Nothing to See Here: Anti-Trump Legal, Political Pundits Across Networks Holding Weekly Zoom Calls

You know that narrative we talk about?

Wait until you hear this story.

According to Politico, many well-known legal and political commentators have been getting together on previously unreported, weekly off-the-record Zoom calls to talk about the lawfare against former President Donald Trump.

The group’s gathering was not a one-time event, but in fact an installment in an exclusive weekly digital salon, whose existence has not been previously reported, for prominent legal analysts and progressive and conservative anti-Trump lawyers and pundits. Every Friday, they meet on Zoom to hash out the latest twists and turns in the Trump legal saga — and intellectually stress-test the arguments facing Trump on his journey through the American legal system.
The group’s host is Norman Eisen, a senior Obama administration official, longtime Trump critic and CNN legal analyst, who has been convening the group since 2022 as Trump’s legal woes ramped up. Eisen was also a key member of the team of lawyers assembled by House Democrats to handle Trump’s first impeachment.

Among the regular people are Bill Kristol, Jeffrey Toobin, George Conway, and Jennifer Rubin, as well as other names people would recognize, according to the report.

The author of the Politico story, Ankush Kharpori, a former federal prosecutor, said he reached out to everyone in the group, but no one wanted to go on the record about it.

The people I did speak to were granted anonymity because they had agreed to keep the sessions off-the-record and had not been authorized to speak to me.
Indeed, as I was reporting this story, I learned that some members of the group were understandably anxious about its publication. Trump has claimed that there is a legal conspiracy against him, and there is a risk that news of a group such as this could give Trump and his allies an attractive target.

Who would think there was anything funny about anti-Trump commentators across networks, getting together to share their thoughts on Trump--and they don't want other people to know about it? I'm sure there's nothing at all to be concerned about there. Politico soft-pedals it.

There is a risk, for instance, that the calls could breed groupthink or perhaps help dubious information spread, where it might then reach people watching the news.
A prominent legal commentator with a TV contract was surprised to learn about the existence of the calls when I approached them for the story. That person, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, volunteered some reservations about the idea of hosting a standing, off-the-record call with people working across different television, print and digital outlets.
“It runs the risk of creating the impression that there is an agreement or cooperation or conspiracy across mainstream media entities,” this person told me. “And that could feed into some false and damaging perceptions, particularly on the right.”

Gee, ya think? You know they're getting desperate when they have to resort to "Republicans pounce" on this. How dare Republicans think there's something funny here.

Khadori said, "The people on this call — and on some level the call itself — are essential cogs in that system, helping to generate and shape content for Trump-hungry consumers."

But members of the group denied it was about "talking points or strategy to take down Trump as part of a bid to send him to prison or derail his presidential campaign."

Interestingly, Norm Eisen was also mentioned in that TIME story about "the secret history of the shadow campaign" in 2020.

In addition to all the questions this raises, having Jeffrey Toobin involved on a Zoom call raises even further questions for any of these other folks who may want to preserve their own...dignity.

Some on X weren't buying the defenses.

if you thought there was an organized effort against Trump....you were right and the cover just got blown off

Inside the Off-the-Record Calls Held by Anti-Trump Legal Punditshttps://t.co/53SWf0c3sH
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) April 23, 2024