Former U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova told Tucker Carlson on Thursday that both FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein have done a "miserable job" in explaining why the memo shouldn't be released. He called it arrogance to protect the bureaucracy because they think institutions are more important than the public knowing anything.



He also said Wray planted the story that he was going to resign. DiGenova said Trump should have just accepted it.



"One of the things that is terrible about this is that both Chris Wray and Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General, have done a miserable job as leaders in explaining why they're doing what they're doing," he said. "Why they can't do what people want them to do. Do you know what Chris Wray was arguing for today and yesterday? To remove the names of all the FBI agents and the DOJ people who've broken the law and are going to be revealed in the memorandum."











"But on what grounds? How would the public benefit from the reaction of those names?" Carlson asked.



DiGenova told Carlson the Department of Justice and FBI think they are independent of the executive and oversight from Congress. He called it outrageous.



"They wouldn't," DiGenova responded. "This is the arrogance of Wray and Rosenstein. They want to protect the bureaucracy. They want to protect the bureaucracy because they think the institutions are more important than you or I knowing anything. And they think the country cannot survive without them. This is this phony notion that DOJ and the FBI are independent of the executive branch and the president of the United States, it is an insidious concept. They work for the president. He can fire them. He can tell them what to do. That doesn't mean is he going to interfere in an investigation. But the arrogance of Wray and Rosenstein to think that they can defy Congressional oversight and ask the Speaker to take out names of people that have broken the law. How outrageous."



Carlson said he doesn't understand the rationale of why the country would be in peril and that is necessary to keep the FISA memo under wraps.



"I'm always willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the FBI," Carlson said. "I don't understand the rationale. What makes me nervous and makes me think it might be butt-covering is they never explained why the country would be in peril because of the release of the information."



DiGenova also spoke about being called unpatriotic for questioning the motives of federal law enforcement. He made it clear that this is not about career prosecutors at the DOJ but political appointees and "dirty cops." This has nothing to do with the "street agents," he said.





TUCKER CARLSON: What do you make of the argument of the left? I'm speaking of the whole left -- the red-faced talk show hosts and phony pundits on cable news yapping away. To ask the questions like the ones you are asking demonstrates the lack of respect for law enforcement. You don't appreciate the work they do, the risks they take. You're basically unpatriotic for wanting to know what your government is doing.



JOE DIGENOVA: Let me say this, I've been a federal prosecutor and an investigator for more than 30 years. I've had my family threatened by drug dealers and terrorists. This is nonsensical. We all respect the street agents. We respect the prosecutors at the career level of the Justice Department. What we are talking about here is criticism of political appointees at the FBI and political appointees at the Department of Justice. This has nothing to do with the street agents.



The arguments of the left are phony arguments designed to make it look like people, like me, who are critical of the FBI in this situation are critical of everyone. That's nonsense.



TUCKER CARLSON: So when Joan Walsh on CNN suggests that you are unpatriotic for asking questions about what your government is doing you don't feel like you're unpatriotic.



JOE DIGENOVA: No, actually, it's not a question of patriotism. As an old U.S. Attorney, I don't like dirty cops. And the seventh floor of the FBI is full of them and the upper echelon of the DOJ under Obama was full of dirty cops. And look what they did. They threw a case against Hillary Clinton like a bunch of lousy 1930s prizefighters for 500 bucks and they try to frame Donald Trump with a created crime.



TUCKER CARLSON: Seems like our patriotic duty would be to untangle the mess, find out what happened.



JOE DIGENOVA: Let's find out what happened. Let's unseal the memo.