Talking Feds

The preliminaries ended abruptly this week, and we suddenly find ourselves at the starting line for the general election. Robert Costa, Hugo Lowell, & Tara Setmayer join Harry to break down the pivotal events that brought us here – Trump’s rout of Haley on Super Tuesday and Biden’s rousing SOTU. Trump’s triumph sharpened the stakes of his delay strategy for his several pending criminal cases, but other than the imminent Manhattan case, the prospects for a trial before November look touch-and-go.

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No court ruled for Donald Trump this week, yet he got several assists in his quest to delay and even evade accountability. The US Supreme Court agreed to hear his claim for immunity, pushing back the all-important January 6 trial at least several months. Three of the country’s strongest commentators and the podcast’s closest friends—Norm Eisen, Norm Ornstein, and Jen Rubin--consider the fallout before turning to the legacy of Mitch McConnell, who announced his retirement from Senate leadership.

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A week in which actors other than Donald Trump took center stage, and a great and super-savvy panel of Jonathan Alter, E.J. Dionne, and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp joins Harry to analyze the events & their implications. The Alabama Supreme Court IVF decision and its connection to the U.S. Sup Court’s Dobbs opinion; the arrest of Alexander Smirnov and its discrediting of the House R’s impeachment inquiry & Hunter obsessions; & the best political strategy for buoying Biden against the widespread attacks.

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Even by Trump standards, it was an extraordinarily explosive week, with the fireworks continuing into the live taping of the episode. Fortunately, a terrific panel of Emily Bazelon, Susan Glasser, and Carol Leonnig were on hand to roll with the punches, and also work through the Trump minefield of immunity stay motion in Supreme Court; advent of the hush money, trial in Manhattan; dangerous and obnoxious Trump comments on NATO, and the huge hit of the fraud opinion that arrived mid discussion.

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Trump’s fortunes arrive at the doorstep of the Supreme Court in two huge cases that each could have a decisive impact on the presidential election. First, the Court heard argument on whether § of the 14th Amendment bars Trump from running for President at all. Second, the Court is about to take up Trump’s claim of immunity from criminal. A superb panel of Court experts – Amy Howe, Dahlia Lithwick, and Steve Vladeck, joins Harry to analyze this critical turn in the Court’s and country’s history.

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Justice came last week to Donald Trump in the form of a verdict in the Civil Defamation Trial, proving that karma is 83.3 million dollars. Trump’s nightmare is far from over. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week to address the question of Trump’s disqualification from future federal office. How the court will respond is up in the air, though one clear fact remains: there is no getaway car from Trump or Trumpism. Shifting south, the border crisis continues to plague our nation as the number of people crossing the southern border has hit record highs. An incisive and lively panel of political commentators and analysts joins Harry to dissect all the ‘would’ve, could’ve, should’ve’s’ of the past week in law and politics.

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Donald Trump was again the sourpuss winner last week. He handily won the New Hampshire primary, and saw his once main nomination rival, Ron DeSantis, throw in the towel. But the persistence of Nicki Haley incensed him, and the large liability verdict for defaming E. Jean Carroll sent him around the bend. A stellar panel of political savants joins Harry to analyze where the Republican race now stands & the potential impact on the legal minefield that Trump navigated less than adroitly this week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-b1d9LDdUU

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A week in which Trump again largely avoided the campaign trail but still was able to crush Nikki Halley and Ron DeSantis in the Iowa caucuses. The prospects for a Trump all-over-but-the-shouting victory w/in a few weeks look increasingly strong. David Frum, Bill Kristol, and Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon join Harry to analyze Trump’s antics in Iowa & the E Jean Carroll defamation trial, before taking up a sleeper of a Supreme Court case that could have a massive impact on our everyday lives.

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Donald Trump skipped Iowa in the final days before the nation’s 1st primary to remain in DC courtrooms and deliver his stump speech fueled by grievance, resentment, and vengeance. 3 well-known experts in the ways DC–Katie Benner, Norm Ornstein, and Elliot Williams–join Harry to analyze Trump’s maneuvers & suss out where the cases are going. They then turn to the other Capitol Hill drama involving Hunter Biden, analyzing his showdown with House committees looking to savage him to get at his dad.

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The new year ushers in an astonishingly jam-packed and, for Donald Trump, precarious series of court dates at all levels of the state and federal courts, including the US Supreme Court, and they begin just as the formal primary season gets underway. In this all-new Talking Feds, a terrific panel—Jonathan Capehart, Sadie Gurman, and Jim Walden—join Harry to focus on the two big cases now on appeal and then take up the diminishing prospects for bipartisan action in Congress on immigration.

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This week’s episode is a special discussion on a crisis in the U.S. that is as grave as it is underappreciated — loneliness. Nearly three in five U.S. adults are considered lonely, according to data from Morning Consult, with underrepresented racial groups and people with low incomes particularly likely to grapple with loneliness. In this special re-release of a Talking Feds episode that garnered significant attention, Prof Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, and Senator Chris Murphy join Harry to assess the crisis’s magnitude, causes, consequences, and possible reduction strategies.

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Fentanyl remains the leading cause of deaths of all Americans aged 18-45, and in the last year took over 100,000 lives. Its combination of astonishing potency, synthesis, and control by criminal cartels have produced an extraordinary health and law enforcement crisis. In this special re-release of a Talking Feds episode that garnered significant attention, we begin by examining recent developments in the Fentanyl crisis before revisiting a conversation that is only more pertinent now than when we first released it over a year ago.

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A week in which important pitched battles commenced, as explained and analyzed by a super-knowledgeable panel of Al Franken, Alexi McCammond, & Bob Shrum. The House Rs voted to undertake an impeachment inquiry based on meager or nonexistent proof of any wrongdoing by Pres. Biden. And there were harbingers of Supreme Court intervention in the 2024 election, with the Court’s initial consideration of Trump immunity & of availability of Mifepristone, which is used in over ½ the abortions in the US.

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An episode with a somewhat longer vantage point than our normal fare, w/ a matching thoughtful panel of David French, Susan Glasser, & Jonah Goldberg. We begin with a clear-eyed & sober look at the prediction by a noted political scientist that the Trump presidency is becoming more and more likely. From there, we turn to McCarthy’s calling it quits and Johnson’s latest kissing of Trump’s ring. We then delve into the debacle of the university presidents’ testimony, and the lessons it presents.

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It was a week of bombshell developments across a range of venues, & a stellar roundtable of Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Carol Lee, & Charlie Sykes joins Harry to take stock, even as the news continued to explode. Killer potential testimony emerged against Trump, & the courts rejected his immunity claim. The House expelled George Santos; while evidence surfaced implicating Scott Perry in the insurrection. And Israel resumed its bombardment in Gaza in a way guaranteed to put maximum pressure on Biden.

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It’s our quarterly episode focusing on DOJ, and it coincides with a series of high-visibility cases—most but not all involving Trump—and the pivotal decisions they present for Garland, Smith, & Co. Our returning group of lawyers & journalists who know DOJ like the backs of their hands—Katie Benner, Paul Fishman, & Amy Jeffress—weighs in on fine-grained tactical decisions & larger priorities, while also giving us a sense of what it feels like these days inside the halls at 950 Pennsylvania.

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It was a week in which Donald Trump & his party plunged to new rhetorical and physical lows, & a terrific roundtable of Alisyn Camerota, Kyle Cheney & Bill Kristol join Harry to consider the fallout. Released temporarily from the fetters of a gag order, Trump launched a series of tirades that can only be described as fascist, inc comparing his opponents to “vermin.” The group considers the implications of Trump’s dark turn, courts’ efforts to rein him in, and his R colleagues’ bullyboy conduct.

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Our semi-annual focus on economics with a stellar set of guests – Dean Baker, Paul Krugman, and Stephanie Ruhle – falls this week at the starkest of crossroads: economic news and bellwethers are stunningly good while American’s views of the state of the economy are stunningly bad. Our roundtable discusses these trends, along w/ several other important economic factors—including the impact of two wars-- before moving to thoughts about AI and where we are as a country with economic inequality. 

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It’s a week of stock-taking as well as explanation of the Trump developments on half a dozen separate fronts. With a fantastic panel of leading commentators – Norm Eisen, Hugo Lowell, and Jen Rubin, – we canvass the events of the week, especially in the NY fraud trial, but also double back to the nuanced, and largely under-appreciated, takeaways from recent events, involving Meadows and immunity, Trump’s motions in the Jan 6 case, Fulton County pleas, 14th Am §3, the Mar-A-Lago case, and more.

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8 years after reports surfaced of strange and worrisome connections between Donald Trump the presidential candidate & Russia, we still don’t know the full story, a glaring gap in the history & understanding of the Trump era. This special episode of Talking Feds plumbs the depths of what we do know & what we might discover, w/ an ideal set of guests: Jeannie Rhee & Andrew Weissman, senior members of the Mueller probe, and Adam Davidson, a journalist who has reported on the issue more than anyone.

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