Talking Feds

It was a week when you could feel the vibrations of coming battles all over: the first ever indictment of a former President; Fox staring down the barrel of a jury trial in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation suit; the schism between R elites, who favor DeSantis, and immovable Trump supporters; & bitter struggles over abortion rights in several states. A superb group of guests-Laura Jarrett, Alicia Menendez, & Ashley Parker-joins Harry to break it all down and analyze the shape of things to come.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The unseemly political alliance between the MAGA right and Fox Corp. burst into plain view. Filings in a defamation suit showed Fox knowingly pushing the Big Lie and Speaker McCarthy hand-delivered to Tucker Carlson alone some 44,000 hours of security footage from Jan. 6. A terrific panel of savvy commentators–Sen Al Franken, Jon Alter, and Juliette Kayyem–work through the toxic implications and forecast the future state of play. And a sidebar from songwriter and musician Dan Wilson.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The anniversary of the Ukraine war marks a time to reflect on the current state of play on the battlefield; the strategic interests of Ukraine and Russia but also the U.S., Europe, & China; the war’s broader geopolitical and in fact historical implications; and the miserable prospect of an endless conflict so long as Putin remains in power. A truly fantastic group of experts—Ben Rhodes, Garry Kasparov, & Natasha Bertrand—joins Harry for a rich exploration of all these points and more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the vantage points legal and political worlds locked on the coming few months, to possible indictments new Presidential candidates, a fantastic group of prominent commentators–Maggie Haberman, Josh Marshall, and Charlie Sykes—join Harry to analyze the political and legal stress points and consider likely outcomes. They discuss the series of aggressive prosecutorial moves by Special Counsel Jack Smith and the prospects of multiple Republican candidates such as Nikki Haley to take Trump down.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the end of a week featuring the State of the Union, the debut of the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government, and the delivery of a subpoena to former Vice President Mike Pence, Aaron Blake, Susan Glasser, Carol Lee join Harry to analyze the political substance & theater. Each of these events involved clashes between representatives of the Trump era and the Biden presidency, which continues to draw only tepid public approval notwithstanding significant domestic achievements.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a very special 1-on-1 episode of Talking Feds, Rachel Maddow joins Harry to discuss the stunning, and relatively unknown, historical episodes of American flirtation with fascism and armed insurrection in the 1940s, which she chronicles in her latest tour-de-force podcast, Ultra. After delving into some of the highlights of the remarkable 80-year-old story, the two discuss the possible lessons for our own troubled times and how we as a society can push back against today’s parallel threats.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Calls for police reform in the wake of the killing of Tyre Nichols dominated the weekly news, along with the slash-&-burn moves of R committees in the House and two NY cases acting like pincers in applying pressure to Donald Trump. A fantastic set of guests–Congressman Ted Lieu, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Carol Leonnig, and former Congress and DOJ official Elliot Williams–join Harry to identify the fault lines, assess the political & legal fine points, and predict where things are headed.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was a week when the new Republican majority in the House showed its colors. Speaker McCarthy announced committee assignments that empowered some of the country’s most unhinged political figures and a committee structure featuring a special committee on the weaponization of government that promised a steady stream of vitriolic battles with the White House and executive branch. David Frum, Kavita Patel, & Michael Schmidt join Harry to break it all down, plus Pence docs, Barr Durham, and more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perhaps our most lively and informative repeating series of episodes is the quarterly deep dive into the DOJ from 3 analysts who know the Department inside and out: Katie Benner, Matt Miller, and Andrew Weissmann. This week is the latest one and in the nick of time: there has been detailed factual coverage of the Biden docs, Garland’s appointment of Hur, Smith investigations, the House lying in wait to afflict the DOJ. Now it’s time to dig deep into what’s happening beneath the surface.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Divided government comes to DC and the gloves are off, 3 of the country’s most prominent analysts of the ways of Congress and DC—Jackie Alemany, Luke Broadwter, and Norm Ornstein, join Harry to break it down. The discovery of classified documents in Biden’s office & residence forced the hand of Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel. In the House, Kevin McCarthy & his far-right allies pushed through a rules package that augured a steady stream of investigations & a potential debt crisis. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices