Talking Feds

The early indications from the first weeks since the election are gloomy. A roundtable of three of the podcast's all stars–Susan Glasser, Jen Rubin, and Charlie Sykes–joins Harry to break down the embryonic warnings of democratic backsliding ahead. Trump and his circle are flouting ethical requirements and trying to run an opaque shop, though reports of backbiting and at least one scandal have emerged. And Jack Smith closed up shop on the most serious allegations ever brought against a president.

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Harry talks with Michael Tomasky, Editor of the New Republic, about his article, “Why Does No One Understand the Real Reason Trump Won?” Tomasky digs beneath the demographic information about increased Hispanic voters or concerns about immigration to explain the pivotal fact that vast fractions of the electorate – roughly those who voted for Trump – had a false narrative fed to them by right-wing media, which has become more powerful than legacy media in this country (owing in part to the decline of legacy media), and, far more importantly, speaks in one voice and has a hammerlock on the attention of nearly half the country. Tomasky delineates the strategic genesis and rise of right-wing media, tracing it to huge contributions from right wing forces, whereas the left’s high rollers chiefly contribute to specific causes. Tomasky posits that the right-wing media will not be satisfied with its notable successes but will aim for full domination, and sounds a warning bell for the left to appreciate and respond to the immense political force.

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Harry talks again w/ Marcy Wheeler, as tenacious a follower of the Trump cases as there is, about what Jack Smith might include in a report to Merrick Garland pursuant to the Special Counsel regulations that would supplement the historical record. The short answer is “plenty.” Marcy and Harry march through intriguing but incomplete details in the public record about uncharged conduct, declined federal crimes, and especially activity of still important members of the Trump circle such as Steve Bannon, Roger Stone, and Todd Blanche. This is a detailed guide to what we don’t know but need to in the interests of both democratic transparency and history.

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We are doing a series of special episodes leading up to Trump 2.0 in the areas that are most in the crosshairs of Trump and Project 2025, including immigration, health care, and foreign policy. This is the first one, and it focuses on the Department of Justice, with our regular great expert roundtable of Katie Benner, Paul Fishman, and Amy Jeffress. DOJ is not just the agency I and my compadres know best; it is also the one whose ravaging will most signal a backslide towards authoritarianism.

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Harry talks with Sen. Chris Murphy about a range of subjects, including his recent reelection, his favorite book, and his annual walks across Connecticut. They focus mainly however on Murphy’s thoughts about the reasons for the Democrats 2024 defeat. Murphy had argued that the Democratic Party was ignoring a crisis staring it in the face, born of the inability to connect with Americans’ bleak view of the economy and their growing alienation. As flawed and vicious as Trump’s candidacy was, it had a certain spiritual element of connecting with voters’ deep-seated feelings about a society that is leaving them behind and increasingly isolated and lonely. Murphy talks about how the Democrats can and should advance their own message of meaning and purpose, and what they will need to do in the near future to counter Trump’s expected legal and policy outrages.

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Harry speaks with Constitutional scholar and Supreme Court expert Steve Vladeck about the seeds of a fundamental crisis in American political life. The Supreme Court rebuffed Trump at least some in his first term. But now Trump is a lame duck and a lawless cynic, and it’s not hard to envision as ignoring even a mandate from the Supreme Court. Moreover, in part because of their bad steps in the last several years, including the Dobbs opinion, the court is at a low ebb of respect and credibility in the country, which is ultimately the capital it must call on to enforce its decisions. Harry and Steve also discuss the constitutional gambit. Trump is suggesting for recess appointments. If the Senate won’t cooperate, they can drive in lot of thinks is unlikely to succeed. Finally, the two talk about the embarrassing and non-judicious personal attack on Steve launched by Court of Appeals Judge Edith Jones at a recent conference of the Federalist Society.

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An excellent roundtable of commentators—Heather Cox Richardson, Bill Kristol, and Mara Liasson—explains why based on the early evidence, Trump 2.0 poses grave risks to the rule of law & the national security. He has advanced a series of gonzo nominations for key administration positions that as much as dare the Senate to cross him. And he is making noises about using recess appointments to install those nominees, a maneuver that would warp the constitutional design of Senate advice and consent.

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Harry sits down with Rick Wilson, co-founder of the Lincoln Project and a former Republican political strategist who did as much as anyone to warn the country of the dangers of a Trump presidency, including creating and distributing a dazzling series of ads that brought home Trump’s essential know-nothingness, hypocrisy, and wickedness.  The two begin with a discussion of whether in retrospect the election was winnable for Harris-Walz, or whether the forces that propelled Trump’s victory were in retrospect insuperable.  Wilson analyzes the result in terms of the media ecosystem that the extreme right has constructed and made common cause with since 2008 and especially since Covid.  Penetrating that ecosystem is the chief task going forward, but it is way easier said than done.  Trump’s likely stumbles as President will provide some headway and perhaps provide openings for the Democrats to take back one of the Houses of Congress in 2026.  But the immediate and pressing issue is whether Trump will use his virtually unchecked power to move the country towards autocracy along the model of say, Turkey, in a way that history demonstrates is very hard to reverse. That leaves little choice of patriots, who might well have been looking forward to a resumption of normal life and normal politics, than to continue to fight day to day and month to month against the coming waves of abuses of governmental power.

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A welter of emotions—disappointment, anger, shellshock, bewilderment—jockey for attention in the wake of Donald Trump’s decisive victory. How did the American people select a constitutional villain they know so well, who has promised an even more lawless and destructive second term? A great group of thoughtful and trenchant commentators—Senator Barbara Boxer, Norm Ornstein, and Jacob Weisberg—join Harry to probe the deeper explanations for Trump’s victory and begin to consider what is to be done.

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Harry unpacks Trump’s victory with Mike Podhorzer, founder of the Analyst Institute and the Defend Democracy Project and perhaps the nation’s #1 authority on polls and their foibles. Podhorzer resists the conventional wisdom that the election result is best explained by demographic shifts among certain voters such as Hispanic men or white women. If what's happened here happened in the Hungarian or Turkish elections, we wouldn't be looking at their exit polls to understand what happened. He rather analyzes the seeds of Trump’s victory in a series of developments since 2008, including Supreme Court decisions and an outpouring of money from third parties. Podhorzer avers that Trump’s policies have virtually no support in the electorate, pointing out how Trumpian candidates fared in down ballet races; however, Trump’s success traces to a persuasive embodiment of widely held attitudes, in particular anti-incumbency, which has been a potent force around the world since COVID. That suggests that when Trump begins to put policies into effect, for example the promised mass deportation, it will prompt an electoral backlash. Podhorzer’s core argument about the election is that while it was legal in the sense of not turning of quirky contingencies, it was not legitimate because it failed the fundamental test of expressing the true consent of the governed.

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