Submitted on Wednesday, 9/11/2019, at 9:38 PM

MSNBC’s Chuck Rosenberg devoted an episode of The Oath podcast to an in-depth conversation with Rob Spencer '83, former criminal chief in the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, who led the team investigating and prosecuting 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Moussaoui is to date the only person ever charged and convicted in a US courtroom for his role in the 2001 terrorist attacks that claimed 2,977 lives.

“One of the things the trial stands for, is that we were able to give even our avowed enemy who told us at trial that if he could he’d come back and kill every one of us, a fair trial,” Spencer said.

“It’s remarkable to me every September 11th that rolls around, that it’s been so many years since then. But it seems like just yesterday,” he said.

Spencer said he thinks about the victims, whose families his team reached out to during the investigation, trial and sentencing of Moussaoui, who is serving six consecutive life terms.

To meet with the families, Spencer said, “it was both incredibly difficult and sad, and there were moments of real joy when people would remember their loved ones, and you know, how wonderful these people were. But overall it was an exceptionally wrenching experience. You would have these sort of hard core New York detectives weeping along with the family. It was remarkable. I think we ended up talking to over thirteen hundred families.”

A transcript of the interview can be found here.