'Quite expressly a quid pro quo': Trump DOJ slammed by resigned prosecutor

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a letter excoriating now-former acting Assistant Attorney General Danelle Sassoon after she sent her resignation to Attorney General Pam Bondi. And her letter makes allegations against Bove that could end up in court, a legal analyst warned Thursday on MSNBC.

Bove's letter first emerged publicly, and Sassoon's has since been released — which accused Bove of agreeing to a quid pro quo involving New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

A former CIA attorney who goes under the pen name "Secrets and Laws" pointed to a footnote in Bove's letter.

"This footnote always felt like Bove knew a s---storm was coming and he was trying to get ahead of it. Generally speaking, it's best not to go to war with SDNY."

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The footnote reads, "Your Office correctly noted in a February 3, 2025 memorandum, as Mr. Bove clearly stated to defense counsel during our meeting [on January 31, 2025], the Government is not offering to exchange dismissal of a criminal case for Adams's assistance on immigration enforcement."

Once Sassoon's letter was revealed, her allegations became apparent.

"Rather than be rewarded, Adams's advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case," she wrote. "Although Mr. Bove disclaimed any intention to exchange leniency in this case, for Adams' assistance in enforcing federal law, that is the nature of the bargain laid bare. And Mr. Bove's memo is especially so given Mr. Bove's comparison 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 [Viktor] Bout's case."

Sassoon also requests a meeting with Bondi directly.

"I don't know if this letter ever got to Pam Bondi," questioned MSNBC host Chris Hayes.

Weissmann also pointed out that this might have Sassoon's name on it but that she is likely being "supported by a whole range of people, both prosecutors and FBI agents" who worked today and formerly there. "This is in violation of their oaths of office and this is why they're not going to participate."

Sasoon's allegations are so significant that MSNBC's legal analyst Andrew Weissmann said they will likely "end up in court."

"Bove goes out of his way to say 'this is not an adverse employment action, when, of course, it is," said Weissmann. "It's another sort of false denial. This is going to end up in court. This is where I just don't know that they're playing chess and thinking about what's going to happen. The palpably thin and fallacious letters that we're seeing out of Emil Bove are going to be challenged. The ones that have been given to the FBI. Those are going to be subject to litigation. The things that he's doing now with the SDNY and with the public integrity section, those are going to be subject to litigation."

Weissmann pointed to past lawsuits from people like Andy McCabe, Peter Strzok, and Lisa Page, all of whom won their court cases regarding their firings.

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