Kathy Ruemmler served for three years as White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. She advised the President on numerous complex issues and helped usher the Affordable Care Act into law. A graduate of the University of Washington and Georgetown Law School, Ruemmler was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and one of the Enron Task Force lead prosecutors. In one of the most complicated and brazen cases in US history, Ruemmler convicted former Enron ...
Sep 25, 2019•1 hr 3 min
In this episode, Chuck Rosenberg interviews William McRaven, the former Commander of the United States Special Operations Command. McRaven retired from the US Navy as the longest serving Navy SEAL in American history. A Four-Star Admiral, McRaven played a crucial role in some of the most difficult special operations in US military history: the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killing of Osama bin Laden. McRaven is also the author of three books – Spec Ops, Make Your Bed (based on his famous gra...
Sep 18, 2019•1 hr
On September 11, 2001, Assistant United States Attorney Rob Spencer sat in his Alexandria, Virginia office – five miles from the Pentagon – waiting to meet an FBI agent about a new extortion case. The al Qaeda attacks that day changed his life, as it changed the lives of so many people in this country. Rob, a career federal prosecutor with deep experience in national security cases, was tasked to lead the team of extraordinary prosecutors and agents from New York and Virginia who teamed up in th...
Sep 10, 2019•1 hr 2 min
An oath is a promise to faithfully serve our country and our fellow citizens. This season: Rob Spencer, the former federal prosecutor who led the 9/11 case; Four-star Admiral William McRaven – a Navy SEAL for 37 years and the Commander of the US Joint Special Operations Command; Kathy Ruemmler, Enron prosecutor and White House Counsel to President Barack Obama; Joyce Vance, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama; Retired four-star Admiral Jim Stavridis, the Supreme Allie...
Sep 09, 2019•3 min
James Comey discusses his return to public service as a federal prosecutor in Richmond, Virginia, his approach to violent crime and public corruption in that city, and how the prosecution of a Richmond minister later informed his decision in the Martha Stewart case. James also describes a deeply personal and tragic loss, and the remarkable insights he gleaned working for and with three presidents: Bush, Obama, and Trump. He also discusses his Hard Truths speech, which you can find a transcript o...
Jun 26, 2019•1 hr 20 min
Former colleagues routinely describe Pat Fitzgerald as the finest federal prosecutor they have ever known. Humble, honest, and brilliant, Pat served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Manhattan for more than a decade, before becoming the United States Attorney–the chief federal prosecutor–in Chicago. Pat discusses with Chuck Rosenberg the fascinating cutting edge work of FBI agents and prosecutors in New York on pre 9/11 terrorism cases, including the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center...
Jun 19, 2019•1 hr 16 min
Barbara McQuade served as a federal prosecutor in Detroit for nearly two decades, first as an Assistant United States Attorney and then as the Senate confirmed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. On The Oath, Barb discusses some of the most important and interesting cases she handled, including the horrific story of Dr. Farid Fata, an oncologist, who deceived hundreds of his patients by falsely diagnosing them with cancer and then treating them with expensive and unneces...
Jun 12, 2019•52 min
Nicolle Wallace has had a fascinating career at the intersection of journalism, politics, and public service. The popular host of MSNBC’s Deadline White House, Nicolle talks about her first jobs as a reporter for television stations in Fargo, North Dakota and Chico, California, her work in Florida politics for Governor Jeb Bush, and her two stints working for President George W. Bush in the White House. From her perspective as Communications Director for President Bush, she discusses her deep af...
Jun 05, 2019•55 min
Sally Yates rose through the ranks of the Justice Department over the course of a 27-year career to serve as the Deputy Attorney General of the United States–the second highest ranking position in DOJ. Through a series of deeply personal and fascinating stories, Sally shares her journey from young lawyer representing an indigent African American woman in a land dispute, to line federal prosecutor responsible for the prosecution of Atlanta Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, to United States Attorney fo...
May 29, 2019•1 hr 12 min
Jim Baker ran the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review at the Justice Department both before and after 9/11 – the office responsible for handling extraordinarily sensitive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications. On The Oath, Jim discusses the FISA process and the ethical obligations of lawyers in that important unit that appear before federal judges ex parte (without opposing counsel) to obtain court-ordered authorization to conduct surveillance in crucial national securit...
May 22, 2019•56 min
Lisa Monaco’s last job in public service was as the Homeland Security Adviser to President Barack Obama – a position that exposed her to some of the most difficult and perplexing issues in the nation, though she has held many fascinating and important jobs in government. A graduate of Harvard College and the University of Chicago School of Law, Lisa worked on the staff of Attorney General Janet Reno, as a federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, on the Enron Task Force, as the FBI Chief o...
May 15, 2019•56 min
Andrew McCabe served as the Deputy Director – and briefly the Acting Director – of the FBI at the end of a fascinating career in federal law enforcement. A graduate of Duke University and the Washington University School of Law, Andrew shares his experience as a new agent at the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, Virginia and his early work fighting Russian organized crime on the streets of New York City. After 9/11, Andy’s focus – and the focus of the FBI – shifted to counterterrorism. On The Oa...
May 08, 2019•1 hr 10 min
Preet Bharara served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, a storied office with a reputation for prosecuting some of the biggest and most interesting cases in the country. In that role, Preet led numerous high-profile financial fraud and public corruption investigations. A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, Preet also worked as an Assistant United States Attorney – a line prosecutor – in that same office. His new book, Doing Justice, is a thought...
Apr 30, 2019•1 hr 8 min
James Comey served as the Director of the FBI (until he was fired by President Trump), the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York – at the very highest levels of the Justice Department. A Yonkers, New York native, James discusses on The Oath his police chief grandfather, being bullied as a child, a harrowing experience as a crime victim, and how those experiences propelled him into a career in federal law enforcement, in...
Apr 30, 2019•48 min
The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg, is a series of revealing, one-on-one conversations with thoughtful former American public officials from the highest levels of government service shaping this pivotal moment in American history. Led by MSNBC Contributor and former U.S. Attorney and senior FBI official Chuck Rosenberg, the discussions explore the experiences that shaped these leaders, what drew them to public service, the dilemmas they’ve encountered throughout their careers, and what keeps them up ...
Apr 25, 2019•2 min
