. And their view is that legitimate opponent is Rod Rosenstein, who is, as a matter of law, the acting attorney general, even though the president thinks he’s appointed somebody else to that job. So I think it’s a front door lawsuit, and I think the door was wide open. I think the judge should say, walk right through."