his defense lawyer was ed martin, the same ed martin who's now the us attorney in washington, dc.t guy's case saying the justice department, which had previously been prosecuting this case, they'd now like the court to vacate this matter. so, in other words, trump's u.s. attorney, ed martin, switched sides in the courtroom. he had been the defense lawyer for this guy. and then in the same case, he moved over to the prosecution side and said, yeah, i know i was his defense lawyer, but now i run the government side of things. and as editor, i think you should drop that case. lawyers aren't allowed to be the lawyer on both sides of a case. we have an adversarial system. you can't be the lawyer on both sides. switching sides in a case is a very obvious no no for lawyers everywhere. but it's also specifically against the rules at doj. doj regulations, quote, require lawyers to step aside from cases involving their former clients for at least a year. not if you're ed, though. ed was disguised defense lawyer and he now wants to be the prosecutor in that case, to the prosecutor who thinks

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and i would like to see ed martin try to prosecute that. t tempt him. >> thank you. coming up, trump's high pressure campaign against millions of federal workers blocked, at least for now, by a federal judge. again, a lot of federal judge. again, a lot of that going on today. i got this wow skin from olay body wash. it's new super serum: sink into my skin with 5 powerful ingredients. 5 benefits in 1! look at this olay difference. so luminous! olay super serum body wash. baby: liberty! mom: liberty mutual is all she talks about since we saved hundreds by bundling our home and auto insurance. baby: liberty! biberty: hey kid, it's pronounced "biberty." baby: liberty! biberty: biberty! baby: liberty! biberty: biberty! baby: liberty! biberty: bi-be-rty! baby: biberty! biberty: and now she's mocking me. very mature. mom: hey, that's enough you two! biberty: hey, i'm not the one acting like a total baby. mom: she's two. only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ baby: liberty. ♪♪ well would you look at that? jerry, you've got to see

prosecutors and submitted this motion to dismiss the indictment against his own january 6th client, ed martin, as a prosecutor, filed to dismiss the indictment of the guy he was also representing. in fact, it was not until yesterday that martin finally submitted a motion to withdraw as his client's defense counsel. barbara mcquade is a former u.s. attorney, now a professor at the university of michigan law school. she is also author of a new piece on this titled amateur hour at the us attorney's office. and she joins me now. well, barbara appears to be highly irregular and suspect. what do you make of it? >> well, you're spot on, chris. i mean, this is the quintessential conflict of interest. you can't represent both parties in the same legal matter. now, ed martin was no longer his counsel for joseph padilla. this client. he had not represented him since 2023. but you are forever barred. unless both parties consent. that is a violation of a couple of things. one is the ethical rules that bind all lawyers. the aba rule is 1.11 that talks about conflicts of interest for public lawyers, which h

. >> are you talking about ed martin? >> ed martin? that's correct. >> joy. ed martin, who is the acting u.s. attorney. and i'm going to put this on the screen. i don't know if we have it. i have a copy of it here. he sent out a letter saying, dear elon, please see this important letter. we will not tolerate threats against doge workers or lawbreaking by the disgruntled. all the best, ed martin. and this while elon musk has the potential to take the personal data of anyone that he wants inside the federal government, opm stands for office of personnel management, basically the hr department of all the federal government. he now has that access to that data, as do these six young people who work for him. it is radical and very unusual. nbc's vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. excellent reporting. before they were blocked from entering usaid headquarters today, congressional democrats blasted the trump administration and elon's elon musk's illegal maneuver. >> we don't have a. >> fourth branch. >> of government. >> called elon musk. >> we are witnessing a. c

that did not stop ed martin, the interim u.s. end its case against one of his own clients who took part in the january 6th attack. lawyers are generally prohibited from taking both sides in the same case. yeah. you think this is like, have you heard the phrase conflict of interest? this is like, this is not even the children's book definition. this is one of those super early reader board books, the kind you can also chew on, right? i mean, oh, conflict of interest. right. i know we're not paying attention to things being totally illegal anymore, but literally a kindergartner could understand what is wrong with this. a lawyer can't take both sides of the same case. if you were involved as the defense lawyer in a case, and now you work for the justice department. that is a case you're not allowed to work on. and. reuters notes that state rules in missouri, where ed martin is licensed, ban government lawyers from handling cases involving their clients without written consent. nevertheless, a quote, private spokesperson for ed marti

attorney ed martin a list of people who musk claims appear to be in martin's word stealing, governmentrty and or threatening government employees. now, this follows several days worth of reporting, including on this network, about staffers with musk. department of government efficiency. for more, we're joined by cnn chief legal affairs correspondent paula reid and former deputy assistant attorney general eliot williams. so what more are you learning about what or about whom elon musk may have referred to the justice department to and why? >> yeah. in this letter that the acting u.s. attorney posted on x, he doesn't say how many people he's investigating who he's investigating. he merely says that he's received this referral about individuals who appear to be stealing government property and or threatening government employees. this is incredibly unusual. this is not how federal investigations usually start with an official letter that is blast out on social media, especially so early in an investigation where not much evidence is likely gathered. also, the language used in this letter

reuters notes that state rules in missouri, where ed martin is licensed, ban government lawyers fromokesperson for ed martin said he's in complete compliance with the requirements for his position. oh, i'm sure, i'm sure, i'm sure. that clears it up. anyway, congratulations, pam bondi, on your first full day as attorney general of the united states, how about this as a little problem to clean up? how about this as a little problem right there at home right there in dc. we'll be right there in dc. we'll be right it's time to feed the dogs real food in the right amount. a healthy weight can help dogs live a longer and happier life. the farmer's dog makes weight management easy with fresh food pre-portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. sling this. >> critical time calls for the critical news coverage that sling provides. >> okay. >> see you tomorrow. >> the most important. >> news at the. >> best price. sling lets you do that. >> you'll be back. emus can't help people. >> customize and save with liberty mutual. >> and doug. >> well, i'll be. >> well, i'll be.

reuters notes that state rules in missouri, where ed martin is licensed, ban government lawyers fromses involving their clients without written consent. nevertheless, a, quote, private spokesperson for ed martin said he's in complete compliance with the requirements for his position. oh, i'm sure, i'm sure, i'm sure. that clears it up. anyway, congratulations, pam bondi, on your first full day as attorney general of the united states, how about this as a little problem to clean up? how about this as a little problem right there at home right there in dc. we'll be right back. >> if you're over 50. imagine you could turn back the clock on your stiff, achy joints ten, even 20 years. imagine you could do this without products that just temporarily hide the symptoms. imagine no more insta flex advanced. get a complimentary sample just by texting flo to 369369. insta flex advanced is different because it targets the root cause of joint soreness and stiffness. it doesn't just cover up symptoms, instead, it bathes your joints in its unique combination of five key natural ingredients found in

attorney, ed martin, sent an email to the entirety of the u.s.ere in washington, d.c, not specifically announcing terminations, but announcing a preservation or litigation hold, which many of your viewers may be familiar with. whenever there is the threat of pending litigation, members of the company are instructed not to destroy any documents. however, when we read the memo that was attached to that litigation hold, it became clear that the litigation in question related to prosecutors who had been hired by the department of justice to investigate and prosecute the crimes that occurred at the capitol on january 6th. and in fact, that memo that was just randomly included, included as an attachment in that 4:55 p.m. friday email included instructions from the higher ups in the department of justice to terminate those employees, which included me. however, as you have mentioned throughout this evening, this is an unfolding story because that memo also says that the names of the employees to be fired are included on an attachment a to that letter. t

attorney for the district of columbia, ed martin, who, quite honestly, may not actually be authorized to practice law in the district of columbia. but, you know, it's the trump era. in this letter, he notes that thank you for the referral of individuals and networks who appear to be stealing government property and or threatening employees. if people are discovered to have broken the law or even acted simply, unethically, ethically, we will investigate them and we will, quote, chase them to the end of the earth to hold them accountable. this is the. this is a prosecutor. d.c. prosecutor chasing people to the ends of the earth. what are you finding out there as you sit in those briefings at the white house, as you talk to members on the hill, how is this going down? >> and also. >> talking to. >> those who are in. >> the republican party as well. >> how it's going down. what many who. >> are working with. >> doge are hoping. >> for and relying. on are for those who are. in these agencies and in these departments. >> to rat. >> on their fellow colleagues. >> and that's what they're. >>

more on what exactly we are hearing from ed martin and his new inquiry in a moment, and why his announcement was so unusual today, but also during that press conference, i questioned president trump on the long list of fbi agents names that was just turned over to the department of justice. and your fbi has turned over a list to the justice department of the fbi agents who worked on the january 6th rioters cases. are you planning to fire the fbi agents who worked on those investigations? >> no, but i will fire some of them because some of them were corrupt. i have no doubt about that. i got to know a lot about that business, that world. i got to know a lot about that world. and we had some corrupt agents, and those people are gone, or they will be gone and it will be done quickly and very surgically. did you have a question for the prime minister? >> from the january 6th. >> talk up. >> are those the ones who worked on the january 6th? >> i don't know, i don't know. i know we have some that are very corrupt and we don't like it. we're going to bring back the reputation of the fbi. kash patel

but ed martin, the acting u.s. attorney for washington, d.c., sent a letter saying it was good to work with the doge team this weekend. we must keep all our american government employees safe, we must protect the american people's property. i recognize that some of the staff at doge have been targeted publicly. that's true. doge is apparently a public agency. if you are working for doge, you have accountability to the public. we are having a conversation about doge, about elon musk and the people who work for him. he said i ask that you utilize me and my staff to protect the doge's work and the doge's workers. let me assure you of this, we will pursue legal action against anyone who impedes your work and threatens your people. let me read that again. let me assure you of this. we will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work and threatens your people. that's extraordinary. the political opposition in this country is allowed to try to impede the work of the majority party. we are allowed

. >> dc, ed martin, who earlier this. week said he would pursue legal action against anyone who threatens. any doge. >> employees. >> something that he offered no evidence has happened is now saying that he is beginning an inquiry into those supposed threats. after a referral. >> from elon musk. >> who apparently now, in addition to wielding the power afforded to congress in the constitution, also has the power to order federal criminal investigations. martin wrote directly to elon. we will investigate them, and we will chase them to the end of the earth to hold them accountable. we will not rest or. cease in this. >> no one. >> should abuse american taxpayer dollars, nor american taxpayer workers. are these american taxpayer workers. i don't know about that. we don't have any evidence of that. and by. >> the. >> way, we've heard no such pledge. >> from. >> martin. after a conservative website funded by the heritage. foundation published what it called a dea watch list with the names, photos and identifying information of

attorney here in washington, ed martin. now, martin has already made some controversial moves. he has opened investigations into those who have worked on cases related to january 6th, even fired some prosecutors who worked on those cases. and now he posted this letter to social media saying that he is going to act on recommendations that he has received from elon musk. he is saying, quote, thank you for the referral of individuals and networks who appear to be stealing government property and or threatening government employees, but we do not know who these people are or what the specific allegations are. he goes on to use some language that's pretty unusual for a federal prosecutor in a public statement saying, quote, we will chase them to the end of the earth to hold them accountable. no one is above the law. so it's clear that mr. martin wants to get some attention about these referrals. but there isn't a lot of substance here. and this just sort of lends itself to more of the chaos and confusion that doge has created within the federal government. well, it's certainly under

as our viewers probably know by now, ed martin is a lawyer who defended january 6th rioters who has echoed claims about the 2020 election. now he's the acting u.s. attorney in washington, d.c, and he's threatening people who are getting in the way of elon musk. jose. >> ken dilanian, thank you very much. up next, we're going to go to new orleans, where the philadelphia eagles will take on the kansas city chiefs this sunday at the super bowl. plus, a celebratory shout out to our admired friend and colleague admired friend and colleague andrea mitchell. covid-19? i'm not waiting. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults... with mild-to- moderate covid-19 and a high-risk factor for it becoming severe. it does not prevent covid-19. my symptoms are mild now, but i'm not risking it. if it's covid, paxlovid. paxlovid must be taken within the first 5 days of symptoms... and helps stop the virus from multiplying in your body. taking paxlovid with certain medicines can lead... to serious or life- threatening side effects or affect how it... or other medicines work, including

we saw that memo from ed martin, the interim u.s. attorney in the district of columbia, who is trying to suggest that anybody who investigated the obstruction statute, 18 u.s.c. 1512, is the target of his 1512 project. this was the obstruction statute that the supreme court later said applies only to cases involving documents. but at the time of the investigation, that decision had not yet been made, and so he is trying to smear anyone who investigated a case that was inconsistent with the way the supreme court later adjudicated that decision, to suggest that they somehow did something wrong. they were doing everything right. this is an effort to rewrite history, and all of us with a voice have an obligation to speak out against it. >> all of us. not just media, not just lawyers, all of us. the most important person in america today is the american citizen. reach out and tell somebody, perhaps somebody who's elected, about how wrong this actually is. thanks to both of you, barbara mcquade, former united states attorney for the easter

i'm not sure there's a difference between a pam bondi or trump doj or an ed martin in the us attorney'she acting us attorney? i will say the lawyers who have been on many of the cases so far, including mine, are career, you know, assistant u.s. attorneys inside the civil division. and these are individuals i've litigated against for years, and they represent as careerists whoever is in power. now. i will say i in fact, i put this out on social media today that anyone within the u.s. attorney's office who is willing to come forward as a whistleblower to reveal illegal or unethical conduct of the acting u.s. attorney. my organization, whistleblower aid, will represent them for free. i mean, there i'm talking emphasized illegal or unethical, right? we're not talking about policy decisions or policy differences, illegal or unethical conduct, because in every administration, democratic or republican, that is what we pursue. and as you said, uphold the rule of law. we are strict rule of law. >> we are. and listen, i still believe in the norms and institutions. i think we should continue to do

attorney ed martin has been affiliated with conspiracy theories and false statements, including going to a stop the steal rally on the eve of the jan six insurrection. and we don't, at least at this hour, have any evidence, any material that would suggest why you would indict a person, even if they do have a fight with musk. and by the way, if he's the bigger fish and you have a fight with him in the government, say you don't want to give him access to various materials that typically you wouldn't give to what is basically a private citizen with a relationship with the president, you could get fired for that. you might get legally fired. in other words, you could sue over that and not get reinstated. that stuff happens. but the idea that you would be indicted and threatened with jail time as the current nonpartisan, valid government employee going up against the outside billionaire, we just don't have any information to suggest that's possible. the courts, of course, would have to deal with it if such an indictment were made. it is possible that musk and his allies are just saying thi

we have this guy, ed martin, who's been explicitly partizan. and as the dc u.s. attorney, he was phyllis schlafly's right hand man is just a rabid partizan that has been put in place at that very important d.c, you know, attorneys spot. and so i think we're going to see more of that from her as well. >> okay. last question to you, shelby. what else do you think we can expect from the doj? i mean, what do you think is next on their agenda? >> well, listen, i think that they've made it clear in, you know, as soon as she was confirmed, she has set up a task force to examine the what they call the weaponization of the justice department. they've she's warned career lawyers at the agency not to sort of push back on trump's agenda. and so i do think that that's going to be a focus. and anything that donald trump does in the next few weeks, which we anticipate to be a lot, a lot more executive orders, a lot more initiatives, that's going to follow at the justice department. and she's going to implement donald trump's agenda. >> okay, shelby talcott, come see you again a

attorney, ed martin, sent an email to. the entirety of the. u.s. attorney's office here. >> in washington. >> d.c, not specifically announcing terminations, but announcing. a preservation or litigation hold. i'm not going to sit here and say for sure that it means that there are plans to criminally prosecute those who investigated and prosecuted the january 6th offenses, but it does at least imply that there's going to be some investigation. and we've seen that already. you know, that investigation could be criminal, it could be civil, or it could just be internal. >> it is pretty remarkable. you know, the moment i think that we're in right now in terms of just prosecutors who are being fired, not because of any allegation of wrongdoing, just simply because of the types of cases they worked. and remember, the january 6th cases range from those sort of lower level misdemeanor cases involving unlawful parading, which typically resulted in just a probationary sentence for a lot of those defendants all the way up to seditious conspiracy. and importantl

attorney ed martin to staff his office in furtherance of his obligation to faithfully implement the agendae elected president trump to execute. therefore, this is notice of my final decision to terminate your appointment and to remove you from federal service. joining us now is sean brennan, an assistant u.s. attorney who worked on january 6th. prosecutions was just tonight been fired from the justice department. mr. brennan, i appreciate you being willing to come here and talk to us tonight on what i'm sure is kind of a surreal and traumatizing evening. thank you. >> yeah. thank you for having me. rachel. >> what's been your history at the justice department up until tonight? >> so, as you mentioned, i was hired to join the justice department in september 2023 as part of a group of assistant u.s. attorney ausa hires who were specifically brought on to investigate and prosecute the crimes that occurred at and around the capitol. on january 6th, 2021. that has been basically my bread and butter every day for the past close to a year and a half watching videos, filing motions in court, going

attorney, ed martin, just put out a statement in which he is suggesting that, quote, our initial reviews and or groups have committed acts that appear to violate the law in targeting doj employees, implying that there are individuals within these agencies that are blocking doj's efforts to these files. and parts of the certain part of the building goes on to say that we are in contact with the with the fbi to proceed rapidly. we also have our prosecutors preparing in real time. you have the acting d.c. attorney here who is suggesting that they intend to prosecute any individuals who attempt to obstruct. again, with so many legal questions still outstanding, obstruct anybody who is working for elon musk and federal government from accessing these very records that we're talking about. nicole. >> okay, let me try to wrap this up. the acting u.s. attorney who's a stop the steal guy, has threatened to use the fbi, which is, according to frank figliuzzi and andrew weissman, functionally decapitated as we are on the air to enforce the rights of doge, which isn't a thing against people protect

martin: i absolutely agree with governor o'malley. our party has to live its values. you can do both. i thought governor beshear's op ederal months ago was absolutely right. we can focus on what unites all parts of our coalition. what unites a corn farmer with a steelworker on the iron range with a new refugee in the twin cities? it's economics. it's kitchen table issues. at the end of the day, we can focus on that. the things that unite. when people are being harassed and bullied and pushed out of conversations and attacked, of course we are going to live our values. i agree with governor o'malley, everyone has dignity. our party believes that no matter where you live, who you love, or who you are, you have dignity and we are going to fight for you. that's what we are going to do as a democratic party. symone: i want to ask a couple questions about the nominating process. show of hands. when the nominating process has concluded, for folks that do not know, the dnc ends up becoming an extension of the democratic nominees campaign. who thinks this should continue to be the process going forward? the dnc becomes an exten