AMNA NAWAZ: A U.S.

attorney in Washington state who was abruptly fired by the Trump administration is now suing the government over his dismissal, starting a major legal fight over the president's power to shape the judiciary.

Our justice correspondent, Ali Rogin, has more.

ALI ROGIN: Roger Rogoff, a former Washington state judge and prosecutor, was sworn in last week as U.S.

attorney for the Western District of Washington after a panel of judges in the district unanimously selected him.

Less than an hour later, he was fired via e-mail by a senior Trump administration official.

His was the latest in a series of similar dismissals.

The Justice Department argues his firing is lawful and that the president can remove any court-appointed interim U.S.

attorney.

Rogoff disagrees and has filed a lawsuit to overturn his firing.

He says -- quote -- "The president's actions violate the law and they ignore the protections of the Constitution of the United States."

And Roger Rogoff joins us now.

Thank you so much for being here.

ROGER ROGOFF, Former U.S.

Attorney: My pleasure.

Thanks for having me.

ALI ROGIN: You were sworn in last week and then fired within the hour.

I want to ask, what was going through your mind at the time?

ROGER ROGOFF: Well, it wasn't unexpected.

This had been a long process, and I knew that I was going to be appointed a couple weeks before.

And I know that the judges had reached out to the administration and they were aware as well.

And we tried to reach out to the administration.

So it was not a surprise, given that they had not responded, that that's how it would end up.

ALI ROGIN: You are not the first U.S.

attorney President Trump has fired in this way.

He's not the first president who has fired U.S.

attorneys.

So why file suit?

And what argument are you making?

ROGER ROGOFF: So this is about the rule of law.

This is about ensuring that the constitutional directive for divided government and the constitutional directive for the advice and consent of the Senate and the involvement of Congress is followed vigorously.

That is what this is about.

We want to make sure that someone doesn't continue serving as the head of the U.S.

attorney's office at the Western District of Washington who's not a U.S.

attorney.

He is not the person designated to lead the office, and it should be a U.S.

attorney leading this office.

ALI ROGIN: Right.

He has been doing so on a de facto basis after his temporary appointment to that role expired in February.

So there hasn't been anybody in that job officially since then.

What does it do to cases in the district when there isn't someone officially in charge?

ROGER ROGOFF: Well, I think it puts them in danger.

I think they are subject to motions by criminal defendants.

I think they're subject to motions by civil litigants, saying that indictments, subpoenas, and other documents signed by a purported head of the office are not valid documents.

I also think it creates problems in terms of leadership within the office, morale within the office.

You do not want to have the office led via this chaotic situation.

It hurts those folks who are doing the work every day.

ALI ROGIN: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has defended this firing, others like it, saying that this is a presidential prerogative and that there are rogue judges appointing their own choices.

What do you say to that?

ROGER ROGOFF: There are no rogue judges.

The judges in this district followed the law.

They followed the Vacancies Act and did exactly what the act requires them to do, which is, after 120 days with no U.S.

attorney appointed and confirmed, the judges have the right and the duty to put a U.S.

attorney in place until the president does what he's supposed to do, which is get a U.S.

attorney appointed and get them before the Senate, so that they can be confirmed.

Until that happens, we follow the law, and the law says that the judges get to do exactly what the judges did.

ALI ROGIN: I want to ask you about what your role would be in this Department of Justice at this time.

It's been well established that this DOJ maintains its role is to zealously defend the president's agenda and interests.

And the Supreme Court recently affirmed the president's ability and authority to fire any government -- almost any government official at will.

So if you don't agree with the Department of Justice about what your role would entail, why wouldn't the president be justified in firing you?

ROGER ROGOFF: Well, a couple things.

First of all, as I told the judges, as I told the bipartisan commission that pushed me through to be interviewed by the judges, I agree that that's my job is to is to push forward the priorities of this administration, and it's what I promised I would do.

The priorities of this administration are not a mystery, and they're not something that's out in the ether.

They are written down in a memorandum that was put together by A.G.

Pam Bondi in 2025, and they set out, I think, six priorities, none of which are particularly controversial or difficult.

They include focusing on human trafficking.

They include focusing on international drug and gun trafficking organizations.

They focus on criminal immigration cases and a couple of other things, and all of them are reasonable.

And I read that memorandum, and I can certainly put forward the president's priorities and agenda for the U.S.

attorney's office in the Western District of Washington.

So that is not a problem.

The case that you referred to, the Slaughter case, which came down a couple weeks ago, is not the same situation as U.S.

attorney appointments that are at issue here.

There is a clear statutory description of what should happen when there is a vacancy in an office of the U.S.

attorney's office, and we have followed, we the judges have followed that to the letter.

And that Vacancies Act is designed to ensure that congressional involvement, which is part of the Constitution, is respected and that we follow through on that requirement.

ALI ROGIN: Roger Rogoff, thank you so much for sharing your story.

ROGER ROGOFF: Thank you so much.

It's great to be here.

Great to meet you.