The Counsel
CAFE
Join Elie Honig as he unpacks the complex legal issues shaping our country. A former prosecutor and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, CNN senior legal analyst, and author, Honig brings sharp insight and clear perspective to the intersections of law, politics, and current events. New episodes every Friday. From CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 20, 2025 • 12min
Note from Elie 6/20: The President’s Constitutional Power to Do Stupid Things
Elie Honig is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted more than 100 mobsters, including members of La Cosa Nostra, and the Gambino and Genovese crime families. He went on to serve as Director of the Department of Law and Public Safety at New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. He is currently Special Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler and a CNN legal analyst.
For a transcript of Elie’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 13, 2025 • 10min
Note From Elie 06/13: The Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case: Prosecution as Political Cover
Elie Honig is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted more than 100 mobsters, including members of La Cosa Nostra, and the Gambino and Genovese crime families. He went on to serve as Director of the Department of Law and Public Safety at New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. He is currently Special Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler and a CNN legal analyst.
For a transcript of Elie’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jun 6, 2025 • 11min
Note from Elie 6/06: The Supreme Court Will Settle Trump’s Tariffs – But When, and How?
Elie Honig is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted more than 100 mobsters, including members of La Cosa Nostra, and the Gambino and Genovese crime families. He went on to serve as Director of the Department of Law and Public Safety at New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. He is currently Special Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler and a CNN legal analyst.
For a transcript of Elie’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 30, 2025 • 11min
Note from Elie 5/30: Trump vs. Harvard: Asymmetric Warfare
Elie Honig is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted more than 100 mobsters, including members of La Cosa Nostra, and the Gambino and Genovese crime families. He went on to serve as Director of the Department of Law and Public Safety at New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. He is currently Special Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler and a CNN legal analyst.
For a transcript of Elie’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 23, 2025 • 10min
Note from Elie 5/23: Letitia James Started It, but Trump's Payback Isn't the Answer
Elie Honig is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted more than 100 mobsters, including members of La Cosa Nostra, and the Gambino and Genovese crime families. He went on to serve as Director of the Department of Law and Public Safety at New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. He is currently Special Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler and a CNN legal analyst.
For a transcript of Elie’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 16, 2025 • 12min
Note from Elie 5/16: Trump’s Government by Hysteria
Elie Honig is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted more than 100 mobsters, including members of La Cosa Nostra, and the Gambino and Genovese crime families. He went on to serve as Director of the Department of Law and Public Safety at New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. He is currently Special Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler and a CNN legal analyst.
For a transcript of Elie’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 9, 2025 • 11min
Note from Elie 5/09: How Diddy Just Might Avoid Disaster
Elie Honig is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted more than 100 mobsters, including members of La Cosa Nostra, and the Gambino and Genovese crime families. He went on to serve as Director of the Department of Law and Public Safety at New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. He is currently Special Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler and a CNN legal analyst.
For a transcript of Elie’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 7, 2025 • 8min
Note from Rachel 5/7: Commandeering Through Intimidation
Rachel Barkow is the Charles Seligson Professor of Law at NYU School of Law and the Faculty Director of the Zimroth Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at NYU. From 2013 to 2019, she served as a Member of the United States Sentencing Commission. From 2010 to 2020, she was a member of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Policy Advisory Panel and co-chaired Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s transition committee on police accountability in 2021. She is also amongst the most cited legal scholars of all time.
For a transcript of Rachel’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
May 2, 2025 • 10min
Note from Elie 5/02: We’ve Got 99 Immigration Problems, but the Judge Arrests Ain’t One
Elie Honig is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and co-chief of the organized crime unit at the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted more than 100 mobsters, including members of La Cosa Nostra, and the Gambino and Genovese crime families. He went on to serve as Director of the Department of Law and Public Safety at New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. He is currently Special Counsel at Lowenstein Sandler and a CNN legal analyst.
For a transcript of Elie’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Apr 30, 2025 • 7min
Note From Barb 4/30: Freezing the Free Press
Barb McQuade is the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, a law professor at the University of Michigan, and a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
For a transcript of Barb’s note and the full archive of contributor notes, head to CAFE.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
