Lame but Lethal

For his latest periodic deep dive on the Department of Justice, Harry talks to DOJ veterans Paul Fishman and Amy Jeffress as well as reporter Anna Bower to assess an institution that looks to be coming apart at the seams. The panel digs into the political and legal flashpoints facing the Department, including its response to the embarrassing dismissals of the prosecutions against James Comey and Letitia James, the revival of possible contempt sanctions against the department, and the prospect that Pam Bondi may act as Trump’s firewall for the Epstein files.  Mentioned in this episode:  Anna's reporting:  https://www.lawfaremedia.org/contributors/abower  Judge Currie's ruling:  https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.583342/gov.uscourts.vaed.583342.140.0_2.pdf  Harry's Substack on the ruling: https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/after-the-shipwreck Harry's conversation with Emily Bazelon about her reporting on the department:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PDKeMe1mXU&pp=0gcJCRUKAYcqIYzv Harry's conversation with Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis about their book on the department:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klVToztR8u0 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three of the most insightful observers of American politics—Jason Kander, Mara Liasson, and Josh Marshall—join Harry to analyze a week in which President Donald Trump was knocked on his heels, and lashed out viciously in response. The panelists talk through the big questions: Will Republicans keep up the pressure for transparency about Jeffrey Epstein? Why have Trump's recent outbursts been so vile even by his standards? Were Democrats aiming to further provoke him when they warned troops against following illegal orders? And, is the weakened president already entering a lame duck period? Mentioned in this episode:  Jason’s podcast Majority 54: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/majority-54/id1309354521  Mara’s reporting: https://www.npr.org/people/1930401/mara-liasson   Josh’s writing: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/author/josh_m Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist and Talking Feds regular Emily Bazelon joins Harry to share her reporting on the stories of the rank-and-file Department of Justice staff who’ve weathered Trump’s takeover. Emily spoke with 60 different attorneys who served in the department, and she tells Harry their stories of a department in ruin. What have the key moments looked like from the inside? How have career attorneys handled the wrenching choice of whether to stay on, or quit and risk replacement by a Trump loyalist? And how hard will it be for any new future to pick up the pieces? Mentioned in this episode: Emily's article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/11/16/magazine/trump-justice-department-staff-attorneys.html Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Talking Feds’ latest Contrarian episode, Harry speaks with Norm Eisen, Jen Rubin, and Neera Tanden about the reopening, revelations, and reprisals that dominated the week’s news. They break down where the Democrats went wrong in the shutdown fight and whether the cases against James Comey and Letitia James are collapsing. But, of course, with newly released documents exposing some of Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to Donald Trump, the panel takes a hard look at what can be surmised from the cryptic messages. The question on everyone’s minds: what in the world did Epstein mean when he called Trump the dog that hasn’t barked?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harry talks to Marty Lederman, the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General who authored an amicus brief with a legal discovery that has shaken the Administration's attempt to deploy the National Guard to Chicago and other Democrat-led cities. Marty and Harry explain the critical oversight in the administration's reasoning, and they think through what a bruising legal defeat would mean for the effort to put boots on the ground in American cities. It's a possible game changer in a case Harry has called a "moment of truth for the High Court." Mentioned in this episode:  Harry's Substack about the stakes of this case: https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/moment-of-truth-for-the-high-court The Supreme Court's request for briefs on the phrase "the regular forces": https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/102925zr_hgci.pdf Marty Lederman's expanded brief on the phrase "the regular forces": https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25A443/384148/20251110232925983_25A443.Lederman.Supplemental.Amicus.Brief.1110.pdf Illinois and Chicago's expanded brief on the phrase "the regular forces": https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25A443/384145/20251110210604383_Illinois%20Supplemental%20Letter%20Brief%20Master%20Final%20To%20File%20PDFA.pdf  The administration's expanded brief on the phrase "the regular forces": https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25A443/384115/20251110170907870_25a443%20Trump%20v.%20Illinois%20-%20Supp.%20Letter%20Br.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s sweeping nationwide Democratic wins, Harry calls in a trio of some of the country’s sharpest political thinkers—Emily Bazelon, Dave Weigel, and Rick Wilson—to unpack the meaning of the results. Was the increasingly painful government shutdown a decisive factor? Why are the voters who swung to Trump last year deserting him? And, crucially, how might Democrats keep their momentum going?  Mentioned in this episode:  David’s reporting:  https://www.semafor.com/author/david-weigelEmily’s reporting:  https://www.nytimes.com/by/emily-bazelon#latestThis week’s episode of Slate’s Political Gabfest:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spectacular-night-for-democrats/id158004641?i=1000735632723Rick’s Substack:  https://therickwilson.substack.com/Rick’s Talking San Diego appearance:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFN88EW3Znw Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After releasing Harry’s conversation with Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis two days early to sync up with the publication of their new book—Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department—Talking Feds is hosting a special preview of another podcast that’s exploring the consequential issues that impact, and define, American culture: The Alabama Murders, a new series by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast. Entangled in an affair with a parishioner, a Northwest Alabama minister makes a devastating choice. Rather than face the shame of divorce, he arranges for three men to kill his wife. One of the men convicted in her murder, Kenny Smith, spent decades on death row, only for his execution to go horribly wrong. Eventually, the consequences lead to the center of a hot national debate on who should be allowed to live, who should die, and how the state should kill them. On The Alabama Murders, Malcolm asks: why, in our efforts to alleviate suffering, do we so often make it worse? If you want to hear the full story, find Revisionist History wherever you get podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Justice has been at the epicenter of both Trump's efforts to subvert the rule of law and the attempts to hold him accountable during his years out of the White House. Now two of the country's most prominent investigative journalists—Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis—have authored an authoritative account of these tumultuous years at DOJ. Their book is Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department. Leonnig and Davis join Harry for an in-depth discussion: their first interview about their tour-de-force new volume, which is full of revelations about the existential battles within the Department, built on interviews with more than 250 people who witnessed them first hand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Harry sits down with David A. Graham, Katie Phang, and Maya Wiley to discuss federal agents' on-the-ground escalations and the courts' efforts to rein them in. They then move to the early warnings that Trump may interfere in next year’s midterms before ending with a quick look at some of tomorrow's critical elections. The overlapping question that criss-crosses all 3 topics: how can Americans band together to protect the democracy, and especially to blunt the threat of a far more systematic attempt by Trump than the last time around to interfere in the elections. Mentioned in this episode: Amie Barrodale’s Supreme Court satire:  https://www.theparisreview.org/fiction/8383/crystal-palace-amie-barrodale David’s piece in the Atlantic:  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/12/2026-midterms-trump-threat/684615/ Maya’s MSNBC piece:   https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/trump-election-monitors-california-new-jersey-legal-rcna240313 Katie’s YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@katiephangnews Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are living through what feels like unprecedentedly dark days, which can cause us to lose sight of context, history, and all the hard moments that the nation has faced before. This week, Harry turns to legendary Congressman Barney Frank for his perspective of the Trump era through a more long-term lens. Rep. Frank, who won landmark achievements on issues from banking reform to civil rights, speaks to Harry about what Democrats need to do now, his forthcoming book, and whether Donald Trump's outrages have any parallel in American history. The two spoke by phone, so this conversation will sound slightly different from most Talking Feds episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices