On MSNBC, Nicolle Wallace brought on Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig — but instead of investigating power, Leonnig glorified it. She described unelected DOJ officials as if they were heroic defenders of democracy, standing between America and Trump’s so-called “anger.”
Carol Leonnig:
“It’s kind of devastating, right? But I could add about 25 more that are critical to the, you know, um, metaphorical security blanket that is wrapped around America. And now those people are no longer inside. You know, you said something so important and it’s about the mission that people have sworn themselves and their lives and their free time to. The mission is so important and motivating for so many of the individuals that you’ve described, but also thousands more who stay in the Department of Justice — despite this amazing, um, and I won’t — it’s not even a tilt — despite this amazing effort to use the power of this institution to basically avenge Donald Trump’s anger and his desire for retribution and to meet his specific whims at that time, his political gain, his personal gain.
So many of these people remain there hoping, and I’ve talked to many of them hoping that they will be a bulwark against exactly that — that they will put their bodies essentially in front of the bulldozer as it’s coming their way.”
So basically, she was saying these officials are staying in place to resist or block Trump — not to serve neutrally, but to act as a kind of internal opposition force.
That’s not journalism — it’s worship. Carol Leonnig spoke like a government spokesperson, not an investigative reporter. She didn’t question power; she romanticized it. Her words painted DOJ bureaucrats as brave patriots standing between America and Trump’s “anger,” when in reality they’re unelected officials defying the will of voters.
And what makes it worse — this kind of thinking props up the very corruption it pretends to fight. When journalists defend a government that’s clearly politicized and weaponized against one side, they become part of the corruption themselves. Instead of exposing abuse of power, they help justify it.
Leonnig didn’t investigate the Department of Justice — she protected it. And Nicolle Wallace sat there, nodding along, letting every word pass as gospel.
This wasn’t news. It was Deep-State theater — emotional, dramatic, and designed to make a corrupt bureaucracy look like the hero of the story.