good to be back. it s great to you have here. do you remember the name brandan van grek? as i have memorable name. if not, the circumstance of which you first heard it? but if you are like me and the first time you heard the name brandon van grabbing is the first time you heard the word he is spee naj formerly associated with the presidency of donald trump. espionage as in the espionage act, not just spy movie stuff, as in u.s. law. we were only about four months in to the trump administration when the new york times was first to report that the then brand new trump administration had made a very unusual hiring decision that ultimately implicated the work of a veteran espionage prosecutor at the u.s. department of justice. it was very early on. may 2017. you think about that for a second, trump was inaugurated at the end of january. this was less than four months later in may of that year, less than four months into his presidency, we learned of the new york times
all a very, very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late. i will see you at the end of tomorrow. let s do at home joining us this hour. it s great to have you here. do you remember the name brandon van grack? it s a very memorable name, so you might remember the sound of it. if not, the circumstance in which you first heard it. but if you are like me, in all likelihood, the first time you heard the name brandon van grack, it was the first time you heard the word, espionage, formerly associated with the presidency of donald trump. espionage as in the espionage act, as it not just spy movie stuff but as in u.s. law. but we are only about four months in to the u.s. trump administration in the new york times first reported that the then brand new trump administration had made a very unusual hiring decision that ultimately implicated the work of a veteran espionage prosecutor at the u.s. department of justice.
flynn as national security adviser for approximately five minutes. while he was under investigation as a potential foreign agent of the nation of turkey, and before he started lying to federal investigators about his communications with the russian government. when we all read in the new york times in may 2017 that they had hired him anyway, even though they knew, even though they had been warned, and we learned that the investigation into the matter is being led by a veteran espionage prosecutor, named brandon van grack, and remember, just my stomach flipping over the seriousness of this thing. there is one thing there is some shenanigans, there is some maybe not the best people, there is some incompetence, there is some cavalierness, some stuff to worry about here, but when it s the espionage prosecutor that has to be working on the case involving the new national
secret foreign agent. at least you would think. but this guy who was under consideration for that job, he came to the trump transition. he warned them about the fact he was under active investigation for that, and the trump transition, the incoming trump administration, they decided they would hire him anyway. they would hire him despite that, and that is how we got michael flynn as national security adviser for approximately five minutes while he was under investigation as a potential foreign agent of the nation of turkey and, before he started lying to federal investigators about his communications with the russian government. when we all read in the new york times in may, 2017 that they had hired him anyway, even though they knew, even though they had been warned, and we learned that the investigation into the matter was being led by a veteran espionage prosecutor named brandon van
administration had made a very unusual hiring decision that ultimately implicated the work of a veteran espionage prosecutor at the u.s. department of justice. it was very early on, it was may 2017. so think about that for second. i mean, trump was inaugurated at the end of january. this was a list than four months later in may of that year, less than four months into his presidency, we learned that the new york times, that during trump transition, a person who they had been considering for job of national security adviser, not just somebody to be a national security adviser to the new president, but literally the national security adviser. a guy they ve been considering for that job according to the times, had notified the trump transition team that there was a big problem with him potentially being appointed national security adviser. a very serious problem. this guy who was being considered as national security