TARGET Podcast

Matt Borges was a former chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, working as a political consultant, when FBI agents pounded on his door at 6 a.m. in July 2020. They put him in handcuffs and drove him downtown, and for hours nobody would tell him why. Then he walked into the U.S. Marshals office and saw the speaker of the Ohio House sitting in a jail cell.

The case was about House Bill 6, a law that saved 2 Ohio nuclear power plants. Prosecutors said the speaker had been bribed to pass it. Nobody ever accused Matt of giving or taking a bribe. His part came after the bill passed, when he worked to keep a referendum to repeal it off the ballot. He was charged with racketeering conspiracy and offered a plea deal of 6 months. He turned it down. Two co-defendants took the deal and testified against him, and another, Neil Clark, died by suicide months after the arrest.

A jury convicted Matt in March 2023. He was sentenced to 5 years and taken into custody straight from the courtroom. Because one of the charges fell under the Hobbs Act, which also covers robbery, he spent a year in a higher-security prison than the one he should have been sent to. He served 27 months, missed his father’s funeral, and is finishing his sentence on home confinement in Columbus. Alex and his Litson colleagues represented him at the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear his appeal in April 2026.

On this episode of TARGET he sits down with Alex Little and Amy Nelson to talk about the morning of the arrest, why he and his wife, Kate, decided to fight, the word on a prison computer screen that kept him in the wrong place, what the jury never got to hear, and what he’d tell the next person standing on that porch in handcuffs.

0:00 Cold open
1:36 The FBI at the door at 6 a.m.
7:02 “Call Carl”
8:29 The speaker of the Ohio House in a jail cell
9:39 The plea deal he turned down
13:47 Losing Neil Clark
15:28 The day life as he knew it ended
20:18 What House Bill 6 was
22:28 Where he came in: the referendum fight
24:12 Kate: “We’re fighting this thing”
26:08 Their daughter, the morning of the arrest
28:15 The long wait for trial
30:14 Remanded at sentencing
31:44 “The word robbery is in your case description”
35:58 Bank robbery and mafia racketeering
38:06 The Supreme Court and the luck of the draw
38:44 How the investigation started
39:53 What prosecutors told the grand jury
42:55 Trials are won before the jury is seated
44:43 Why the public trusts the Justice Department
47:06 The umpire calls every pitch
49:31 His co-defendant got 20 years
50:50 An extraordinary wife
52:27 Missing his father’s funeral
54:44 What he wishes he’d told Neil Clark
56:52 “I didn’t miss work. I missed being home.”
1:00:24 Home confinement and federal supervision
1:02:32 Advice: trust yourself

If you have received a target letter, or think you might be under federal investigation for public corruption or another white collar charge, this show is for you.

Watch Episode 4 with Rick Renzi: https://youtu.be/3vwZRZ3Nxec
Subscribe to TARGET: https://www.youtube.com/@targetpod
Newsletter: https://thetargetpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetargetpodcast
Website: https://thetargetpodcast.litson.co

From Litson PLLC in Nashville.

#TARGETpodcast #MattBorges #Ohio #HouseBill6 #RICO #PublicCorruption #FederalInvestigation #FederalPrison

Rick Renzi was a sitting Republican congressman from Arizona and a father of 12 when a reporter called during his reelection campaign to ask about a grand jury investigating him. He had no idea one existed.

Years later, going through discovery, he noticed blacked-out entries in the government’s call logs and realized FBI agents had been listening to his calls with his lawyers. The prosecutor was Jack Smith, years before he became special counsel. A judge threw out the wiretap but kept the charges. Word of his first indictment leaked while he was giving the eulogy at his father’s funeral. Each plea offer he turned down came back with more charges, until he faced 49 felony counts.

He fought the case for 7 years before trial. The jury found him not guilty on the primary charges and guilty on what he calls derivative charges, including wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors asked for 13 years. He was sentenced to 3 and served 17 months. President Trump pardoned him in January 2021.

On this episode of TARGET he sits down with Alex Little and Amy Nelson to talk about the calls agents listened to, the plea offers he refused, what years of fighting did to his health and his kids, life inside federal prison, and the 1 a.m. phone call about his pardon.

Rick’s book, Apache Leap Lawfare, is available for preorder: https://renzi1776.com/renzis-book/

0:00 Cold open
1:29 FBI agents on his calls with his lawyers
4:00 A reporter calls about a grand jury
6:43 The lobbyists behind the referral
8:38 The wiretap goes, the charges stay
10:30 Indicted during his father’s eulogy
12:03 Jack Smith, before he was special counsel
13:38 What the case did to 12 kids
14:23 The deathbed decision to fight
15:34 The toll on his body
17:11 Hobbs Act extortion, explained
18:35 The witness who changed his story
20:51 Leper of the House
23:55 If he had pled
25:13 Did anyone get disciplined?
28:45 When the court couldn’t protect him
31:06 Prison, then an island off Colombia
32:40 How the pardon happened
35:12 The 1 a.m. phone call
37:08 A problem for both sides of the aisle
40:53 Prosecutors who become judges
47:34 Classified evidence the jury never heard
51:36 The pressure to plead
53:32 Life in federal prison
56:49 Advice for someone under investigation
59:18 What he’d tell his prosecutors
1:03:03 What he wants his grandkids to know
1:04:26 Final thoughts

TARGET is a podcast about what it means to be in the crosshairs of the federal government. Alex Little is a former federal prosecutor and CIA analyst who now defends people facing federal investigations and charges, including bank fraud, wire fraud, bribery, and public corruption cases, at Litson PLLC in Nashville. Amy Nelson’s husband spent 4 years under federal investigation and was never charged. Every week they sit down with someone who has lived it: the indicted, the acquitted, the pardoned, and the convicted. Nobody relitigates the case. The only question is what you wish you’d known before it began.

If you have received a target letter, or think you might be under federal investigation for public corruption or another white collar charge, this show is for you.

Subscribe to TARGET: https://www.youtube.com/@targetpod
Newsletter: https://thetargetpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetargetpodcast
Website: https://thetargetpodcast.litson.co

From Litson PLLC in Nashville.

#TARGETpodcast #RickRenzi #JackSmith #Arizona #PublicCorruption #FBI #Wiretap #FederalInvestigation #PresidentialPardon

Ryan Bloom was home with his 9-year-old son on a Friday morning in July when his wife called to say the FBI wanted to arrest him. He had 10 missed calls. When he called back, an agent said he had a warrant and that Ryan would know it wasn’t a scam when he looked out his window.

Three silver sedans pulled into his Oklahoma City driveway. When he stepped outside, 6 federal agents were crouched behind their cars with guns drawn. He had no criminal record and had never received a target letter.

Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Oklahoma charged the former CEO of an Oklahoma City construction company with bank fraud involving $2.3 million. A superseding indictment added 9 more bank fraud counts and 1 count of obstruction of justice. Ryan fought the case for about 18 months. On January 30, 2026, weeks before trial, all charges were dismissed under a pretrial diversion agreement.

On this episode of TARGET he sits down with Alex Little, who represented him, and Amy Nelson to talk about the morning of his arrest, the ride downtown in handcuffs, how he found his lawyer by reading cases on PACER, the math a parent does about missed birthdays, and the phone call that told him it was over.

0:00 Cold open
1:00 A bank fraud case in Oklahoma City
2:03 10 missed calls and an arrest warrant
4:41 “Look outside your window”
8:43 6 agents, guns drawn
11:52 His son, alone in the house
15:23 The ride downtown
16:51 No target letter
20:07 The interview in the back seat
22:33 3 phone calls and “People don’t lie to the FBI”
26:26 How the case ended
27:39 Lunch in a holding cell
29:11 Walk, don’t run, to a lawyer
32:01 Shackled into a federal courtroom
35:55 Sent home on a signature
38:07 United States of America v. Ryan Bloom
40:31 A Cybertruck that didn’t exist yet
42:15 The color-coded scorecard
45:39 Researching his own case on PACER
46:27 How he found Alex Little
51:58 If a target letter had come first
54:18 Her 14th birthday
55:54 The call that it was over
59:10 What he’d tell himself on day one
63:04 There is no apology

TARGET is a podcast about what it means to be in the crosshairs of the federal government. Alex Little is a former federal prosecutor and CIA analyst who now defends people facing federal investigations and charges, including bank fraud, wire fraud, bribery, and public corruption cases, at Litson PLLC in Nashville. Amy Nelson’s husband spent 4 years under federal investigation and was never charged. Every week they sit down with someone who has lived it: the indicted, the acquitted, the pardoned, and the convicted. Nobody relitigates the case. The only question is what you wish you’d known before it began.

If you have received a target letter, or think you might be under federal investigation for bank fraud or another white collar charge, this show is for you.

Watch Episode 2 with P.G. Sittenfeld: https://youtu.be/bFu3g37MgKo
Subscribe to TARGET: https://www.youtube.com/@targetpod

Newsletter: https://thetargetpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetargetpodcast
Website: https://thetargetpodcast.litson.co

From Litson PLLC in Nashville.

#TARGETpodcast #RyanBloom #OklahomaCity #BankFraud #FBI #FederalInvestigation #TargetLetter #PretrialDiversion

P.G. Sittenfeld was the front-runner to be Cincinnati’s next mayor when 8 FBI agents met him in his driveway to arrest him.

For about 18 months an old friend and longtime campaign donor had been recording their conversations for the FBI. Undercover agents posed as out-of-town developers who wanted city help with a downtown project.

Federal prosecutors charged him with honest-services wire fraud, federal program bribery, and attempted Hobbs Act extortion. A jury acquitted him on 4 of the 6 counts, including both wire fraud counts. It convicted him on 1 bribery count and 1 attempted extortion count tied to $20,000 in campaign contributions. He was sentenced to 16 months and served part of that at FCI Ashland before a federal appeals court released him while his appeal was pending.

President Trump pardoned him in May 2025. P.G. had never applied for a pardon. In April 2026 the Supreme Court vacated the appeals court ruling against him, and in August 2026 a federal judge dismissed the indictment with prejudice and ordered the government to refund his fine.

On this episode of TARGET he sits down with Alex Little and Amy Nelson to talk about the morning of his arrest, finding out a friend had worn a wire, and what a federal public corruption case does to a marriage and a young family.

TARGET is a podcast about what it means to be in the crosshairs of the federal government. Alex Little is a former federal prosecutor and CIA analyst who now defends people facing federal investigations and charges, including bank fraud, wire fraud, bribery, and public corruption cases, at Litson PLLC in Nashville. Amy Nelson’s husband spent 4 years under federal investigation and was never charged. Every week they sit down with someone who has lived it: the indicted, the acquitted, the pardoned, and the convicted. Nobody relitigates the case. The only question is what you wish you’d known before it began.

If you have received a target letter, or think you might be under federal investigation for fraud, bribery, or another white collar charge, this show is for you.

Watch Episode 1 with Todd and Julie Chrisley: https://youtu.be/mL0pzFR0rqI

Subscribe to TARGET: https://www.youtube.com/@targetpod
Newsletter: https://thetargetpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetargetpodcast
Website: https://thetargetpodcast.litson.co

From Litson PLLC in Nashville.

#TARGETpodcast #PGSittenfeld #Cincinnati #FBISting #PublicCorruption #WireFraud #Bribery #TargetLetter

Todd and Julie Chrisley spent 10 years as federal targets. It started with a phone call in 2012. It ended with a presidential pardon in 2025. In between: a raid on a storage warehouse in the middle of filming, a waived statute of limitations, a threat to go after their family, a $17 million number a judge picked in court, and prison.

On the first episode of TARGET, they sit down with Alex Little and Amy Nelson to talk about what they wish they’d known on day one.

TARGET is a podcast about what it means to be in the crosshairs of the federal government. Alex Little is a former federal prosecutor and CIA analyst who now defends the people the system hunts. Amy Nelson’s husband spent 4 years under federal investigation and was never charged. Every week they sit down with someone who has lived it: the indicted, the acquitted, the pardoned, and the convicted. Nobody relitigates the case. The only question is what you wish you’d known before it began.

If you have received a target letter, or think you might be under federal investigation, this episode is where to start.

Chapters
0:00 Cold open
1:07 “When did you first find out you were targeted?”
5:38 The warehouse search, mid-filming
11:04 Waiving the statute of limitations
13:29 Interview your attorneys
35:52 The verdict
53:32 Walking into prison
1:09:47 What they would tell themselves on day one
1:13:23 Prison to the palace

Subscribe to TARGET: https://www.youtube.com/@targetpod
Newsletter: https://thetargetpodcast.substack.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetargetpodcast
Website: https://thetargetpodcast.litson.co

New episodes every Thursday. Next: P.G. Sittenfeld, the former Cincinnati councilman, on the bribery case that sent him to federal prison and the pardon that followed.

From Litson PLLC in Nashville.

#TARGETpodcast #Chrisleys #ToddChrisley #JulieChrisley #FederalInvestigation #TargetLetter

Nobody thinks it will be them. Then the target letter arrives. On TARGET, former federal prosecutor Alex Little and Amy Nelson sit down with people who have lived through a federal investigation, from Todd and Julie Chrisley to P.G. Sittenfeld, Rick Renzi, and Ryan Bloom, to learn what they wish they’d known on day one. Premieres Thursday, September 24. New episodes every Thursday.