if fbi and justice department prosecutors, fbi officials and justice department prosecutors have thereheir careers threatened and in some cases ended specifically because they worked on lawful cases that didn't please the president. have we already sort of crossed a rubicon in terms of who we are as a country and what the rule of law is in the united states of america? >> absolutely. that's what's happening. i mean, the cruelty of it is this wonderfully young prosecutor, idealistic, is gone. right? the second thing is that there is it's clear that it's, quote, my justice department, as the president called it, called it. that brings us back to the days when it was j. edgar hoover, but instead of j. edgar hoover going after martin luther king or even the john birch society for political reasons, it's donald trump doing it to use the justice department or the fbi to exact retribution or pursue political enemies. but i got to say, there is a responsibility that we have in the united states senate as an independent institution to cry foul here. and i really am hoping that my republican col

she quotes the justice department manual saying the legal judgments of the department of justice must be impartial and insulated from political influence. she quoted attorney general bondi's memo to justice department employees, saying they must not allow political influence in their decision making, saying in your words, the department of justice will not tolerate abuses of the criminal justice process, coercive behavior or other forms of misconduct. dismissal of the indictment for no other reason than to influence adams's mayoral decision making would be all three. although mr. bove disclaimed any intention to exchange leniency in the case for adams assistance in enforcing federal law. that is the nature of the bargain laid bare in mr. bove's memo. that is especially so given mr. bove's comparison to the bout prisoner exchange, which was quite expressly a quid pro quo, but one carried out by the white house, not by the prosecutors in charge of bout's case. i attended a meeting on january 31st, 2025, with mr. bove, adams's counsel, and members of my office. adams's attorneys repeated

last few weeks, you will see that trump loyalists believe that the government, including the department of justice, should only be stacked with people who are loyal to trump. but i have news for them. that is not how the department of justice works. they didn't take an oath of office to be loyal to the president. they took an oath to the constitution and every single career individual at the justice department understands and abides and should be abiding by the rules of federal prosecution. these are the rules that guide them in cases like this. and so i have bad news for the trump administration. but if they continue to do this, which they believe that they are entitled to, because that is what the president wanted, then they are going to continue to see resistance, and they're going to continue to see people stepping down, because that is not what we do at this. >> john, as you were chuckling at the suggestion that congress may provide some some kind of oversight here, i wonder if this does in fact slide. and the case against adams goes away. what does that do to the file as sochi was describing

headquarters justice department. uh, but it also bears the signature here of emil bove, who is the acting deputy attorney general. he's the one who has been overseeing all of this. and frankly, i think you and i, we've been discussing all of this. you know, he could have signed this from the start and this would have avoided all of this drama. but his his signature is also on this document, along with tony bacon, who is the top official in the criminal division at the justice department headquarters. pamela. >> wow. all right. evan perez, a lot to break down here. um, cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor jennifer rodgers, along with former u.s. district court judge shira scheindlin. jennifer, first to you. what is your reaction to what evan just reported? and that also, emil bove signature was on there at the end. >> well, it's funny, pamela, i had just finished saying that i thought he hadn't taken it upon himself to make this motion because he didn't want to face the music with judge ho. so we'll see if

a behind-the-scenes battle has unfolded inside the department of justice between the veteran prosecutors new trump-aligned leaders. it surfaced yesterday and has escalated. trump's one-time personal defense attorney emil bove, who now helps run the department of justice, has one at a time, ordered top prosecutors in manhattan and washington to intervene and dismiss the case against adams. arguing in part the administration needs adams to be freed from the case to help the president's immigration enforcement efforts in new york city. one after another, those prosecutors have quit in protest. including an assistant u.s. attorney in new york who not only refused to drop the charges against adams, but in a letter announcing his resignation said, "i expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. but it was never going to be me." tom dupree served in george w. bush's department of justice. what do you make of this back and forth, this mass resignation wave? >> well, it's reminiscent of the nixon era, where you saw the president basi

first of all, someone at the justice department has to sign a motion to the court saying we, the justice department, hereby move to dismiss this case. now, evan perez just reported that that will happen. but what the attorney general is overlooking is the second requirement. >> under the federal. >> rules of criminal procedure. the judge then has to sign off on it. now, 99.9% of the time. judges do sign off on that. however, as danielle sassoon argues in her letter, she doesn't believe, and i agree. she does not believe that a judge will accept this dismissal. >> so there's a. >> whole separate process that has to happen here. it would not surprise me at all if the judge rejects this dismissal, and then we're going to be in a real showdown. so not as easy as just saying. i snap my fingers as the attorney general. case dismissed. >> right. you can't just say we're dismissing this case because we want him to cooperate. we think he'll cooperate with us on this other priority. uh, without commenting on the corruption allegations, karen, this morning, mayor adams and trump's border czar, tom

and now to turmoil at the justice department. we're learning federal prosecutors are moving to drop corruption charges against new york city's mayor at the directive of the justice department. and this comes after multiple prosecutors out of new york and washington resigned in protest. now for more, we're joined by tim parlatore, who was previously at one of trump's criminal attorneys. and also with us, cnn political commentator soce hinojosa, a veteran of the department of justice, where she served as a spokesperson for attorney general merrick garland. it's great to have you both here. i've worked with both of you over the past few years. and you both have different experiences with the justice department during the biden administration. tim, let's let's start with you. all right. i want to get your reaction to trump's most recent post declaring that he who saves his country does not violate any law. if you were still his lawyer, he brings that to you. what is your reaction? >> well, you know, one of the things that president t

the agreement between the fbi agents association and donald trump's justice department deescalates for now, a. showdown between the bureau and the department of justice. the agreement also, quote, bars the. entire federal government, not just the justice department, from making any part of the list public without giving two business days notice. that would allow attorneys for the fbi personnel to ask the judge for further relief. for now, it is a breakthrough for those fbi agents and their families who had their names handed over to the justice department. relief, however temporary, from what was reported to be deep anxiety felt by countless fbi agents. and while there is no guarantee that they'll be protected forever, the imminent threat of having their identities out there has been alleviated, at least for today. it is also a reminder that although our institutions are being challenged in unprecedented ways, they are not without power. they are not without access to the courts. the fbi is an institution with a storied history, not a perfect history, but essential to american life and

so we'll be watching to see what kind of questions the judge has for the justice department. how many of these new arguments, these more precedent based arguments come up as they defend this? but it does appear that the justice department, in the wake of this enormous controversy, is pivoting to a more substantive defense of this decision. >> yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens there. so so there's the legal fight, and then there is the political question of what new york governor kathy hochul might actually do with eric adams. she had an important meeting with democrats discussing just that. bring us up to speed on that angle of things. >> yeah. that's right. she is meeting with other officials to discuss the possibility of trying to remove the mayor. now, that is easier said than done. i think they're also watching right now to see what happens in this hearing. so no imminent decision. but she is certainly facing a lot of political pressure based on the controversy that this decision by the justice department has set off. so first, we'll see what happens inside

as the justice department had requested. he appointed an outside lawyer to advise him on the matter. ♪ ♪ we begin this friday evening in washington, where lawmakers must approve a new budget before the government runs out of funding in mid-march. this morning there republican-controlled senate adopted a $340 billion budget blueprint. and next week the g.o.p. led house will advance their own proposal. there are some differences in the strategy and the president prefers the house approach. this is usually where the major questions about taxes and spending take place in american government, but this time it will take place as the president and elon musk have been working to drastically reduce the size of federal agencies. cbs's caitlyn huey-burns is in washington on the hill. caitlin, let's start with that government funding question. there are two approaches. is it possible to tell me what the difference in those two approaches are? >> reporter: yes, john. basically all republicans here on capitol hill want to pass the preside

attorney's and the districts work for the department of justice. this has always been the case. and the department of justice issued a directive to the southern district of new york that it did not follow. the attorney general, pam bondi, is going to get her way when it comes to the u.s. prosecutions. that's that's it's just that's an insubordination. and, you know, the kinds of people who become u.s. attorneys are strong, confident, self-assured people. they're not going to they don't like taking direction from department of justice. but that's what's going to happen in this case. >> several of them resigned in protest. stand by. we have a lot more to talk about this hour straight ahead on cnn this morning. today, vice president jd vance meets with volodymyr zelenskyy in munich as questions mount about what seat at the negotiating table ukraine will hold. plus, senator mitch mcconnell, the only republican know on rfk jr.'s nomination, reigniting a years long feud with president trump and a new wave of firings. two trump's tariff era how democrats are trying to find leverage if t

see, including correspondence or communications between the lawyers for eric adams and the department of justiceng eric adams's lawyers. hey, tell us more about how this is an impediment to your boss or your client. i'm sorry. doing his job. that might be the sort of thing that judge ho wants to understand, to determine whether or not there was a quid pro quo here. rachel. >> yeah, i mean, we'll see what the judge decides to do here. but there's a very real possibility that this saga is not over and that this, at the very outset of the trump justice department, may be something that haunts them seriously, for a long way, for a long way from now. lisa rubin, msnbc legal correspondent, working triple time, as always, lisa, thank you so much. so much. >> thank you. where ya headed? susan: where am i headed? am i just gonna take what the markets gives me? no. i can do some research. ya know, that's backed by j.p. morgan's leading strategists like us. when you want to invest with more confidence... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management for more than a decade farxiga has been trusted again and a

see, including correspondence or communications between the lawyers for eric adams and the department of justiceeric adams's lawyers. hey, tell us more about how this is an impediment to your boss or your client. i'm sorry. doing his job. that might be the sort of thing that judge ho wants to understand, to determine whether or not there was a quid pro quo here. rachel. >> yeah, i mean, we'll see what the judge decides to do here. but there's a very real possibility that this saga is not over and that this, at the very outset of the trump justice department, may be something that haunts them seriously, for a long way, for a long way from now. alisa rubin, msnbc legal correspondent, working triple time, as always, lisa, thank you so much. so much. >> thank you. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max! known for sharing what you love. ♪♪ no one wants to be known for cancer, but a treatment can be. keytruda is known to tr

see, including correspondence or communications between the lawyers for eric adams and the department of justicehey, tell us more about how this is an impediment to your boss or your client. i'm sorry. doing his job. that might be the sort of thing that judge ho wants to understand, to determine whether or not there was a quid pro quo here. rachel. >> yeah, i mean, we'll see what the judge decides to do here. but there's a very real possibility that this saga is not over and that this, at the very outset of the trump justice department, may be something that haunts them seriously, for a long way, for a long way from now. lisa rubin, msnbc legal correspondent, working triple time, as always, lisa, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right do your dry eyes still feel gritty, rough, or tired? with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye: too much tear evaporation. for relief that's ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ remove contact lenses before using miebo. wait at least 30 minutes b

. >> the justice department. >> and it's all connected to one case. the top federal prosecutor on the mayor adams corruption case among six senior doj officials resigning in protest. rather than follow the trump administration's order to drop it, the now former. >> acting u.s. >> attorney for the southern district of new york accuses mayor eric adams of trying to secure a quid pro quo with the doj. danielle sassoon writes in her resignation letter, adams attorneys repeatedly urged. >> what amounted. >> to a quid pro quo. indicating that adams would be in a position to assist with the department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed before the. doj shelved the case. sassoon was readying more charges against the new york mayor. adams denies all charges, and this morning he responded on fox news. >> my attorney, alex speier, one of the one of the top trial attorneys in the country. imagine him going inside saying that the only way mayor adams is going to assist in immigration, which i was calling for since. >> 2022. >> is if you

we want people. >> like danielle sassoon. >> in the justice department. i say that as a conservative. >> so, shannon. >> absolutely. >> on the other side of this, the trump team would say, well, she's ignoring the orders she got from main justice. if you do that, you're going to be fired. i mean, what would you say to that? >> uh. >> they're arguing. >> that she's. >> being, quote, insubordinate. >> that's true. >> she's not. >> following the. >> orders from on top. that's correct. and she. >> is really. >> acting quite heroically. i mean. >> what distinguishes this from. >> the. saturday night massacre in the watergate era? that was the attorney general. >> and deputy. >> ag quitting. those are. like bigwigs. they've got a future ahead of them. these are the rank and file heart of doj's political corruption. people standing up and saying, i'll put my career on the line. i won't follow this order. yeah, they could have waited to be fired. um, instead of she couldn't wait to be fired rather than resigning. but this is an extraordinarily courageous effort, a

but it is has never been a rule for the justice department. you know, with a mayor, i mean, as much as we love new york city, it's not the presidency. >> yeah. and he's essentially arguing that this isn't because of the merits of the case, that they want it dropped. it's more because of that. tom adams's attorney tonight, alex spiro, is denying these claims that this was a quid pro quo that happened here. i mean, this is meeting clearly was remarkable. they said, i don't know what amounted to the quid pro quo means we were asked if the case had any bearing on national security and immigration enforcement, and we truthfully answered that it did. but is that something that prosecutors at the southern district of new york would take into consideration? >> no. look, i mean, this whole thing, i mean, from my perspective, i don't like what happened. and i look at this and i think i'm all for de weaponizing the justice department. but the way that you de weaponize the justice department is by taking politics out of the equation. and what seems to hav

last night, the department of justice moved to dismiss a serious and ongoing criminal corruption case against new york city mayor eric adams. but the move was preceded by plenty of drama that resulted in at least seven resignations within the department of justice, including danielle sassoon, who was the top prosecutor at the southern district of new york. sassoon resigned on thursday after acting deputy general emile beauvais ordered her to drop the adams case earlier in the week. beauvais argued that the case interfered with adams ability to help carry out trump's immigration crackdown. danielle sassoon refused to dismiss the case. now, the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of adams case is roiling new york politics, with a number of local leaders calling for adams to resign or for the governor of new york to use her powers to dismiss him. but perhaps more importantly than what's going on here in new york, is the battle lines that are being drawn outside of this city. the extraordinary revolt within the department of justice about the dismantling of the justice department's in

and tonight, fbi agents now filing at least two lawsuits against the justice department, claiming their own department is now targeting thousands of agents and employees who were doing their jobs investigating the horrific attack. >>> tonight, two of president trump's most controversial cabinet picks clearing major hurdles now. tulsi gabbard and robert f. kennedy jr. and the republican senator, also a doctor, who had reservations about rfk jr. on why he's now supporting him. he's also up for re-election. >>> we're tracking that dangerous ice storm set to bring treacherous driving from the midwest to the northeast. multiple states. and in the east as well multiple major cities in the path of this storm. d.c., new york to hartford. ginger zee has the forecast. >>> tonight, search crews have now recovered the bodies of all 67 victims killed in that american airlines passenger jet in the potomac. and tonight, what we've now learned about the investigation. >>> they were the big names in sports targeted in burglaries, including quarterback joe burrow. tonight, the arrests in the new york cit

by friday night seven members in total of the justice department had resigned.vening news plus." i'm john dickerson. good night. have a great weekend. great wee. >>> right now on cbs news bay area, all-star weekend has tipped off with a jam packed schedule of events, local businesses all looking to take advantage of those big crowds. >>> we are live inside one of the big attractions as basketball fans from all over the world get a chance to get in on the action. >>> the storm has moved on, but dozens of people in the south bay have been flooded out of their apartments. one man tells us how he felt powerless to stop the water from rushing in. >> i tried to save what i could. within a couple minutes i was up to almost my ankles in water in the house. >>> some incredible images out of southern california where massive mudslides have covered roads and trapped cars, how neighborhoods are trying to dig out. >>> from cbs news bay area, this is the evening edition. >> good evening. i'm ryan yamamoto. >>> the nba all-star weekend is officially underway in san francisco a

just in the last week in the trump justice department alone to eight. also today, federal judge tanya chutkan considered new claims by the trump administration that elon musk is not the head of the department of government efficiency. as donald trump has repeated that he repeatedly said that he is. in considering motions in a lawsuit against elon musk and the trump administration to prevent them from arbitrarily shutting off funding and shutting down agencies created by congress judge tanya. tanya chutkan said the case has strong merits, adding plaintiffs legitimately call into question what appears to be the unchecked authority of an unelected individual and an entity that was not created by congress and over which it has no oversight. the judge considered an affidavit presented under oath by the trump administration, claiming that elon musk has no role at all in the so-called department of government efficiency. judge chutkan said, referring to that affidavit, quote, defense counsel is reminded of their duty to make truthful representations to the cour

in the way that the old justice department did. we are not going to. see an fbi that functioned. >> in the way that the old fbi. >> did, or the. >> cia. >> all these institutions that we have come to rely on to act as checks and balances, to act as enforcers of the law. those are not going to be there anymore, operating in the same way. and that is what we're seeing right now. we're seeing loyalists to donald trump being put in. we're seeing elon musk going through our government deciding who stays and who goes. an unelected billionaire. and so at the end of the day, the wider context in which all of this sits while we talk about, you know, these cases are not going to be there anymore, blah, blah, blah. the fact of the matter is that what donald trump is actually trying to do is refashion the government and fill it with loyalists. >> and listen, i know that the criticism from the right will be these were political cases. the question, laura, is that when you look at this, if you have a justice department that will not that will ta

has run since watergate and compromising the independence of the justice department and the fbi.tment prosecutor is going to be willing now to take on a public corruption case involving a trump administration appointee or a trump ally, knowing that this administration will take retribution? look, they got elected to make change. and it's one thing to come in and try to disrupt departments and even fire senior executives. but when you start directing this campaign against your obvious enemies, people that investigated you, people that prosecuted you for doing nothing other than following lawful orders and acting ethically within their agency, it becomes pretty obvious what's going on, and it's really sent a chilling message throughout the law enforcement, the federal. >> law enforcement. >> message to anybody who might be close with trump, tom, that you can do whatever you want or you can, if not whatever you want, you could do quite a bit. >> well, it lays out some boundaries as far as things that we're not going to be focusing on, we not being us, but the justice department, thi

years in top executive positions in the reagan administration including chief of staff and department of justice the department of interior as well as a student at the white house. from the reagan revolution to the tea party movement in 2010, i was involved in the tea party movement, one of the outspoken leaders of the tea party movement. i wrote the most widely read conservative books is barry goldwater's contraceptive conservative. milton friedman's you to choose, liberty and tyranny. millions of you have read this book. conservatism and liberalism. it involved a leader in the convention states with our friend over 5 million members, one of the largest radio shows for nearly 25 years on the planet with millions of listeners. am and fm terrestrial radio, podcast, youtube, through satellite and so forth and so on thanks to you. on fox, we are not dealing with football like tonight and this will be the end of it. we have the number one primetime evening weekend program and we are very proud of it. i'm proud to be here. as president of the merck foundation, the most consequential constitutional le

new lunar new year parade >>> tonight the justice department revolt over a corruption case involving new york's mayor. seven top prosecutors resign their pointed words. one lawyer saying they were set to bring new charges. the dramatic promise trump's border czar made on live tv about what would happen to mayor eric adams if he didn't keep his word. sweeping government layoffs hit thousands of government workers with the president warning more cuts are coming. the major winter storm that is threatening millions. new developments in the deadly mid-air collision. the breaking news about the high profile lawsuit against music mogul jay-z. ukraine on edge after a drone strike at the chernobyl nuclear plant and world leaders stunned by mixed messages from the u.s. over the war. president zelenskyy saying they have a low chance of surviving without u.s. support. live from new york it is almost saturday night. we take you inside studio 8h to celebrate a show that kept us s lahing for 50 years. >> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening and welcome. we start with the in

what is the department of justice today, if not corrupted? >> i, with all due respect to dave kelly, who is a friend and i respect a ton, i'm not going to agonize over it. the department of justice at its head is corrupted right now. what we are seeing is that the halls of the doj and the fdny, and i'm going to go out on a limb and say, i think probably almost every federal prosecutor across the country, if they have any shred of integrity, would do exactly what miss sassoon, what mr. hagan, what the penn prosecutors did. they would not stand up in front of a federal judge and say, this case should be dismissed when it is clear as day. we have seen it now ourselves in a letter. we have seen it in letter. we've seen it in hagen's letter. we that the basis for dismissal is literally a political deal. and i don't think it's that he didn't want a pardon. adams i mean, i don't know, but i think it's that he did want leverage over adams. it reminds me, i think i said this yesterday of the mafia case. i did. you know, it's much better to have someone

that one would be another one from the justice department. and we're going to talk about that in just a moment with reporter ryan riley. he's been all over this story, and i'll let ryan explain it in detail. but in short, it appears that they are now ordering career nonpartisan federal prosecutors to bring at least one federal criminal prosecution of a biden administration figure, a prosecution that that career federal prosecutor thought was unwarranted by the law, and thus effectuated a new, high profile, principled resignation in washington today. so we're going to get to that in a moment, demanding unfounded prosecutions. that's a thing. there's also another really unsettling element of that doj story and that resignation that has to do with money and them going after bank accounts that they're not supposed to be able to go after. we'll get to that story in just a moment. one of the other things we're watching, though, as things get wilder and more off the chain with each passing day, is whether there is any sign of any limiting instinct t

then trump justice department says drop the charges.es this send to other local and state officials across the country? >> look, i start with no one is above the law. and if someone has done something wrong, they should pay the consequences. so one of the things that's clear about donald trump, he's not believed that, right? he's fundamentally trying to take away the key lesson we learned from watergate. no one is above the law, and there has to be those consequences. but if in this case this was a weak case to begin with, this was a problematic case to begin with, we have to be able to see that too. we can't just say because of donald trump, we're going to lose all objectivity about the individual case. i don't think this case was ever going to be ever going to prevail, i really don't. >> the we've talked to other legal analysts who would argue otherwise fair. >> but i'm telling you, my perspective, my perspective was this was weak. it was based on things that were not criminal. it was based on the actions of other people. i have a cri

the department of justice and the fbi have a sacred obligation to keep the american people safe. he constitution, and you have ethical responsibilities as a department employee and a member of the bar. joining us now is frank figliuzzi, a former fbi assistant director for counterintelligence and an msnbc senior national security and intelligence analyst. also with us, andrew weissman, former fbi general counsel and former chief of the criminal division in the eastern district of new york. he's an msnbc legal analyst. and, andrew, let's begin with you, because your old job is mentioned here. fbi general counsel advised you must turn over all of those names. >> so i disagree. >> with that. >> i think. >> it. >> depends on what the intent is. the only non nefarious intent would be if you want those names because you want to commend them. i worked on the enron case. there was a huge team. i could imagine the justice department saying, we need to know everyone there because we want to give them an award. emil bove made it clear that's not why they want the list. he said it's about poss

the justice. >> department wants.this indictment. >> to be dismissed without prejudice. >> which means. >> that's. >> legal terms. for we can bring. >> it again. >> so basically when coleman's talking about up the but excuse me, he's basically saying he's basically hooking on to that and basically saying. >> we can. >> indict you if you don't do what we want. >> that's right. >> but i. >> also think. >> that there was something more going on here. >> than this. immigration for dismissal trade. >> i think this. >> has a lot. >> to do with. >> donald trump's pathological narcissism. this guy. >> came in and kissed the ring. that's it. that's the most important thing to donald trump. donald trump doesn't give a about immigration. >> truth be. >> told. >> he only wants to use it as a cudgel, which. >> is. >> why he why he tanked that immigration bill. last year. i mean, in fact, back in the 2016 campaign, when it. >> first started. >> they couldn't get him to talk about immigration. and the way they got him to. >> talk ab

think on the other side of the coin, too, what we've seen is that the administration is of the justice departmentestigate these prosecutors, and which is also unfortunate. i think that sends a chill throughout the department, throughout all offices. and i think that, frankly, at the end of the day, they're probably going to end up where john durham was with his. nothing. >> david, i've gone to you repeatedly and even in serious times, you know, i keep a little bit of a light tone. it's not because noah shachtman has nothing to offer. i want to be clear about. >> wow. >> it's because it's because david kelley ran this office and has a lot to offer. so, david, stay with us. noah, i bring you in. yeah. >> let's see if i. >> got more than nothing. >> i think you have more than nothing. and so i'm being honest with everyone. we wanted to really get david's reaction. former fdny chief is telling us this is approaching a nixonian saturday night massacre level. and we understand that people have heard a lot of things and don't want hyperbole. we try to deal with evidence on this table. but that's quite a

over at the department of justice. obviously not. and every accusation from trump world is just a projection and a confession of what they're doing. you know, they had a committee on the weaponization of the department of justice, which found absolutely nothing against the department of justice. uh, in the last administration. but they were getting ready to weaponize the department of justice now. so they fire all the prosecutors who worked on the january 6th cases. they demand a roundup of 6000 fbi agents who were involved in that massive investigation into that massive attack on american democracy in the capitol. and our police officers. um, it's all about partisan weaponization, and it fits their unitary executive theory that everybody in the executive branch of government, including now members of independent boards and agencies like the federal election commission and the national labor relations board, work directly for donald trump. and he can fire them for whatever reason he wants. they have to take political or

this department of justice is not promoting law and order. it's promoting lawlessness and disorder, and that's been consistent with what we've seen from the trump administration from the very beginning, including but not limited to pardoning hundreds of violent felons who attacked and brutally beat police officers, and then were released back into communities all across the country, threatening public safety. many of these individuals who were pardoned, this was all facilitated by the department of justice. many of my colleagues in the house have said nothing about this, or worse, they continue to support what has occurred, this lawlessness and disorder. many have extensive criminal records for things like domestic violence, weapons charges that are serious, and rape. so this is not an administration that is committed to the safety of the american people. they continue to undermine it and flood the zone with chaos. >> jonathan: more broadly, we're in four weeks in this second trump administration. what of all that we have seen play out over t

so in the court it is - the justice department versus the justice department versus the fbi.taken against them by supporters of the january to six riot or insurrection, whatever you wish to call it. it is worth noting in defence of the fbi agents that no specific wrongdoing has been alleged, it is simply that the new trump administration wants a list produced a people who have worked onjanuary a list produced a people who have worked on january the a list produced a people who have worked onjanuary the 6th cases. president trump offered sweeping clemency of people convicted of january the six—related offences, but this is going deeper, trying to secure the list of anyone in the fbi who worked on those cases. . ., , cases. so in the court it is the justice _ cases. so in the court it is the justice department i cases. so in the court it is i the justice department versus the justice department versus the fbi. that is the allegations of wrongdoing and says the incidents simply never occurred . the latest allegations come in the wake of a bbc daniel de simone has more. report di

the justice department responded by saying this. quote, refusing a basic request to pause an investigation so officials can examine the potential waste of government funds is not an act of heroism, just a failure to follow the chain of command. it's unclear what they mean when they say a basic request to pause an investigation, since denise chung says she was actually ordered to launch an investigation, not pause one if the administration can order prosecutors to use the criminal justice system to shut down programs, they don't like to freeze the assets of people they perceive to be their enemies, even before the courts get a chance to rule on the case that would turn the justice department into a whole new toolset that a power hungry president could use against his political enemies. what should a prosecutor do in that case, if they believe that bringing such a case, bringing such a criminal matter would be unpredicted, what should they do? today, denise chung decided the only thing to do was resign. joining us now is nbc news just

what is the department of justice today, if not corrupted? >> i, with all due respect. dave kelly, who is a friend and i respect a ton. >> i'm not going to agonize. >> over it. the department of justice at its head is corrupted right now. what we are seeing is that the halls of the doj and the fdny, and i'm going to go out on a limb and say, i think probably almost every federal prosecutor across the country, if they have any shred of integrity, would do exactly what mr. sassoon, what mr. hagan, what the penn prosecutors did, they would not stand up in front of a federal judge and say, this case should be dismissed when it is clear as day. we've seen it now ourselves in bobby's letter. we've seen it in sassoon's letter. we've seen it in hagen's letter. we that the basis for dismissal is literally a political deal. and i don't think it's that he didn't want to pardon adam, but i think it's that he did want leverage over adam. it reminds me, i think i said this yesterday of the mafia cases i did. you know, it's much better to have someone who you can kind of pull the pupp

i would later serve in the obama justice department as a terrorism justice prosecutor. we prosecuted al qaeda and others. i was honored to receive the 2017 assistant attorney general's award for loretta lynch for my work in helping the ugandans bring members of their group to justice for murdering 74 innocent people including an american. i would also receive the human intelligence award from the intelligence community for related work on that mission. my experiences at the national security division would later be followed on the national security council, and the senior representative of counterterrorism and national intelligence responsible for the promulgation of the presidential daily briefing, the most sensitive and classified information and secrets to protect the country. my time in the white house was preceded by my time right here in congress as a staffer on the health -- on the house intelligence committee where i exposed serious fisa former intelligence act abuses by members of the department of justice and federal bureau of investigation. that eroded the pu

their pointed words as the trump justice department orders them to drop the case. one lawyer saying they were set to bring new charges. the dramatic promise trump's border czar made on live tv about what would happen to mayor eric adams if he didn't keep his word. >> sweeping government layoffs hit thousands of federal workers, including staff overseeing the nuclear stockpile. the president warning more cuts are coming. >> torrential rains triggering mudslides in southern california, sweeping a car into the ocean with a driver still inside. >>> plus, the major winter storm threatening millions this weekend. >> now developments in that deadly midair collision. the black hawk helicopter was flying too high, but the pilots might not have known. >> ukraine on edge after a dramatic drone strike at the chernobyl nuclear plant. the world leaders stunned by mixed messages fromom the u.s. over the war as president zelenskyy tells us in an exclusive interview, they have a low chance of surviving without u.s. support. >> pope francis hospitalized with bronchitis. the latest o

justice department. they don't need to. they got what they wanted. this all comes as adams is preparing to let ice agents into rikers island, which is a major shift from the city's sanctuary laws. meanwhile, new york city's comptroller wants local officials to intervene after the federal government took back $80 million that he says was congressionally approved to help with the migrant crisis. and tonight, nbc news is reporting the trump administration has told agencies to fire probationary employees. that might not sound like much, but federal government workers typically have probationary status for one or even two years into working there. according to data from the office of personnel and management, that's hundreds of thousands of people who could now be fired. we have a lot to cover tonight, so let's get smarter. with the help of our lead off panel, former u.s. attorney joyce vance joins us. she spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor, and she's a law professor at the university of alabama. luke bro

the department of justice.y cannot pull the judge off the case. so that judge, who is in the southern district of new york, where the bench is going to, i think, be very much looking at all of this. and if they think that danielle sassoon has been treated shabbily and she resigned because she could not stomach doing something against the law, they could easily have her back. and what that could result in is a hearing where the judge wants to hear what happened. and nicole, you just read from defense counsel saying that they dispute the characterization. well, one of the things that opens the door to is the judge saying, fine, i want to hear from amiel beauvais himself. i want to hear this letter. i want to hear what these reasons are. and have him say why he's not going forward, to see whether these are pretextual reasons. if there's a dispute about what happened in a meeting, i can have witnesses called and at least is right at the end of the day, if he thinks that there should be somebody else assigned. he ac