joining us now is ellen weintraub, chair of the federal elections commission, who trump claims to havebegs to differ. commissioner weintraub, i really appreciate you being here. thanks for joining us. >> pleasure to be here. rachel. >> why do you say this firing was not legal? >> well, if you look at the federal election campaign act, there is nothing in there about removing fec commissioners other than in the normal course, which is you can replace. >> them when. >> their terms have expired by appointing a new commissioner who gets confirmed by the senate. that's the way you replace fec commissioners. there's nothing in there that says, or if the president doesn't like that particular person, they can just be fired. >> so now that the president has sent you this letter purporting to remove you, but under terms under terms in which he's not legally allowed to remove you, i imagine that you consider yourself to still be a commissioner. but how does this get how does this get settled? how do you plan to move forward here? >> well, i'm still considering all of my options at the moment, bu

ellen weintraub joins us now.ving as commissioner and chair of the federal election commission. good morning. >> good morning, commissioner. >> it's a real pleasure to have you at the table this morning. i want to i want to start with your one of your predecessors, former fec chairman trevor potter, who happens to be a republican who noted in a letter, quote, as the only agency that regulates the president, congress intentionally did not grant the president the power to fire fec commissioners. with multiple fec commissioners serving on expired terms and one vacant seat, trump is free to nominate multiple new commissioners and to allow congress to perform its constitutional role of advice and consent. it's contrary to law that he has instead opted to claim to fire a single democratic commissioner, who has been an outspoken critic of the president's lawbreaking and the fec failure to hold him accountable. your name is no longer listed on the website. you your email is not working. >> it is not. >> you're still the h

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ellen weintraub is out front. in her first tv interview since getting that letter telling her that she was fired. it's good to have you here tonight. i know you've said this isn't the way this goes down at the fec. president trump can't just fire you. the white house told us here at cnn, quote, our message to ellen weintraub is simple. you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. they updated the fec website, which now shows your term ended this month. i'm curious tonight, do you still have access to your email? could you get into your office? what has happened in the last day or so? >> well. >> they changed the website. >> i am no longer listed as a current commissioner. i no longer have access to my office. they turned off my email so i don't know. i actually don't know what message people will get if they try and email me at my fec address because i no longer have access to it. and i think they shut the account down. >> and have you had any further communication from the white house? >> no. what you just

. >> ellen weintraub. we're talking about it during commercial break.re's the issue. the american people don't know who she is, but who she is the chairwoman of the federal election commission. she refused to leave her job after donald trump tried to remove. >> her. >> and she said he didn't do it legally. she's going to fight it. how important is it for people like ellen to stand up and say, i'm not leaving? >> that's exactly the playbook that should be followed. you don't have the authority to do this. there are ways to remove me from my job. i don't have a. >> job. >> for life. but to say, no, you don't have the legal authority. >> to do this. >> i'm not going anywhere. you're going to have to take me dragging me out of this office. that's the. that's the move. >> should we. >> put. >> our hope or our faith in the courts? because though thus far, besides. >> an ellen weintraub saying. hell no, i won't. >> go, we. are seeing at least pauses from. >> the court. >> saying, you you don't have the power to do this. i mean. >> think birthright. >> citizens

. >> now, federal election commission commissioner and chair ellen weintraub says she is exploring her options after receiving a termination letter from the white house. a firing weintraub says is not legal. take a listen to what she had to say on our air earlier today. >> there is this widespread attempt to. >> get rid of people who might not agree with what the current. administration views as their. view of the law, their view of how the world ought to be functioning. and that is very bad for america to eliminate opposition voices. >> the fec, the fec is a bipartisan by design. in an effort to reassure american voters that elections are being regulated fairly. what's your reaction to what is happening right now? >> well, i think. >> it's a really dangerous precedent, a dangerous time for our country. for leaders to use to fire people or put them on administrative leave. et cetera. for political. >> reasons. >> as you said, a lot of these entities are deliberately set up to be very bipartisan. equal democrats and republicans, like the fec. all of these groups also have regulations an

for standing up to racism, and the commissioner and chair of the federal elections commission, ellen weintraubal media at the weekend. msnbc velshi continues our coverage. good morning ali. >> good morning. thank you again for a great show this morning. i mean, i know it was just two hours, but you had about nine hours of content in there and you helped make sense of it all. so i'm going to try and i'm going to try and emulate you for the next couple of hours, but have yourselves a great rest of your day. >> all right. take care. >> all right. velshi starts now.

for standing up to racism, and the commissioner and chair of the federal elections commission, ellen weintraub, is going to be at the table. she says trump is trying to illegally fire her. also, be sure to follow us on social media at the weekend. msnbc velshi continues our coverage. good morning ali. >> good morning. thank you again for a great show this morning. i mean, i know it was just two hours, but you had about nine hours of content in there and you helped make sense of it all. so i'm going to try and i'm going to try and emulate you for the next couple of hours, but have yourselves a great rest of your day. >> all right. take care. >> all right. velshi starts now. hey. good morning. it's saturday, february the 8th. it's day 19 of donald trump's second term, and efforts are intensifying to fulfill the president's promise to dismantle the so-called deep state across all levels of government. many republican lawmakers have celebrated the administration's actions, calling them efforts to reduce wasteful government spending. but the ongoing purge is also in furtherance of trump's main purp

president trump has now removed federal election commission chair ellen weintraub from her position.ntraub, writing a statement on x that says this in part, quote, there's a legal way to replace fec commissioners. this isn't it. end quote. weintraub was first appointed to serve on the commission by president george w. bush in 2002, and this. >> i know this is an individual award, and it says most valuable player on it, but i think it's derived from team success. and i love my team. we've got such a great locker room in buffalo. and it takes everybody. >> buffalo bills quarterback josh allen, with all the class winning nfl's mvp award last night, it was a major upset over lamar jackson of the baltimore ravens. allen was just one win shy of bringing his team to the super bowl this year, but of course, they fell to the chiefs in the afc championship game. and this. >> rapper kendrick lamar, is set to perform this sunday at the super bowl halftime show. damn, that is gonna that is going to be drake's worst sunday since. well, i guess last sunday. so yeah. >> kendrick lamar gearing up for

ellen weintraub is currently one of the six fec commissioners, and although her term ended in 2007, she'sent appoints her replacement, which numerous presidents have not done. instead of just nominating a replacement, who would then have to be confirmed by the senate. last night, trump sent weintraub a letter. it says this, quote, you are hereby removed as a member of the federal election commission, effective immediately. thank you for your service on the commission, weintraub wrote back, quote, there is a legal way to replace fec commissioners. this is not it. that's where we start the hour with some of our favorite reporters and friends. propublica investigative reporter andy kroll is here with me at the table for the hour, chief political columnist and host of the impolitic podcast for msnbc. national affairs analyst john heilemann is here. also joining us, democratic strategist, professor at columbia university, msnbc political analyst basil smikle is here. let's deal with the russ vote of it all. john heilemann, let me show you some of his questioning from from democratic senator ti