A heated exchange erupted on Fox News’ “The Five” as co-hosts debated the implications of an egregious decision by New York judge Arthur Engoron against former President Donald Trump.
The panel discussion took a fiery turn when Jeanine Pirro, Greg Gutfeld, and Jesse Watters clashed with their Democrat co-host Jessica Tarlov over the ruling and broader issues affecting New York.
The ruling levied fines of over $350 million and enforced a three-year ban on Trump from holding executive office or securing loans from New York banks.
Jeanine Pirro, a former judge, vehemently criticized the handling of Trump’s fraud case.
“This Leticia James is out of control. She is unethical. She is inept. You do not pick a person and say, ‘I will find a crime. I don’t like you. I’m going to find…’ We’ve got all this crime going out here, and this woman’s after Donald Trump. Shame on her and all of them,” said Pirro.
The conversation then shifted to Democrat co-host Jessica Tarlov, who countered by emphasizing the legal implications of Trump’s actions and the need to uphold the law against falsifying business records and committing insurance fraud.
“I assume they’ve thought about this long enough that they have a good answer for that. But basically, everyone who is defending Donald Trump in this, from Kevin O’Leary to some folks here, is saying it is okay to falsify your business records, to issue false financial statements, to commit conspiracy for insurance fraud,” said Tarlov.
However, the debate quickly escalated as Tarlov and Pirro clashed over the specifics of Trump’s financial dealings, with Tarlov insinuating that Trump maintained three sets of books for various purposes—a claim that Pirro challenged.
Tarlov then mentioned about the January 6 event and the FBI raid in Mar-a-Lago.
“So since Donald Trump ran the first time, he has been making this argument, ‘If they could do this to me, they could do this to you.’ The average person is not inflating their wealth by 800 million to $2.2 billion. They’re not sexually assaulting women. They’re not storing classified documents in the toilet. They’re not fomenting an insurrection,” said Tarlov.
Gutfeld joined the fray by drawing an analogy between contract negotiations and Trump’s situation, suggesting that aggressive bargaining doesn’t equate to breaking the law. “There is no fraud here, which is why you’re bringing up other stuff,” Gutfeld directed at Tarlov.
Watters then weighed in, arguing that Tarlov lacked an understanding of real estate, finance, and the legal complexities involved in such cases. He staunchly defended Trump’s impact on New York City, lambasting Letitia James for not addressing street crime and targeting political adversaries instead.
“Jessica knows nothing about real estate, real estate valuations, real estate development, the IRS, or getting loans from big banks to develop skylines in New York City. Donald Trump did more for New York City than a thousand Leticia James has done,” said Watters.
“Then her phony friend, Alvin Bragg, if you just try to defend yourself working at a bodega or on the subway, he goes after you. That’s why 160 businesses have left New York. That’s why almost a million New Yorkers have left. This is an unsafe climate if you have a certain political opinion. It’s why companies don’t do business in Venezuela, Russia, and Pakistan, because it’s corrupt. Because if you’re on the other side of the political people that are in power at the time, they’ll target your business.”
Watters extended the debate to national politics, drawing comparisons between the scrutiny of Trump and the business dealings of the Biden crime family. He called for equal treatment under the law, highlighting accusations of tax fraud and improper foreign dealings by the Bidens.
WATCH:
Judge Jeanine Pirro OVERRULES political persecution of Trump on LIVE TV, DESTROYS lib co-host’s case after NYC ruling proves Regime is TERRIFIED about 2024 pic.twitter.com/JjBAAqwqJm
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 20, 2024
