Politix

Our season two launch episode takes a broad look at the ways Republicans might try to hobble President Biden as he ramps up his administration, and how he and Democrats in Congress can team up to stop them. Host Brian Beutler speaks with Faiz Shakir, a Capitol Hill veteran who also managed Bernie Sanders's 2020 campaign, about the policies, strategies, and messages Democrats should use if they want to govern successfully.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon

Crooked Media’s Editor in Chief Brian Beutler walks you through the early decisions that will mark the dawn of the Biden era, explain their importance, and analyze whether or not they meet the urgency of the moment. New episodes every Friday starting Jan. 22.

With the impeachment of Donald Trump behind us, the most vulnerable Republican senators will now have to explain to their constituents why they voted to conceal evidence of Trump’s guilt, and let him off the hook, and contend with the fact that Mitt Romney, the former leader of their party, refused to participate in the coverup. But they’ll only face these questions if the rest of us keep the public eye trained on Trump’s corruption. Matthew Miller rejoins host Brian Beutler to discuss how what comes next matters just as much as what we’ve just been through.

When Republicans acquit Donald Trump, it’ll mark the end of this impeachment process. Much more importantly it’ll mark the dawning of a brave new world. What kind of America will we live in? And, short of Trump losing the election soundly, will it be possible to go back?

Susan Hennessey, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Executive Editor of the Lawfare blog, joins host Brian Beutler to discuss whether Republicans are unmaking the republic.

What if the Senate completes an impeachment trial in a way that deprives the public of the fairness it demands, and plainly violates the oath senators take to do impartial justice? Harvard Law Professor, and host of the Noah Feldman joins host Brian Beutler to discuss the opening of the trial of Donald Trump, and the legitimacy crisis we face if Republicans complete his coverup for him.

A deluge of new details about the Ukraine scheme have made Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump more desperate than ever to conceal as much incriminating information as they can. And they may still have the tools they need to keep the public from ever learning the full truth. Kate Brannen, the editorial director at Just Security who unearthed some of these details, joins host Brian Beutler to discuss the lastest extraordinary developments, and what Trump and McConnell, in their desperation, might do to prevent more of them from coming to light.

When Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins—whenever it begins—the Senate will be divided between Democrats, who will demand to hear from all the first-hand witnesses who defied the impeachment inquiry, and Republicans who will want to acquit Trump without letting any new incriminating information come to light.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Sarah Binder joins host Brian Beutler to walk us through all the arcane rules and requirements senators will have to navigate if they hope to hold a fair trial—or a coverup.

The House of Representatives has impeached Donald Trump, but the fight has only just begin. His trial won’t begin until 2020; but between now and then that fight won’t stop. In fact, this may be the most important phase of it. The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent joins host Brian Beutler to look ahead, and discuss what each of us—Democratic members of Congress, presidential candidates, impartial journalists, activist, or just regular voters—can do to make sure both Trump and those who seek to cover up his crimes are held accountable.

This week House Democrats announced the official articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Trump is just the fourth president in U.S. history to face the prospect of impeachment for alleged misconduct in office, but many were left wondering why there were only two articles, one for abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to assist him in his re-election campaign and the second for obstruction of Congress. This week, Rubicon host Brian Beutler speaks to Michelle Goldberg, a columnist for the New York Times and cohost of the podcast, The Argument.

Donald Trump wants House Democrats to impeach him as soon as possible. Lucky for him, House Democrats ALSO want to impeach him as soon as possible. The problem? When it comes to what’s best for Donald Trump, only one of them can be right. Sorting out who’s right and who’s wrong is one of the most pressing issues in all of politics right now. So host Brian Beutler brought Matthew Miller, former Justice Department official, back on the show to try to answer the question and sort through ALL of the fast-moving developments in the impeachment of Donald Trump.