According to a court filing earlier this week in Paul Manafort‘s case in Washington, D.C., the former Trump campaign manager tried to tamper with witnesses by using an encrypted messaging application, only to have the messages backed up–without encryption–on his iCloud account, for which investigators had a search warrant. MSNBC host Ari Melber had some fun with this on The Beat Tuesday evening, likening it to putting a private diary in a locked safe, only to make copies of it and leave them around in public. To further illustrate the point, Melber told viewers that he considered bringing on an encryption expert, but because such a blatant gaffe didn’t need expert analysis, he went with stand-up comic Chuck Nice.
From there, Melber and Nice basically took turns roasting Manafort.
“Paul Manafort, I got one thing to say to you my friend, and that is ‘You’re old,'” Nice said. “I do sketchy stuff online all the time, but I got two teenagers, and I got the sense to say come in here, is Daddy hiding this right?”
Melber piled on, noting the irony that Manafort was allegedly trying to get away with a complex international money laundering scheme, but didn’t know how to properly use his phone.
“It’s not just Grandpa, it’s Grandpa thinks he’s an international criminal mastermind, but doesn’t understand the cloud.”
Then it was Nice’s turn again, saying he never thought Manafort was all that smart, he just gives that impression with his appearance.
“I think it’s the hair and the fillers,” Nice said. “Let’s be honest, this man has been caught at every single turn. He’s gotten away with absolutely nothing!”
Meanwhile, the actual guest expert on the panel, former Watergate prosecutor Nick Ackerman, laughed and noted that he often sees cases of people just not understanding technology.
“It always just amazes me,” Ackerman said.
[Image via MSNBC screengrab]