Andrew Weissmann on Fired Fmr. FBI Officials: Agents and Lawyers Don’t Get to Choose the Cases, They Get Assigned

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
Wallace: “So, Andrew weissman, we’ve had these conversations from for more years, which is why I wanted to spend some time with Chris to start off. But I think that one of the important tests for us as a citizenry is to understand what it means for us as citizens, to destroy the FBI from within. Kash Patel and Dan Bongino may be new, but Kash Patel and Dan Bongino know that the three agents they fired didn’t make choices about the cases they pursued, the cases they were involved in, or the cases they successfully investigated and the role they played in successful prosecutions. I think every January 6th, insurrectionist who was investigated and charged was convicted or pled guilty. That is not about a judgment, that is not about a political bias. That’s about investigating a crime that happened on live TV. I mean, this is in a lot of ways, the most opaque piece of Donald Trump’s destruction of the rule of law. But perhaps the one with the most tentacles into the daily lives of all Americans.”

WEISSMANN: “So I Couldn’t agree More with what. You and Chris are saying. It is. Important to Stress that sort of two issues here. One is. Agents like. Lawyers at the. Department of Justice do not get to choose the cases they’re on. They get assigned, and that’s what they do. And it is an. Act of insubordination. If you were. To say, well, I’m just not doing that. But that’s sort of A secondary. Issue. That would be. A perfectly good. And sufficient. Defense if what they were being fired for was working. On a case. That was problematic. But here. To your point, not only did they have no choice but the case they were working on. If you. Were thinking about special agent Jenkins, he was working on and putting together and spearheading the January 6th prosecutions. Those are righteous cases. And so you really have to ask yourself why? Why is this happening? Is it a matter of just retribution. By Donald Trump, in which case you have sort of personal retribution over the safety of the country and the expertise and all of the things that Chris so eloquently talked about. Or is it. That you want to make sure there are not people at the FBI and frankly, throughout government who take. Their Oaths of office seriously? And more important than doing something that is neither factually based nor legally justified, and it could unfortunately be a combination of those. And either way, we’re in a dire situation where the country is less safe because of really not just poor decision making, but improper decision making where you are removing people without. Cause Career people for no good reason to justify that result.”