dana boente would be the third.atergate history and saturday night massa cure now it's possible at headquarters of the department of justice to do things they refuse to do. the first person in the line of succession outside of doj headquarters is the eastern district of virginia u.s. attorney. >> wow, that's an ominous prospect. senator, one last question for you, i know the deputy attorney general and attorney general did not respond to your initial letter about this you gave them this deadline of today. do you have options in terms of compelling them to respond? do you anticipate trying to question them about this or being able to question mr. ben d -- mr. boente himself? >> it's my hope they will work in a bipartisan way. it's my expectation we'll have a chance to continue to seek the production of the documentation and witnesses. there are folks who should be appearing in front of the senate judiciary committee because of the incomplete or misleading previous answers. and it's my hope the senate judiciary chairm

for some reason and as a surprise, dana boente did not see it coming days before the trump administrationd him to resign. boente was telling people how excited he was to continue work as u.s. attorney in virginia. there has been no explanation for why he was pushed out at the national security division and out of the eastern district of virginia, just as the first indictments were announced in the mueller investigation. and despite the fact that the trump administration had previously told him that he could keep his job. well there is one key senator who has been trying to figure this out. i sent a letter to attorney general jeff sessions and to the deputy attorney general demanding an explanation for the abrupt termination of dana boente, the delinquent the senator gave to get the answers was november 21st, which is i'm not wearing a watch but i remember it's today. that senator is pushing hard on this. i have a feeling he is ultimately going to figure it out. he joins us live next. nick was born to move. 3 toddlers won't stop him. and neither will lower back pain. because at a dr. schol

dana boente was number four in the department of justice.since the attorney general is recused in all matters relating to the mueller investigation. i do think, by insisting on his own choice, president trump is signalling that he is asserting his authority over the department of justice. i am equally troubled by reports that the president has personally interviewed candidates for u.s. attorney positions in several key jurisdictions. that's inappropriate. attorney general sessions testified to our judiciary committee in the senate that that was inappropriate. i think we have got lots of signals here that our president doesn't understand the appropriate boundaries. >> can you judge all that? do you think that's all a set of concerns that are legitimate, putting them together like that by the senator? >> i think, when president trump actually nom natinates another person to take over the job in virginia. senator coons and the senators on the judiciary committee as well as republicans need to ask whether there was a loyalty oath extracted from

we reported that dana boente was leaving both jobs. we know now he was fired unexpectedly from both jobs a day before grand jury signed and sealed criminal indictments against paul manafort and his associate rick gates. we still don't know why dana boente was all of a sudden fired the day before the indictments were sworn but nbc news confirms it was not voluntary, he was pushed out by the trump administration. we're working right this second, trying to figure out why dana boente was suddenly fired. still don't know. possible it's just a coincidence but trying to figure it out. as soon as we do, i'll rush to a camera and tell you. also learned that president's long-time staffer and communications director hope hicks is scheduled to be interviewed by mueller's team later this month and president's long-term bodyguard, chief of oval office operations in white house, keith schiller, is scheduled to testify for the russia investigation. tomorrow the committee will heard from ike kaveladze, russian who turned up at meeting where they were p

issue is this very powerful prosecutor, dana boente, who you said was forced to resign. he's in the line of succession if trump tried to remove mueller, in the line beneath rosenstein. you wrote you're concerned about the timing given indictments issued by mueller. if any of this did go past rosenstein, it's well established for everyone playing baseball cards at home, boente could be a key player. my colleague rachel maddow on this role. >> there's a case to be made if anybody outside of special counsel robert mueller's office knows what's going on from the very beginnings of the trump russia investigation, it's probably dana boente, given his role in eastern virginia, ag, acting ag, national security division. >> i don't want to make light of anything or if you remember the movie "zelig" he was everywhere. you seem concerned. walk us through what you're asking for now and why. >> i sent a letter to attorney general jeff sessions over two weeks ago asking for answer as to why dana boente was forced out. long serving senior law enforcement official as you mentioned. cent

. >> dana boente was eastern district of virginia attorney. intending to stay on in the eastern district of virginia, had been advised personally by the president that he could stay on. we're not told why he was fired but we're told he was fired the day before the first indictments came down in the special counsel's investigation. those may be totally unrelated matters. but as the former u.s. attorney there, as somebody who i believe has known dana boente for a long time, do you have any insight into that firing? >> i've known dana for about 300 years. and by the way, he was my first assistant when i was the u.s. attorney. i asked him to take on that job essentially as the chief operating officer of our office. old and dear friend. as to your second question, rachel, that's up to dana. whatever reasons he knows or is willing to share, i have to leave that to dana. it's not for me to say. >> it's probably worth asking the trump administration why they decided to fire him. >> you could ask them. >> i'll make some calls. >> i bet you will. >> chu

attorney there, as somebody who i believe has known dana boente -- >> i asked him to take on that jobly as the chief operating officer of our office, old and dear friend. as to your second question, rachel, that's up to dana. whatever reasons he knows or is willing to share, i have to leave that to dana. it's not for me to say. >> it's probably worth asking the trump administration why they decided to fire him. >> i'll make some calls. >> i bet you will. >> chuck rosenberg, now an nbc and msnbc contributor, his first interview since leaving the trump administration last month. i hope this is the first of many opportunities we get to talk. a real pleasure. >> i hope so too, thank you. >> chuck rosenberg. we'll be right back. (♪) (♪) it all starts with a wish. the lincoln wish list event is here. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down and a complementary first months payment. and my brother ray and i started searching for answers. (vo) when it's time to navigate in-home care, follow that bright star. because brightstar care earns the same accreditation as the best hospitals.

after that you get to rachel grand who is the associate attorney general and then dana boente who announced he would resign and he's still the u.s. attorney for the eastern district for virginia but indicated he will resign, so that indicates he probably would not fire bob mueller either. what do you suspect the advice is going around the west wing. what would it normally be? if this were a normal white house, what would be the advice be? >> if it was a normal white house he would not have fired comey in the first place to have triggered the special counsel, rob mueller to be put in place on this independent investigation of russia. it goes so far of how abnormal things have been. donald trump has made it clear to the american people that think thinks the russia investigation is a hoax. i think we need to believe him. the american people needs to believe him. i think it's incumbent on congress to protect mueller's budget and that firing of mueller doesn't happen. another thing too we have not talked about, donald trump is thinking about pardoning, as we all know is he's thinking about pardo