senior vice president for global operations at the soufan group, a former fbi agent, and knows james dennehy well. chris, what is your reaction to hearing from the dennehy to being forced to resign? >> unfortunately, i'm not surprised, but it's a it's a sad day for for the country. we are prioritizing, you know, the dan bongino of the world who are posting proud boys references. you know, as this is happening over a dedicated, proven leader, somebody who's committed himself to the service of this country for his life at great sacrifice to himself and his family. he is a consummate marine, a consummate fbi agent and polished professional and well regarded throughout the fbi at every level and across federal, state and local partners. it is the fbi is a lesser organization without james dennehy, and the country is less safe without people like him. >> i mean, he was clearly outspoken in support of the fbi against the administration. he wanted workers to dig in to keep fighting. was that the right move? >> so james dennehy was not speaking out against the administration. he was speaking up for

james dennehy wrote in a letter last month, nbc news reports that dennehy urged fbi agents in his farewelloday, i have an immense feeling of pride to have represented an office of professionals who will always do the right thing for the right reasons, who will always seek the truth while upholding the rule of law, who will always handle cases and evidence with an overabundance of caution and care for the innocent, the victims and the process first, and who will always remain independent. joining us now is andrew weissmann, former fbi general counsel and former chief of the criminal division of the eastern district of new york. he's also an msnbc legal analyst. andrew, what does this forced resignation mean to the fbi and particularly the fbi operating in new york city? >> well, folks should. >> understand that the. head of the fbi here in. >> new york. >> is the head of. >> the. >> largest field. >> office in the fbi. >> fbi family. >> it is, you know. >> it's the area where. >> all of. >> the major. >> cases. >> whether it's criminal. >> national security. >> are undertaken. it's it is su

james dennehy confirming that he put in his retirement papers. two sources say he was given the ultimatum, resign or be fired. on january 6, 2021, trump urged an armed mob to march on the capitol. on his first day back in office, he pardoned all 1500 people convicted for the attack, including violent offenders. >>> the government could shut down at the end of next week. congress has until the end of next friday to agree on a spending plan, but hopes of reaching a deal are fading. democrats are pushing to include new constraints on the white house as they try to shut down federal agencies. so even passing a stopgap funding bill could be difficult. nbc's ryan nobles has more on the backlash to doge. >> reporter: democrats are pushing back on elon musk's effort to slash the size of the federal bureaucracy. and now zeroing in on his comments about social security finances. >> social security is the biggest ponzi scheme of all time. >> the richest man in the world is telling americans that earned benefits that they depend on and they paid into are a s

. >> reporter: that's right, james dennehy said he was told he needed to retire.ormer marine who joined the fbi after 9/11, has an extensive history hunting spies, foreign operators and terrorists. last month, he promised to quote, dig in during the fbi's battle over handing over the names of the january 6th agents. in a goodbye email today, he did not say why he was told to leave but said he had an immense feeling of pride over how the fbi conducts their investigations. he added, i will never stop defending this joint. >>> tonight president trump's push for peace talks to end the war in ukraine are in limbo, with the president saying the ukrainian president zelenskyy needs to be more appreciative of american aid. european leaders are strongly backing zelenskyy. gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: more than three years into russia's war in ukraine, president trump says potential peace talks are not dead but the next move is up to president zelenskyy. >> he should be more appreciative, this country has stuck with him through thick and thin. >> reporter: president trump fi

james dennehy is his name. the assistant director in charge of the fbi's new york division says he's been forced to retire with no explanation. writing to his colleagues today, he said late friday i was informed that i needed to put my retirement papers in today, which i just did. i was not given a reason for this decision. he went on to say, as i leave today, i have an immense feeling of pride to have represented an office of professionals who will always do the right thing for the right reasons, who will always seek the truth while upholding the rule of law, who will always follow the facts no matter where they lead, and be unapologetic about it? last month, you may remember dennehy sent a message of support to rally his workforce amid reports of potential mass firings in the fbi. joining us is cnn chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst john miller. um, how big a deal is this? >> it's very significant. and it'll it'll bring shockwaves across the fbi. and it's not alone as an event. jim dennehy was tol

head special agent at the fbi's new york office being forced into retirement last month, agent james dennehyust told employees he was ready to dig in amid all the firings at the bureau, incoming deputy fbi director dan bongino d decided to mock dennehy retirement posting heads are rolling as far f0 you can google. it appears to be hitting the fbi today in the supreme court. they're hearing arguments in mexico. $10 billion lawsuit against smith and wesson and six other major u.s. gun makers. mexico's government alleges the company's design and market guns specifically to drug cartels. it also claims up to 90% of guns recovered at crime scenes in mexico are actually made in the u.s., and mogul jay-z, now suing the anonymous woman who withdrew a lawsuit accusing him of rape. he's also suing her attorneys, alleging that they knew the allegations were false. in a statement, one of those lawyers said that the woman stands by her account and that jay-z's lawsuit has, quote, no legal merit. elliott battle of words with lawyers? >> uh, yes. but he's got 99 problems. and the laws governing harassment

james. >> dennehy. >> the assistant. >> director who was in charge of the new york office. >> in this e-mail that. >> cnn obtained to the workforce, i'll read you what he says. he says, quote, late friday, i was informed that i needed to put my retirement papers in today, which i just did. i was not given a reason for this decision. now, some important context here. last month, as we reported, amid all of this information out there, that there were perhaps going to be mass firings of the fbi, justice department officials demanding the names of fbi agents who had worked january 6th investigations. dennehy sent an impassioned an email to his workforce, essentially saying, i've got your back. i'll read you that email, part of that from last month, he said. today we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the fbi and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and fbi policy. i'm sticking around to defend you, your work, your families, and this team we call the flagship. time for me to dig in. that was somet

and oh, by the way, tonight james dennehy, he was the head of the fbi's new york office. well he was forced to resign because he wouldn't help out with the purge of agents who worked on january 6th cases. there's chaos abroad. there's chaos at home. and tomorrow night, the man responsible for it all is coming to your house. yes. donald trump is set to give a joint address to congress tuesday night. this is his first since returning to the white house. and since he started tearing down not just the guardrails, but the government itself. the last time that he spoke to congress in 2020, speaker nancy pelosi set the tone for democrats by tearing up a copy of trump's speech. but this time around, democratic leadership seems to want a more demure approach. democratic leaders congressman hakeem jeffries and senator chuck schumer are pushing members to attend trump's speech and bring special guests who have been impacted by the administration's government purges. but there are a handful of democrats that say they may not attend at all. boycotting trump's speech to drive home one

james jim dennehy, who oversaw the fbi's new york office, says he was told he needed to retire. a former marine who joined the fbi after 9/11, has an extensive history hunting spies and foreign operators as well as terrorists. last month he promised to, quote, dig in during the fbi's battle over handling those january 6th f agents. in a good-bye e-mail today he did not say why he was told to leave but said he had an immense feeling of pride for the way the fbi conducts its investigations. he added, "i will never stop defending this joint." >> all right, tom, thanks very much. >>> tonight, president trump's push for peace talks to end the war in ukraine are in limbo, with the president saying ukraine's president zelenskyy needs to be more appreciative of american aid while european leaders are strongly backing zelenskyy. here's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight, two u.s. officials tell nbc news the trump administration is pausing u.s. military aid to ukraine, a seismic policy shift towards a u.s. ally and a win for russia. a white house official telling nbc news "the president

the head of the new york field office, james dennehy, has retired under intense pressure.heir demand that the names of all fbi agents who worked on or touched any january 6th cases be handed over. in a letter to staff earlier this month that we covered on this program, dennehy had written this quote. today we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own as good people are being walked out of the fbi and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and fbi policy. he added this quote, time for me to dig in. end quote. that list of names was eventually handed over to sources tell nbc news that dennehy was given a choice to retire or be fired, and he chose to retire earlier today. let's bring in to our coverage former top official at the department of justice, former fbi general counsel, msnbc legal analyst andrew weissmann. also joining us at the table, the co-founder and ceo of rappler, the leading digital media and news organization in the philippines. the winner of the nobel peace prize in 2021, the author of how to stand up to a