Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Mimi Rocha, former top Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann and two hosts of MSNBC sounded the alarm about a new letter from the acting U.S. deputy attorney general, which they called "unhinged."
Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon was attacked by Emil Bove, Donald Trump's former personal attorney who is now working at the Justice Department in an acting capacity, in an eight-page letter slinging accusations and personal attacks after Sassoon resigned.
Sassoon — a Federalist Society member who clerked for conservative Justice Antonin Scalia — reportedly opposed the Justice Department's order to drop the case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who had been indicted on corruption charges.
In a letter accepting her resignation, Bove excoriated her for "insubordination."
His letter startled MSNBC panelists, who called it "shameful."
"I mean, take a step back for just a second here. The letter by Emil Bove, which I have to say, is a wild document. I mean, a wild — we won't read the whole thing on the air. It has a kind of unhinged quality to it. Like — you can hear him banging the keyboard as he writes. You know? 'How dare you?' Basically, 'how dare you?'" characterized host Chris Hayes.
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Hayes went on to say that the letter he wrote to dismiss the case was "such a shameful document" that he asked another legal commentator if there was another attorney general from the last 50 years who would put their name on that document. He was told it was unlikely.
Weissmann said he wanted people to understand that this ordeal is testing the rule of law in the United States.
"It does not happen that career people resign over orders that they are given when those orders are even remotely justifiable," said Weissmann. "To Chris' point, it simply does not happen. The only time that I can think of something like this happening, where you see career people pushing back are in Trump 1.0, where when people like Jonathan Kravis resigned over instructions coming from Bill Barr."
He recalled them being front-page news at the time. In Trump 2.0 world, he hopes people understand the seriousness of what is unfolding. He also compared it to Richard Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre."
Watch the clip below or at this link.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
