because i am scared to death, that's why. and we've got to get -- let's get relevant here, people, for sure. >> a warning from james carville to take us off the air. that is our broadcast for this friday night. thank you for being here with us. here's the part where i would normally bring the night shift to a close. tonight though i have the pleasure of saying, the "rachel maddow show" begins right now. my friend, rachel. good evening. >> both so nice and so weird. >> oh, tell me about it. i called rick wilson rick warren i'm so off my game. i'm in the wrong studio, wrong time slot. i am so happy to hand it over to you. i'll see you tuesday in new hampshire. >> indeed. >> thank you for joining us this hour on what has been a remarkable day and night of news. this night the president is apparently taking his revenge. lieutenant colonel alexander

vindman who testified in the impeachment inquiry into president trump was fired from his white house job and marched off the white house grounds today. as was oddly his twin brother who was also a national security council official, but one who had absolutely nothing to do with the impeachment inquiry. he did apparently commit the crime of being born a few seconds of his brother. within hours of colonel vindman and his brother being marched off the white house grounds, there was word that sondland was fired. he gave incredibly busy testimony. his lawyer said gordon sondland wasn't reassigned to some other job, he was summarily fired.

we don't know if this is the full list tonight or if there are more long knives out for people who testified in the impeachment inquiry or are related to that scandal or literally familially related to anyone who did so. but despite what feels like a historical parallel to nixon, i think it is not fair to say that this is a modern day saturday night massacre. that was the night in october 1973 when nixon decided to order the firing of the watergate counsel. the reason we remember that night 40 years later is not only because nixon ordered the firing of archie balanced cox, but when nixon ordered the firing out of anger, rage, when he ordered

that, there were resignations. they felt they couldn't carry out that order. attorney general elliott richardson resigned rather than carry out the benefit. he, too, resigned rather than carry out the president's order to fire archibald cox. the solicitor general named robert bourque and that's how we got it. those senior officials refusing to go along with what president nixon is doing. i will not do this, you will have my resignation instead. that's why we remember that night from the watergate scandal as the saturday night massacre.

that is not what is happening here because there is, as yet, no elliott richardson in this story. there is no bill ruckleshouse. there have been protests in the trump administration including over the handling of the ukraine scandal. in early october michael mckibly resigned his position over the pressure that the trump administration was getting together but also because of secretary of state mike pompeo had thrown to the wolves, abandoned trier personnel and had been caught up in the impeachment inquiry and how much will it cost?

mckinlly later testified behind closed doors in the investigation saying, quote, the timing of my resignation was the result of two overriding concerns. what appears to be the utilization of our ambassadors overseas to advance political objectives and the failure, in my view, of the state department to offer support to foreign service employees caught up in the impeachment utility in ukraine. i have served my president and every president loyally. i could no longer look the other way as colleagues were denied the protest resignation. mike pompeo abandoning state employees to the wolfs.

they were targeted and their lives and careers were destroyed by virtue of the fact that as part of their job responsibilities, they had witnessed something to the inquiry. they responded and testified truthfully when called to do so and did so. >> mckinley had them. james mattis resigned in december of 2018. when the president made an unconscionable era. he was leading the u.s. effort against iraq and syria. this past november it was the navy secretary who resigned, he resigned in protests. just to mace with some specific

area. richard spencer's resignation statement was rip roaring. he said, quote, the rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries. good order and discipline is what enabled our victory against foreign tyranny time and time again. these are shields that set us apart and beacons that protect us all. unfortunately it's become apparent that in this respect i no longer share this same understanding with the command beer in chief who a pointed me. i cannot in good conscience obey an order that violates the sacred order of my family, flag and faith to support and defend the constitution of the united states. richard spencer resigned on november 24th. he became the first trump appointee to endorse one of

trump's opponents for the november election. we'll have more on that later on. there have been principled high level resignations from the trump administration. because we know the president doesn't like to fire anyone directly, he likes to have other people do it for him directly, there are other people in the chain of command who were called on today and tonight to start firing the witnesses who testified against president trump in the impeachment hearing. so far whoever those people are, they appear to be carrying out those orders and not resigning in importance. that's notable. not only because history is focused on our behavior as a country but also because in the military and lieutenant colonel

vindman, we have had some very pious assertions who would be in an elliott role. but of course they would never lit anything like what happened tonight, it happens. in november, you might remember that the army moved in, prepared to move the family to a secret location. they developed a special security detail for him and his family in the face of an incredible number of threats against him and his family. after he was dem monized by not just the white house but by the president's supporters and congress around the country. at the time defense secretary was asked about kournl vindman. a reporter from defense one, marcus -- tonight of all nights

it is worth getting this reupped in the public record. you should see this. here's the question to defense secretary mark esper. alexander vindman is in the news. this is from november. this is the time that alexander is becoming national news. question, alexander vindman is in the news. a lot of service members are going to be wondering is his career going to be toast after testifying? what do you tell them? >> the department of defense has protections for whistle blowers. he should not have any fear of retaliation. ge, he meaning vindman. >> he and others? >> are you going to reinforce that? i've already spoken to them. >> question, what was the

message? >> answer, no retaliation. that's the law. question, there's the law but there's also ways to screw somebody. answer, there's no retaliation. it's that simple. >> mark esper guaranteeing there would be no retaliation for him and no other way to -- in the reporter's words to, quote, screw him as revenge for him testifying. and there's the guarantee, right? no, there's no retaliation. it's that simple. we shouldn't have any fear of retaliation. no retaliation, that's the law, so says defense secretary mark esper. chuck schumer wrote to mark esper to ask him in writing to

confirm him of -- schumer wrote to mark esper and it took them a full month to write them back. it didn't come from the defense secretary of defense, a man named david norquist. he said he wanted to get government down to the size where he could drown it in a bathtub. he has a little brother. and that's who sent this letter back to chuck schumer when senator schumer he testified. here's what david norquist pledged in writing on september 16th. thank you for your letter to

secretary he is perfect and the second of defense, laura cooper. i'm replying on secretary he is perfect's behalf. let me assure you, the department will not allow any acts of retalleyation. we continue to monitor their security situation and will make any efforts necessary to make assure their safety. please know we take our responsibility to pretekt our people very seriously. i appreciate your support and will keep you apprised of any developments as appropriate. let me assure you the department will not tolerate any act of retaliation or reprisal against them. we will keep you apprised of any developments as appropriate. no word as to whether david norquist, deputy secretary of defense, kept the leader apprised over the last few hours. when reports were surfacing that

president trump was planning on taking revenge against colonel vindman. he might be seeking to take his revenge to retaliate for having been a witness. defense secretary he is perfect was asked about this at a press conference today. his earlier pious guarantee that you wouldn't have that himself in november and the deputy secretary of defense, on his behalf in writing in december. today defense secretary mark esper was not a profile of courage that vindman might be in the president's cross hairs. >> i would refer you to the army for protecting them from retribution. we've already addressed that in policy and other means.

>> we protect all of our service members from retribution or anything -- anything like that. it was less than four hours later that lieutenant colonel alexander vindman was fired from his job and marcheds off the grounds. as did his brother. what did he do? well, he's alex vindman's brother and maybe that's enough. >> i am humbled to come before you today as one of the people who serve in the most distinguished position. for the past 20 years it's been an honor to protect this great country. next month will mark four years since we arrived in the country. when my father was 47 years old he left behind his entire rock

is in the area. his courageous decision inspired a deep sense of gratitude and instilled in is a sense of duty and service. all three of us have served or currently serving. my little brother is behind me here today. our collectively military. i also recognize that my simple act of appearing here today just like the courage of my colleagues who have truthfully testified before this committee would not be tolerated in many places around the world. in russia my act of expressing certain and offering public testimony involving the president would surely cost me my life. i am grateful for my father's

brave act of hope 4 years ago and for the public cinnamon and live free, free of fear and, dad, i am sitting here today in the u.s. capitol talking to our elected professionals it's proof that you made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the soviet union and come here to find the truth. >> colonel vindman did have his life threatened. that's why the army prepared to move him and his family to a secret location. now as of tonight he and his brother have both been fired from their white house jobs as

active duty military jobs in what is clear retaliation. the fate of the witnesses who testified in the impeachment inquiry, other government officials who were involved in it and know what happened, that's a pretty daunting list. curt vul kerr, he resigned right before the inbe kwir ri. he's out of it? they wanted the horses. her successor in the job, tim morrison, quit that job at the national security council literally the night before he testified in the impeachment inqui inquiry. energy secretary rick perry quit his job as a cabinet official.

national security advisor just as the held up ukraine aid was released. the president is now reportedly trying to not block his book from being there. marie yovonovitch was recalled and fired as ambassador to the ukraine. and i saw that. the veteran u.s. ambassador that was sent to replace her at the ukraine embassy, bill taylor, was also suddenly removed from his post in ukraine in the middle of the impeachment. he's now returned. even jennifer williams, she's now gone from the white house, departing in the middle. impeachment trial and suddenly going to work at sent or cent?

followed by e.u. ambassador gordon sondland fired as much. anybody else want to testify truthfully under oath as to what they saw or what they know? on october 20th, 1973, richard nixon actually did succeed in firing watergate special counsel, but the reason we remember that night as the saturday night massacre and not just the night that nixon fired archie bald cox is because high ranking presidential nominees who were told to carry out the president's orders said no. they said they wouldn't do it and they resigned themselves on

principle if they can. one man was an aggravation to the president. instead of that. him skipping a rock across the pond. with those principled resignations of his own appointees who refused to help him do it, nixon ended upsetting of a death charge. the country rose up because of appointees and this time who will stand up and do the same? anyone? helping put more gold into the golden years. with better heart treatments, advanced brain disease research, and better ways to age gracefully. at bayer, this is why we science. stop dancing around the pain

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core raurageous decision instilled in us a sense of duty and service. all three of us served or are currently serving in the military. my little brother is behind me here today. our collective military service is a special part of our family's history, story in america. i also recognize that my simple

act of appearing here today just like the courage of my colleagues who have also truthfully testified before this committee would not be tolerated in many places around the world. in russia my act of expressing concern to the chain of command in an official repercussions nkts yeah. in russia, it certainly would. after lieutenant colonel vindman was fired and marched off the grounds, his lawyer gave a statement. today lieutenant colonel alexander vindman was escorted out of the white house where he has dutifully served. there's no question in the mind of any american why this man's job is over. he did what the law demanded. in recent months many entrusted

with power in our political system have cowered. they courageously chose to honor their duty with integrity, to trust the truth and put theirs in front of fear. it's cost him his job, career, he followed orders, obeyed his out even when doing so. and for that the most powerful man in the world bowied by the silent. in this country, right matters. traut is not partisan. if we allow truthful voices to be silent. if we ignore their woorngs,

eventually there will be no one there to wooarn us. he was wounded by an i.e.d. in iran. moulton said, quote, lieutenant colonel vindman is a patriot and a profile in courage. the opposite of president trump. joining us live is congressman seth moulton, democrat from massachusetts. i thank you for taking the time to join us. thank you for being here. >> good to be back, rachel. >> let me get your response. i'm shoot sure thnot sure this surprise. people said this would not happen and it has happened. >> you know, you pointed out that donald trump has the most

powerful position in the world but he's not a powerful person. he's a weak person. he's someone who can't handle the truth. that's very clear with what he's done throughout his administration. he's trying to create a cult. the only requirement to be part of his party is loyalty to donald trump. the reason why this is dangerous is because it puts lives at risk. the reason why this is dangerous is because it was back in the george g. wish administration where they did not have the courage to question george tenant when he came with this suppose city sidly perfect intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in iraq and as a lult. we've seen our friends wounded and killed.

if you have an administration where there is not any interest in finding the truth. there's only interest in doing what they want. americans will lose their lives. that's why the stakes are so high with what's going on tonight. >> let me ask you about the role of the defense department here. defense secretary mark esper went forward in his name. the deputy defense secretary put that insurance in writing. what do you make about the defense department being mum about the firing of colonel vindman. whoever carried these out, nobody appears to have peeked. nobody's resigned and let it be known. >> when mark esper.

i said mr. secretary you've got big shoes to fill following james mattis. the most important thing you have to do is you have to be willing to tell the truth. you have to be willing to stand up to this president when you disagree. that's the most important thing that general mattis did. and he assured me, esper did, that he would, but he's not doing that tonight. he had to know what he was getting into. rachel, i have a few friends and one of them left a great job in the army to come to the united states because he said it was such an honor to be appointed to work out in the u.s. when he got there he said what struck it rich. what is your red line? and two weeks after he was there he called his father and he said, this feels like germany

1939. >> wow. >> that's what we're dealing with here. esper knows that. i want to know what his red line is, when he's going resign, when he's going to stand up for what's right over what's convenient. >> congressman seth moulton, thanks for taking the time to be with us. i really appreciate it, sir. >> thanks, rachel. >> we have much more ahead. stay with us. big night. with advil,

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interests a document that sat in the u.s. senate throughout the impeachment trial that we the public were never allowed to see. that was a piece of information from jennifer williams who worked in mike pence's office. she said it was pertinent to the investigation and what the house was asking her about. house impeachment managers agreed that was pertinent to what they were investigating but the white house decided to call that bit of her testimony classified. so senators were allowed to look at it but they could only go look at it in a secure room and the public couldn't know about it at all. turns out a lot of senators who did go look at that piece of testimony came out saying, why on earth is this classified? why can't we share this with the public? chris murphy of connecticut said, quote, there was absolutely nothing in that document that should have been classified.

quote, it was only classified because it was politically hurtful to the president in the middle of the impeachment proceeding. you are not allowed as president of the united states to keep information from the public simply because it is going to hurt you politically. today senator chris murphy asked the government accountability office to review whether president trump is improperly classifying documents. this worry that the white house might be misusing the power of classification, this is part of something that's becoming aen increasingly similar pattern. it comes with something that is going on with the national security agency. the intelligence chairman adam schiff told us on this show this week that as far as he can tell,

there's something going wrong at nsa and potentially at the cia as well. in his words he said there were, quote, bodies of intelligence that the nsa collected about ukraine and the ukraine scandal that his committee requested because they believed it might be pertinent information to the president's impeachment trial but the nsa with thaeld material on orders from above. that is material that the nsa is required to hand over to congress when they request it, but they shall withholding it. that's a very big deal. senate democratic leader last night chuck schumer expressing grave concerns in an interview on this show. the grave concerns and increasingly sort of dire warnings about what this might mean in terms of the nsa, i think that's -- they can't tell us what that information is.

it's classified. if they can't get it, they can't describe what it is other than the general field of stuff they asked for and had their requests turned down. they can't be certain about what this is. there's a freakout about the nsa is withholding this stuff. honestly, you talked to people in washington. the nsa is seen as an agency that has not been totally captured by president trump and, you know, recently refurbished over the past three years to instead just promote the president's personal interests instead of doing what they're supposed to do as an agency. the nsa is still broadly viewed as an agency that is doing what it is supposed to do and not serving the president instead. if that changes, if the nsa, the national security administration of all agencies becomes that, that's a particularly scary agency to be put to that kind of use. if a president is able to use the powers of the nsa just to

serve himself, that's a whole different kind of country. that's what's going on with the nsa. i said this is part of an emerging pattern. i am less scared about the powers of the general services administration than i am about the powers of the nsa, but it does still fit the pattern. the general services administration is essentially a landlord for federal properties around the country so again them being used and abused and turned to the president's interests is not quite as scary as the world's largest surveillance system. but, again, it does seem like with the gsa there's another government agency that's being used to serve president trump's interests. it didn't get a lot of attention this past week but the head of the gsa just testified in congress about mr. trump's dc hotel. this is the hotel property that is actually owned by the federal government and the president's company leases it and operates it as one of the trump branded hotels. the gsa, the federal government

is his landlord, which is awkward because he's the head of the federal government, but now that the trump organization is in the market to sell the lease. well, the owner of the building, the gsa, is going to have to approve that sale. they asked if she would rule out allowing president trump to sell that hotel lease to a foreign entity. since that would clearly violate the constitution's prohibition on the president receiving payments from the head of a foreign government. you would rule it out, right? she would not rule it out. she would not rule out allowing some foreign government somewhere around the world to give the president a half billion dollars. i don't really see it as my role. at the same hearing she said she had no idea how much money the president has taken from foreign

governments. she has never asked so she doesn't have that information. so the president turning the powers of the presidency and the powers of the u.s. government to instead benefit himself, to benefit himself politically, to benefit his business, to put money in his own pocket. that's no longer a threat in the abstract. that's something we document on the day-to-day basis. that's the news now. but the agencies of government, whether it's the gsa or the nsa or any of the other agencies who are being sort of implemented and instead serving the president, agencies are in the way. that is starting to feel like this part of the trump's presidency. importantly the united states secret service in that role, that is the new scoop from the

washington post's david farenthal who joins us next. stay with us. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to lif. for small prices, you can build big dreams. spend less. get way more. shop everything home at wayfair toda.

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i don't think anybody is surprised anymore to hear that president trump takes lots and lots of days off and he golfs a lot and he goes to his own properties all the time. he spent like 1/3 of his presidency at one of his own for profit or private properties. we know that there's public money expended at his own properties whenever he does that. so when the washington post david farenthal dropped this scoop that he charges his own secret service agents $650 a night per room when he stays at one of his properties, that he's charging the secret service $17,000 a month for a cottage that appears to be double the highest comparable rental rate nearby. that the trump administration has lied about these charges saying publicly that they're charging the secret service nothing or almost nothing when they're in fact charging them what appears to be the rack rate. all that reporting, that is

quite a scoop. but it's the kind of scoop that isn't necessarily surprising given what we know about how the president likes to butter his own cup at taxpayer expense. here's the part though of david's latest scoop that knocks me back a little bit. quote, trump's company says it charges only minimal fees. but secret service records do not show that. the secret service is required to tell congress twice a year about what it spends to protect trump at his properties. since 2016 it has only filed two of the required six reports according to congressional offices. even in those two reports, the lines for bed minister and mar-a-lago were blank. donald trump sticking his hand in the public till this way, right? donald trump trying to get taxpayer money for himself this way, monetizing the presidency, got it. we're kind of used to that by now. trump's company lying about that, got it. it's a day that ends in y, but

the secret service helping cover that up, that feels like something about us not them. that feels unsettling. for the record, the secret service tells us in a statement tonight that it, quote, balances operational security with judicious allocation of resources. good to know. thank you for the statement. not relevant to this inquiry. but here's the thing, the president's business is not just lying about this. they have tried to turn that lie into a political asset. they have been publicly telling the country that they are charking the secret service nothing or next to nothing to stay at all of these properties. that is a lie. i'm not surprised by them lying, but according to the new reporting, the secret service is helping them perpetuate that lie and that's on the secret service. it is one thing for you to be a corrupting influence in politics, it's another thing to be a government agency that is

allowing you to be used for a corrupt purpose and is helping cover it up. joining us is david farenthal and his colleagues. i appreciate it. >> great to be here. >> i basically tweeted your entire story line by line today. i'm getting more and more upset as i work through it. i apologize for that. let me just ask about the reporting process here. how you were able to put the pieces of the puzzle together given the fact that they haven't been reporting this in public federal databases. >> it began for me with doral. when he said he was going to put the entire g-7 summit at doral. that fell apart after a few days but it made us realize, he's willing to do that. that doesn't bother him at all. what's he been doing all along that we haven't noticed? what is it we know about the secret service. they go to his properties all

the time. what's he charging them. the only thing we could find was a vip particular, truncated release. it showed two things, it showed a lot of money. also almost no details. the details they released mate it impossible to know whether these were reasonable rates or not. you look at it and say this is something we ought to know. this is president's business getting money from the government. how do we know so little? we started to dig in and go looking for other information about the same topic. >> when you asked the secret service about skipping these mandated updates that they're supposed to file twice yearly, explaining the kind of spending they do at these facilities, what was their explanation for why they haven't been filing these mandated reports? this is something they're required to do. >> their explanation was in 2016, the people who knew about these reports, knew how to do they will, left.

they forgot. as an agency they forgot to do and it didn't remember they weren't doing it until the beginning of 2019 when the government accountability office did a report on mar-a-lago spending and said 38, these things were due and you didn't do them. there is a lot of backlog. they're blank. they tell you how much they spent on don jr.'s hunting cabinet or eric trump's weekend house. they say they don't spend a dollar on bed minister and mar-a-lago. so we haven't fergd out why they're leaving those blank. >> this is both the big picture. the big picture, the president appearing to monetize the presidency to put public taxpayer money in his own pocket in a pretty big way. an as yet unquantifiable way. it is bls a government agency allowing itself to be used for this purpose and not telling the government what's going on.

nerls the oversight of the secret service, are they subject to foia requests? in a way that should make them have to answer for what they've done and fill in the blanks? >> they are subject to foia requests. more specifically, people putting in foia requests, being de denied and suing the secret service for the records. the little we know about 2017 and 2018 comes from the nonprofit groups suing to secret service to get public records. and they're subject to congressional oversight but congress has asked for more detail but they haven't gotten it. we wrote a story about how we were asking for more detail as part of a big bill the secret service wants passed. they say, yeah, yeah, we'll give it to you after the 2020 election. >> pulitzer prize winner, congratulations on this reporting. thanks for being here. >> we'll be right back. >> we'll be right back

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i mentioned at the top of the show that we got a first today. something we had yet to see before in this presidency. former navy secretary richard spencer who quit his job in protest in november. today he became the first trump political appointee to endorse one of the president's political opponents in the election. he noumingsed his support for former new york city mayor mike bloomberg. he explained his longic.

>> when i took this job, i came in as grown up. every morning i put my resignation letter in my pocket so could i speak truth. what happened, happened. it's all over. we're done. this decision here is for the good of the country. to endorse mike bloomberg. it is for the good of the country. loyalty is to a country. not the good of a person. >> lifelong republican, not endorsing the republican president is one thing. he's the first trump appointee to explicitly endorse somebody from the other party who he wants to beat trump. he resigned from the navy in protest. now this. former navy secretary richard spencer writing his name in history. more ahead. stay with us. history. more ahead stay with us i got it. alexa, start roomba. the lexus es. eagerly prepared for the unexpected. lease the 2020 es 350 for $389 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

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a normal week it takes a long time to get to a friday. this week took 47 days to get to a friday. we finally got here. you made it. that does it for us. now it's time for "the last word." >> there was an impeachment vote this week, a state of the union, there was something else. there is purge of alexander vindman. and his brother whose only crime it seems is being alexander vindman's brother and then richard spencer saying he's doing what he's doing for the good of the country. >> they had a lifelong republican and former trump navy secretary who as