mr. bove. that's correct. d less than a minute later, in his very next answer, emil bove contradicted that answer he had just given when he said he believed that the indictment, quote, is an abuse of the criminal justice process. emil bove advanced the novel theory that no candidate for office should ever be charged with a crime. he said to the judge, i mean, frankly, i think the fact that mayor adams is sitting to my left right now is part of the problem. he's not able to be outrunning the city and campaigning. i think that is actual interference with the election. so according to the new trump justice department theory, any candidate in any party anywhere in the country cannot be charged with a crime of any kind because that is interference with the election. even if the election isn't even that year, presidential campaigns are four years long, remember, emil bove also advanced the novel legal theory that you cannot indict the new york city police commissioner because the duties of that job are so important.

mr. boveroposes dismissing the charges against adams in return for his assistance in enforcing federal immigration laws. analogizing to the prisoner exchange in which the u.s. freed notorious russian arms dealer viktor bout in return for an american prisoner in russia. such an exchange with adams violates common sense beliefs in the equal administration of justice. the justice manual and the rules of professional conduct. adams has argued in substance, and mr. bove appears prepared to concede that the mayor should receive leniency for federal crimes solely because he occupies an important public position and can use that position to assist in the administration's policy priorities. in your words, she's quoting pam bondi to herself here. quote doj will not tolerate abuses of the criminal justice process, coercive behavior, or other forms of misconduct. danielle sassoon says, then, quote, dismissal of the indictment for no other reason than to influence adams mayoral decision making would be all

mr. bove proposes dismissing the charges against adams in return for his assistance in enforcing federal immigration laws. analogizing to the prisoner exchange in which the us freed notorious russian arms dealer viktor bout in return for an american prisoner in russia. such an exchange with adams violates common sense beliefs in the equal administration of justice. the justice manual and the rules of professional conduct. adams has argued in substance, and mr. bove appears prepared to concede that the mayor should receive leniency for federal crimes solely because he occupies an important public position and can use that position to assist in the administration's policy priorities. in your words. and she's quoting pam bondi to herself here, quote, doj will not tolerate abuses of the criminal justice process, coercive behavior, or other forms of misconduct, danielle sassoon says, then, quote, dismissal of the indictment for no other reason than to influence adams mayoral decision making would b

mr. bove proposes dismissing the charges against adams in return for his assistance in enforcing the federal immigration laws. analogizing to the prisoner exchange in which the united states freed notorious russian arms dealer viktor bout and in return for an american prisoner in russia. 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

although mr. bove disclaimed any intention to exchange leniency in this case for adams's assistance in enforcing federal law, that is the nature of the bargain laid bare in mr. bova's memo. that is especially so given mr. bove's comparison to the viktor bout prisoner exchange, which was quite expressly a quid pro quo, but one carried out by the white house and not by the prosecutors in charge of bout's case. this, sassoon notes in her in a footnote here. and this is like actually maybe the most explosive thing in the entire thing. this is a footnote. she says, quote, i attended a meeting on january 31st, 2025 with mr. beauvais, mayor adams, counsel, and members of my office. mayor 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. mr. beauvais admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes

i think that, in fact, mr. bovÉould likely find himself in front of the federal judge who is overseeing this case, to explain how this comports both with federal law and the practices of the department. and i think he's going to have a hard time doing that. there's been sort of this, um, idea somehow that an election overrides the rule of law, or that the fact that one candidate may have promised something on the campaign trail, uh, that because he was elected that now suddenly everything is okay and nothing else matters because he has a mandate? well, that's just not the case. but in this instance, you've seen, you know, the mayor, um, basically be subject to a quid pro quo deal. and that is for as long as he agrees with trump and supports his policies on immigration, he is free from prosecution. if, in fact, at some point he changes his mind and decides to take off his maga hat. um, he's not going to be free. and you know this this is a pretty clear deal. and it's in writing. uh, and again, i think that i think mr

mr. bovÉ concluded this. mr. vÉ concluded that not all included that we are not saying that we as a u.s. attorneys, so. >> they may have been protectors rather than to overuse the word collaborators. yeah. um, i wanted to play what tom homan said today with his appearance on mayor adams on fox. here he is. >> if he doesn't come through, i'll be back in new york city and we won't be sitting on a couch. i'll be in his office up, up his butt saying, where the hell is the agreement? we came to? >> um, what? what is he saying there? where the hell is the agreement we came to? if he doesn't come through, i'll be back in new york city. >> yeah. so he's basically. this is the quid pro quo. um, it seems like this is the implicit threat. if you don't come through on your part of the agreement. i'm coming back to claim what we have, which is that we have submitted to the court that the case is still strong, and we're asking the court to dismiss it, but not to throw it completely away. it's still hanging out there. >> hang it

mr. bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. so it seems like they confiscated the attorney's notes. that wasn't the only bombshell from sassoon, who, we should note, has some very conservative credentials. she's listed as a contributor to the conservative federalist society, and she clerked for the late supreme court justice antonin scalia. so it's hard to paint her as some sort of deep state stooge. and she is relatively new to the job. she isn't some biden era agent hiding out in the doj. as for the bombshell, she reveals they were going to have further charges against mayor adams. she writes, as you know, our office is prepared to seek a superseding indictment from a new grand jury. under my leadership, we proposed a superseding indictment that would add an obstruction conspiracy count based on evidence that adams destroyed and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false inform

although mr. bovÉand he is the justice department official involved here, disclaimed any intention to exchange leniency in this case for adams assistance in enforcing the law. that is the nature of the bargain laid bare in mr. bovÉ's memo. she is basically saying there were like quid pro quo discussions here, and the justice department was part of it. chan. >> yeah. and i think, john, the really. >> disturbing part of it is. >> really on the receiving end. >> of that offer. >> so adams attorneys. >> are, of course, going to dispute that there's some sort of corrupt motive. they're just trying to pitch things for their client, and there's a little bit of a question as to what is the thing of value that they'd be offering under this sort of bribery type notion here. but what's really disturbing is the reaction of doj, uh, for example, the idea that, as miss sassoon also notes that both borrowed any note taking, uh, during that session and then actually collected the notes like a, you know, schoolteacher

mr. bovÉ's memo that is especially so given mr.n to the prisoner exchange, which was quite expressly a quid pro quo, but one carried out by the white house and not the prosecutors in charge of bout's case. chris. >> yeah. and the idea. >> again. >> that the sort. >> of the kingly. prerogative with which. beauvais conducts himself, i mean, he has. >> been. >> really the hatchet man. >> he should. >> be quite famous in america. he has been the hatchet man for the trump vision of the justice department, which is. >> donald trump's lawyers. first and foremost. everyone reports to him. >> and you know, this letter. >> where she. >> goes through all the reasons. >> that she. >> cannot in. >> good conscience, consistent with the rule of law, the. >> constitution. >> her oath, the. guidelines and procedures of the federal department. and even she cites that weaponization memo which says that you're not supposed to you're. >> supposed to make good. >> faith arguments and not politically loaded ones. and she request what she requests in. thi

andrew weissmann, how is it legal for mr. bove or bove to walk in and fire people for whom, if they hadn't done what he's accusing them of doing, they would have been breaking the law. crimes were committed. capitol police officers were physically assaulted, charges were filed, cases were brought. agents had to investigate them because there were prosecutions. the trump supporters pleaded guilty. i mean, you were the general counsel of the fbi. how is that legal? how is there not a court that has stepped in today and kicked them out? >> so let me just be a nerd and tell you what emil. bove has said in writing on january 31st. >> so everyone. >> has in black and white what the second highest official at the department of justice today has said to justify what he's doing, he quotes the trump executive order and says this executive order was issued on january 20th, 2025 by president trump. appropriately characterizing the work involving the january 6th prosecutions as having involved a grave national injustice that has been perpetrat

however, mr. bove says those two main reasons is why he wants this case dropped. by the prior u.s. attorney's office. second, he says the pending prosecution has unduly restricted mayor adams a's ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior administration. doj officials insist, david, that a there was no quid pro quo. however, they believe this case took adams' focus away from implementing a plan to curb illegal immigration in if new york, and that counteracts president trump's executive orders. our lauren green caught up with the mayor shortly after we broke this news yesterday. watch. >> we were just notified of the possibility that doj is communicating with local district attorney's office here, and we're going to find out more information. >> reporter: he didn't say much, but in a few minutes he will be speaking from if city hall in new york where we do expect perhaps he may make a comment or two on this. it's also notable that that his attorneys were down from new yo

mr. bovÉ's memo to prosecutors monday.hat memo stated that the criminal case had unduly restricted mayor adams ability to address illegal immigration and violent crime. it also pointedly said that the decision had nothing to do with the evidence or the law. we'll let that sink in. before we start today with some of our favorite. reporters and friends with us at the table, new york times investigative. >> reporter and msnbc. >> national security contributor. mike schmidt is here. he is byline on. >> that. >> reporting we just read from. also joining us, president of the national action network, host of msnbc's politics nation. the reverend al sharpton is here. also joining us at the table. msnbc legal analyst. >> former s.d.n.y. >> criminal division deputy chief christie greenberg is here. and mimi rocca. joins us. she's a former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. and she ran the s.d.n.y criminal division. mimi, i'll start with you, because when we came on the air yesterday, you had a real live w

and, wolf, he should look at the ethics issues, including for the doj official, mr. bovÉ who examined this. >> very quickly, can just put everybody under oath. everybody who came up in this case, it's probably not going to happen, but the judge has the power to do that, bring them all in, make them talk. >> good discussion. eliot williams. norm eisen, to both of you. thank you very, very much. coming up, we're getting new details on why one of the most well known republicans in washington is now calling it quits. >> i'm doctor sanjay gupta in atlanta, and this is cnn. >> one a next level clean swish with the whoa of listerine. it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean with listerine. feel the. >> whoa! >> oh. >> with flonase. allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily gives you long lasting non-drowsy relief. flonase. all good. >> yoo hoo! >> you're making. >> everything orange. >> we're showing we're consumer. cellular gets great coverage. >> we use the same. >> towers as b

here, that so many people have resigned because they were not willing to submit the document that mr. bovÉfinally does under his own signature. >> i also want to ask you about a brief that's been filed in this case, three former u.s. attorneys from new york, new jersey and connecticut want the judge to conduct an extensive inquiry into doj's reasons that they want the case dismissed. one of the questions they want answered is this one quote is the request to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, intended to induce mayor adams to cooperate with the trump administration's policy objectives or political efforts? you say the without prejudice part of that is most important. perhaps we may understand why. tell us. >> yeah. so i think many people think of this as whether or not the justice department has improperly dropped the charges or tried to drop the charges against the mayor, but there's an entirely different angle that this question focuses on, which is, why didn't you completely drop the charges? why did you only submit dismissing the case without prejudice, which means they could br

if he does, if judge ho doesn't accept the excuses that are given by mr. bovÉs deputy, who has just been appointed to be in charge of the criminal division, who signed this motion. if he doesn't buy this, if he doesn't think this is justice, he could appoint a special special prosecutor to overlook what is happening here and ultimately could appoint a special prosecutor to prosecute the mayor. so that could still happen. remember, even if the charges are dropped, it's being done without prejudice. the mayor is still in jeopardy, remains in jeopardy. and if he does not behave himself the way that the administration wants him to, they can reinstate these charges any time they want. >> oh, wow. so? so then you mentioned sassoon. uh, and the prosecutor. so what recourse do these prosecutors have after danielle sassoon eight page resignation letter said in part, adams's 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,

as mr. bovedams assistance on immigration enforcement. kristy greenberg served as an assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york, where she was deputy chief of the criminal division. and she joins me now. as a legal matter, if i go to a politician, he's going to give me a good municipal contract. i have a suitcase of cash. i give him the suitcase of cash, and i say, i want to be really clear here. this gift is for you because i like your family so much. it has nothing to do with the contract you're giving me. does that put you in the clear? >> i mean, it defies logic, right? like you can say, oh, it's not a quid pro quo, but it's listed here as one of the two reasons why this direction is being given to drop the case, that there's a concern that this case is impeding the mayor's ability to help with violent crime and immigration initiatives. so. okay, so the expectation clearly, and it's for a temporary dismissal. that is what justifies a temporary dismissal until after the elec

>> well, the reporting of the hearing yesterday indicated the judge was somewhat deferential to mr. bovÉhe asked a lot of questions of the government. i will say it was extraordinary for the number two official currently acting at the department of justice to be appearing in court. that just never happens. and further extraordinary that they've been so brazenly specific about the fact that there this is not about the merits of the case. it's purely to carry out, as they say, the agenda of the administration. but look, over the decades, over the centuries, there's been dozens and dozens of mayors and other public officials who have been charged with corruption offenses, who presumably were carrying out policies that sometime coincided with that of a current administration. so the whole thing is just a smarmy example of the violence to the rule of law that this administration seems bent on committing. and i don't know which way the judge is going to come out. it's rare for the judge, for a judge not to ultimately grant a motion to dismiss. he does have some inherent authority not to do it,

> that happened on january 31st in which she says, uh, i attended a meeting on january 31st with mr. bove, adam's counsel, and members of my team, adam's attorneys repeatedly urge 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 this indictment were dismissed. what adams and his attorneys were offering was that he would help with the enforcement of immigration activities in new york city. you know, the sanctuary status, all the things that donald trump wants if they drop this case. and, you know, that's one of the things she makes this accusation. now. bove, for his part, responds today, saying, essentially, we are accepting your resignation. and he also puts on on administrative leave. the attorneys who are running this case in the manhattan u.s. attorney's office. and he's i'll read you just a part of what he says. he says that they had determined that there was there was weaponization in bringing this case. and he says the justice department will not tolerate the. insubordination and apparent m

and if i was a federal judge, i would invite mr. bovÉdown to a hearing and allow him to stay in his place in front of me. why this case should be, uh, dismissed at this point and how, in fact, the. representations of the of the department made by the department are not a quid pro quo. and i would do it both to protect the system and also to say, look, i'm not going to let you do this to a potential defendant to hang the threat of an indictment over the head just because, you know, may or may not choose later on to wear a maga hat or so we're just not going to do that. so i think there are real issues to be addressed by the court, but whether or not this motion moves forward. >> uh, mayor, how do you see it? being a former mayor, this. directive, the mayor and how he has certainly, uh, curried some favor with the trump administration, with some of his immigration policies and, and these resignations that have come in the wake of this directive. >> you know. >> brianna, i think there's more. than one thing going on. and i fear they're all

she she, she alleges in her in her letter that at the end of it, you know, mr. bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the end of the conclusion, essentially, you know, they didn't want any record of of that meeting which were being taken by someone on her team, and they raised the question of whether there would be be leaks. look, one of the things that i don't know, we don't this is a story that's going to continue spiraling. this is about also bringing to heel s.d.n.y. the southern district of new york is known as the most independent office in the department, and that this is also as much about that, because the justice department really needs to control that if they're going to trust prosecutors not to not to go rogue. >> didn't trump's about to be deputy ag todd blanche work in s.d.n.y? that's right. okay. so they they're very familiar. >> with that. beauvais did as well. >> and beauvais did as well. and so technically this case still has not been dropped as far as i know. >> it hasn't

. >> but it didn't seem to divide mr. bove based on this new reporting.and i guess what i'm trying to understand is, are you aware of any fbi leaders or individuals who were fired for less than this, quote, full throated support, end quote, in the words of mr. o'leary, this action quote, bove attended weekly morning meetings about january 6th cases chaired by the senior fbi official in new york, the group of prosecutors and law enforcement agents planned and prioritized efforts to find and arrest the january 6th defendants based on intelligence coming in from all around the country. and this email gave very clear direction to aggressively work to support fbi's efforts to write warrants. pen registers. et cetera. referring to fbi technology that records incoming phone numbers. are you aware of any fbi leadership or agents who were fired for less than that? >> well, the fbi, you know, had the few people in the leadership who have been pushed out right now. it's sort of people wondering who is going to be on the chopping block, because we haven't seen those

mr. boveion of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. the attorney for mayor adams, alex shapiro, denied the allegations in a statement that reads in part, quote, the idea that there was a quid pro quo is a total lie. we offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us. sassoon also revealed in that letter that her. office was prepared to bring. additional charges against mayor adams, based on evidence that adams destroyed, and instructed others to destroy evidence and provided false information to the fbi. adams was indicted last year on multiple criminal charges, including bribery and fraud, over his dealings with officials from the turkish government. he has maintained that he did nothing wrong. at least five other justice department officials have also resigned as a result of bovi's order to dismiss claire mccaskill. your take on this. >> well. >> this prosecutors across the country are tremendously proud of this woman. i think that the cold. >> bucket of water. >> that was dumped

mr. >> bovÉ's mouth and now apparently. >> the end of. >> miss. >> bondi's pen. >> in terms of this newns. >> of. those who attacked. >> the capitol. almost 1600. cases handled by judges appointed. >> by presidents. >> of both parties, never, ever, ever found. >> anything untoward, anything that suggested a. political bias motivating. >> those prosecutions. >> to the contrary. the judges. >> across the board, over. and over and over. >> again talked about how serious. >> that attack. >> was, how it was. >> an effort to. >> overturn the. >> results of an election. >> how they. >> had watched. >> the evidence on massive amounts. >> of videos. >> they had heard statements, recorded statements made by the defendants. >> these were. >> righteous cases. >> and. >> no judge. >> thought otherwise. >> same with the. >> cases brought by jack smith. the january. >> 6th case by. >> that was in the d.c. district court. >> no judge. >> there suggested. >> any political. >> bias in. >> bringing that case. >> and of course, rejected selective and vindictive. >> prosecution motions by mr. trump. >> and

mr. bovek notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. >> the attorney. >> for mayor adams, alex spiro, denied the allegations in a statement that reads in part, quote, the idea that there was a quid pro quo is a total lie. we offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us. sassoon also revealed in that letter that her. office was prepared to bring additional charges against mayor adams, based on evidence that adams destroyed, and instructed others to destroy evidence and provided false information to the fbi. adams was indicted last year on multiple criminal charges, including bribery and fraud, over his dealings with officials from the turkish government. he has maintained that he did nothing wrong. at least five other justice department officials. have also resigned as a result of bove's order to dismiss claire mccaskill. your take on this. >> well. >> this prosecutors across. >> the country are. >> tremendously proud. >> of this

mr. beauvais admonished a member of my team who took notes during the meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. emil bove then replied as follows in no valid sense do you uphold the constitution by disobeying direct orders, implementing the policy of a duly elected president, and anyone romanticizing that behavior does a disservice to the nature of this work and the public's perception of our efforts. and then, in his own resignation letter to beauvais, scotten, the prosecutor wrote this any assistant u.s. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow the using of prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way. if no lawyer within earshot of the president is willing to give him that advice, then 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. well, in the end, that person was beauvais himself, who signed the motion to dismiss the charges against adams. and there's been no attempt here to mask what has just taken place. the trump administration is seeking

mr. patel then provides direction to stephen miller, who relays it to the acting deputy attorney general bove is unacceptable for a nominee with no legal or current role in government to personally direct the unjustified and potentially illegal firings of dedicated, nonpartisan professionals at the fbi. if these allegations are true, then mr. patel may have committed perjury before the senate judiciary committee. the day after the meeting i describe, where mr. patel's desire for fbi officials to be fired more quickly was discussed was mr. patel's confirmation hearing before the senate judiciary committee so the morning after, he's putting the heat on the leadership at the fbi to dismiss more people more quickly, he testifies before the judiciary committee, under oath. during the hearing, senator cory booker of new jersey asked mr. patel, and i quote, are you aware of any plans or discussions to punish in any way, including termination, fbi agents or personnel associated with trump investigations? yes or no? end of quote. mr. patel answered that he was, quote, not aware of that, and continued,

bove told. attendees of a january 29th meeting between top fbi brass and leadership at the justice department. >> this quote. >> he received multiple calls from stephen miller the. >> night. >> before. mr. miller was pressuring him because. >> mr. patel. >> wanted the fbi to remove targeted employees faster, as doj had already done with prosecutors. now, according to senator durbin, notes from that meeting read, quote, kp. kash patel wants movement at fbi. reciprocal actions for doj. durbin adding this quote, it. >> is unacceptable. >> for a nominee with no current role in government, much less at the fbi, to personally direct, unjustified and potentially illegal adverse employment actions against senior career fbi leadership and other dedicated, nonpartisan law enforcement officers if these allegations are true, patel may have perjured himself. >> before the senate. >> judiciary committee. for reference, here is. what kash patel said about this at his confirmation hearing. >> are you aware of any. plans or discussions to punish in any way, including termination, fbi agents or personnel associated with trump investigations? >> yes or no? >> i am not. >> aware of that. >> thank you sena