so, lisa, who is paul clement? >> paul clement, as you just noted, is the former solicitor general.s sort of been involved in a situation like this before. as judge ho notes in his order. he was appointed by the supreme court as a friend of the court to stand in the shoes of the department of justice when the first trump administration decided it no longer wanted to take the same position. with respect to the structure of the cfpb. there was a lawsuit challenging whether the structure of the cfpb was constitutional. originally, doj said it was. and then trump came into office and said it wasn't. and somebody needed to make that argument that in fact, it was constitutional. that's when the supreme court said, hey, paul clement, want to stand in the shoes of the previous administration and be the department of justice? so he's did he win before? no, he did not win. but paul clement has won a lot of supreme court cases. if i were before the supreme court as a client and i was thinking about who i would want to hire, in addition to our friend neal katyal. paul clement would be at the to

so i think judge ho's pick of paul clement, the former.the. >> george w. >> bush administration, is really an. inspired one because this is. >> an uber. >> conservative. >> experienced litigator. no one can. >> say that he's. >> someone who comes to the court with any. animosity for principles. >> of. conservative government. >> and he's deeply. >> steeped in. >> the traditions. >> of the justice department. >> having served. >> as the. solicitor general. >> it's an. >> interesting approach. >> katie. >> as you. point out, eric adams trial. >> is now adjourned. it's adjourned. with no future. >> date set. >> for it. it's unlikely to occur. but judge ho. >> clearly wants to. >> fully explore the. >> issues and leave. a record before. >> he. >> signs off on the justice. >> department's request. >> to dismiss the indictment. they can. only do. >> that. >> with his permission. >> so. >> joyce, let's talk about process, right. so the doj files briefs, the defense files briefs. and now really the important information i think is going to come fr

and judge ho picks paul clement. i think that's a really strong indication that they'll get a formidable argument, and he'll be able to have a fulsome process. >> elegant. who doesn't like elegant? and then ryan, at the heart of all of this are these allegations of a quid pro quo that the trump administration would clear adams of criminal charges if the mayor went along with trump's immigration crackdown? are these the arguments that you expect we're going to hear? >> yes, i do, and there was a remarkable moment in the hearing, which i attended earlier this week, in which emil bove, the assistant deputy attorney general, actually says before judge ho that it doesn't even matter if there was a quid pro quo. he says, quote, i don't concede and i don't think it's correct that even if there was a quid pro quo, there would be any issue within this motion. end quote. that's remarkable. he's actually saying even if we did it, you still have to uphold our motion. and i think that's exactly why the judge will, in all likeliho

paul clement, as you note, he was george bush's solicitor general. i think he will infuse judge whose decision with some conservative wisdom. he will say, here is how you handle the situation. and the judge expressly was looking for guidance. he sent out like a law school exam with five questions, saying to paul, please give me the answers. tell me what to do here. >> it's not just infusing conservative thought, it's also look, the judge reads the same newspaper as you and i. we all do. and the judge knows that there's a there's political eyes on this to having a stalwart conservative be the one to weigh in is just good for the judge. >> but if you're eric. >> if you're eric adams, what does this what does this period look like while they wait for this to happen? >> well, it's like hampton dellinger there's uncertainty and you've. >> got some certainty. >> i don't know if hampton dellinger wants that comparison necessarily. >> yeah. look, i think at the end of the day, judge ho is going to realize that his hands are somewhat tied. he has limited opti

party first, an outside attorney, former solicitor general, well-known figure in washington named paul clementke your argument as to how they should go. there been concerns there was a quid pro quo between the mayor and t the trump allies at the justice department to get this kicked. both deny it and the judge wants to hear from the outside lawyer. he said to deadlines, march 7th for filings, march 14th for a possible hearing. so for about another month, eric adams remains a charged felony defendant. >> john: and the idea is that clement who was once on the list for supreme court nominees for donald trump that he would be a fair arbiter of a very hot political question, is that the idea? >> reporter: because on wednesday at the latest hearing there was nobody standing in there on behalf of those sentences or the alleged victims of the crime, and now bringing in an outside lawyer to button things up and sharpening argument to help clarify these upcoming rulings. >> john: that is very helpful. scott macfarlane from washington, d.c., thanks a lot. after nearly 50 years, e >> john: the new york ya

paul clement, as the court appointed here, he's basically appointed paul clement to stand in the shoese former federal prosecutors and answer those six questions for him, which include, can he look at materials outside the motion that the department of justice put before him? if he grants the motion, on what basis is he supposed to do that? and if he denies the motion to dismiss, does he still have to dismiss the indictment for other reasons? and so judge ho essentially saying, i still need more information. hold up, everyone. >> all right. standing by to stand by lisa rubin, thank you so much for breaking that down. and still ahead, the biden era policy just got overturned by the department of justice and what its removal could mean for public safety. plus, we're learning new details about a mother and two sons taken hostage by hamas, what the israeli military is saying now about their deaths. >> oh, i hate these things. that's one of the. >> great things about consumer cellular. they're 100% us based. customer service is also 100% human. you don't have to. >> oh. >> oh. >> leo! [whis

but instead the federal judge has done is called paul clement former general in one of the most successfulat the supreme court a conservative legal rock star to say i need to debrief this for me. all those briefs have to be on march 7th. if we need a hearing march 7th extends down the road a few weeks. >> john: it is not the person we seen this the delaware court room that doj came in with the defendant who happened to be named hunter biden. it was supposed to be signing up a plea agreement. >> it turned out very different. >> john: what is up "fox news sunday? we will talk foreign policy and the budget showdowns and doge as well. just. >> john: looking forward to that, shannon, sandra. >> sandra: record snow making steer's paradise some parts of the northeast. wait for this madison alworth is hitting the slopes right now. madison, beautiful shot right there. >> thank you, sandra, it is an incredible day. a few thousands of people have been enjoying because such a banner year. the exact numbers how many more people are here and what that means for revenue. i will tell it to you from my sno

the judge appointed an outside lawyer paul clement to present independent arguments on the d.o.j.'motion to drop the case. he was solicitor general under president george bush. it led to a wave of resignations by federal prosecutors. this week the new york governor said she will not use her authority to remove him from office now. luigi manage joany accused of killing the c.e.o. brian thompson appeared in court on state murder and terror charges two weeks ago. there were search and seizures procedure. she said a number of factors are complicating his right to a fair trial. >> he is being publically treated as guilty and as having the presumption of guilt as opposed to the presumption of innocence which is he is entitled to. vanessa: mangione is pleading not guilty and he could face a charge that faces the death penalty. the man who stabbed the author plead guilty. he gave no obvious reaction as he heard the verdict this afternoon. jurors deliberated for two hours. he stabbed him seven times. mantar faces 25 years in prison. sentencing is set for april. the mayor of los angeles kare

the judge also appointed an outside lawyer, paul clement to present independent arguments on the doj'sn to drop the case. he was solicitor general under george w. bush. the push to dismiss adam's to a wave of resignations by federal prosecutors. the governor said she would not use her legal authority to remove him from office for now. also in new york, luigi mangione, the man accused of killing brian thompson, appeared in court today for the first time. his attorney said there were search and seizure issues touring his arrest. outside the courthouse she said a number of factors are complement -- making difficult his right to a fair trial. >> he is being publicly treated as guilty and having the presumption of guilt as opposed to innocence which is what he is entitled to. geoff: he has pleaded not guilty to the charges. he faces a separate federal case that could carry the death penalty. a jury and western new york found the man who stabbed an author, salman rushdie, guilty of attempted murder today. the 27-year-old from new jersey gave no obvious reaction as he heard the verdict. juror

is part of her alluring, the judge appointed this manner, paul clement who is a conservative u.s.l during w bush's administration. he has tasked to argue against the trump doj decision. he will serve to give an independent argument of the merits of the effort to get the charges dropped. the controversy has prompted adam's fellow democrat new york kathy hochul to clamp down on the mayor's power at city hall. she has instituted oversight to ensure adams does not act on behalf of the president. she has the power to remove him from office, but she says that is premature. >> i have determined i will not commence removal proceedings at this time. my strong belief is that the will of the voters in the democratic elections preclude me from any other action. >> the next step will be arguments that were on the merits of the case set for next month. the judge clearly taking extra steps before the final decision and only penne federal judge for two years. so, it seems like he's trying to take his time. >> john: lots of big decisions to make. i guess you want to make sure you are certain about

he's asked the former solicitor general of the united states, paul clement, to serve as an amicus or friend of the court and basically put himself in the position that the former prosecutors were in to make this more of an adversary process. you'll recall from the hearing a couple of days ago, both the department of justice now through the acting deputy attorney general and eric adams's lawyers, represented by alex spiro, they want this case to go away. and judge ho is essentially saying, i need to hear from somebody who might represent a different point of view, or at least a neutral point of view. he's asked for briefing, and in the meantime, that trial is on hold indefinitely. >> so the trial is on hold. but what happens next here? >> so he's asked for briefs by march 7th from all of the parties. and he has specifically enumerated five questions that he has for each side here. one of them is particularly interesting to me. he's asked them to what extent is he allowed to consider materials outside the motion? that's a follow up to a question he asked during the hearing. he's basica

part of what he's asking this independent counsel, paul clement, former solicitor general under bush.tive. >> very conservative. but but but a law person. right. a person who will follow the rule of law. i don't think he's being appointed to find one thing or the other, but rather to help the judge answer very complex questions in a very unique scenario. what is what is the standard for the judge? what does he need to find? should he have a hearing? can he take into account those other letters and statements by bove and others in the administration? all of that is really consequential and complicated. >> it sounds legally, though, just because emil bove says, don't take this into account legally. does he have a leg on which to stand to make that claim? >> i was. >> surprised when he said that because judges take judicial notice of things all the time. i mean, i've been in front of judges where they say, i'm going to take judicial notice of the fact that it's sunny outside. i mean, they can literally take judicial notice of almost anything. i think the judge part of why and one of the

solicitor general paul clement to counsel him on the motion to dismiss, since there was no one arguinginst dropping the charges. this is governor kathy hochul said she will not remove adams from his job honoring new yorkers who elected him to office, but she will implement guardrails on his authority. joining me now, our good friend, reverend al sharpton, host of politics nation here on msnbc and of course, founder of the national action network. hello, reverend. you met, i'm told, with governor kathy hochul, offered some counsel. tell me what you told her before she made this decision. >> well, we i met with her one on one, and then she met with some of the elected officials together and some faith leaders. and in our one on one, i said to her that i think that she should wait at on the judge's decision, because when we met, it was before the judge decided. and she with the judge says, the reason i said that is because, according to the new york charter, the governor has the power to remove a mayor if you're involved with a crime or disabled. and if the judge was going to remove the c