Talking Feds

In the wake of the Republican convention and the renomination of President Trump, MSNBC host Chris Hayes, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, and author Jeff Toobin join Harry for a 360° review of the Convention and what it portends about the Republicans’ election strategy going forward. The group then moves to the Kenosha unrest, and the stark red-blue divide in reaction to the events. The Kenosha bed...

It was the week when the Democrats formally selected their standard bearers in the 1st-ever virtual convention, and feds Laura Jarrett, Frank Figliuzzi, & Matt Miller assess the Convention and the Dems’ message. They next take up the Intel Committee’s devastating Report detailing repeated connections between the Trump Campaign and the Russian Government. And they examine the indictment of Kevin Cl...

In part one of this special Sisters-in-Law edition of Talking Feds commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote, Jill Wine-Banks, Joyce Vance, and Barbara McQuade speak with civil rights attorney Vanita Gupta and lawyer and Stanford Law School professor Pam Karlan about protecting voters rights. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Calif...

In a week dominated by Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s selection of California Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate, Jonathan Alter, Joe Lockhart, Asha Rangappa, and Harry discuss the behind-the-scenes selection of Harris and then proceed to evaluate the choice. Turning to the Republican response, the Feds discuss the loathsome charge, countenanced by Trump, that Harris is ineligible to ser...

Charter Feds and DOJ alumni Amy Jeffress, Ron Klain, and Matt Miller join Harry to analyze the US’s abysmal record controlling the virus. They then discuss the bad news the President got from both the Vance and McGahn cases, and move to the testimony of Sally Yates in the Senate, where she got a full dose of Republican fantasies about Michael Flynn. Finally, all 4 Feds contemplate what a prospecti...

Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson, journalist EJ Dionne, and Congressman Jamie Raskin join Harry to assess and analyze a week of wretched news. Continuing high numbers on the virus combined with the worst quarterly economic report on record for a deadly 1-2 punch, and the Administration seemed to have no plan for either. Trump floated the prospect of postponing the election, but was roundly r...

In a week in which President Trump effectively declared war on designated American cities, a classic group of charter Feds -- Frank Figliuzzi, Paul Fishman, and Joyce Vance -- join Harry to break it all down. They explain the deploy of federal agents in American cities was stunning and dangerous, even if a core power is in play. They then turn to Trump’s China-baiting and then his immigration memo...

Congressman Joaquin Castro, Zerlina Maxwell, and Max Boot join Harry to break down a week in which the virus roared back to all-time highs in many states. Red-blue politics, and the suppression of science, continued to complicate efforts to get on top of the virus. School reopenings in particular, which the CDC says are the biggest risk for the virus’s strong return, were completely uncertain. Mea...

It was already a big week with the Supreme Court’s final decisions and the House hearing with ousted SDNY US Attorney Geoffrey Berman; but Trump’s Friday-night commutation of Roger Stone’s sentence made it enormous. This episode begins with a 1-on-1 with Harry and Congressman Adam Schiff about the Stone scandal, then moves into a larger discussion with the Congressman, Jen Rubin, and Barb McQuade...

The Supreme Court issued two momentous opinions last week – but the press coverage only appreciated one of them. A phenomenal panel – Dahlia Lithwick, Ron Klain, and Larry Tribe – joins Harry to break down the Court’s abortion decision in June Medical and its executive power decision in Seila Law. They end with practical reflections on Chief Justice Roberts’s position as the most powerful Justice...

In our continuing series of 1-on-1 interviews with political leaders who are mentioned as possible running mates for Joe Biden, Harry spoke with Stacey Abrams, who as Democratic candidate for Georgia governor in 2018 garnered the highest number of Democratic votes in Georgia history. The discussion focuses on Abrams’s new book, Our Time is Now, which is part personal memoir, part historical survey...

In this special edition of Talking Feds, Joyce Vance hosts a conversation with Maya Wiley, Barbara McQuade, and Jill Wine-Banks. The four discuss police reform, the Barr-Berman debacle and the testimonies of Aaron Zelinsky and John Elias, two current assistant United States attorneys, who talked about politically motivated prosecutions. They close with the impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have on...

Peter Baker, Laura Jarrett, and Juliette Kayyem (with a sidebar from Frances McDormand) join Harry on a banner week in which the Supreme Court issued two decisions bringing joy to the DACA dreamers and LGBTQ citizens; former national security adviser John Bolton’s long-awaited book trashed the President as dedicated to obstruction as way of life; Trump took it on the chin from other quarters; and...

It was an extraordinary 24 hours, even by the measure of this DOJ. AG Barr announced Friday evening that SDNY US Attorney Geoffrey Berman was resigning; but Berman responded saying he was doing nothing of the kind. That led to a feverish series of moves that ended with Berman’s agreeing to leave but his Deputy, a career prosecutor likely to protect ongoing investigations, in place—for now. Feds Ba...

Minnesota native sons Al Franken and Norm Ornstein join David Frum and Harry on a week that saw the protests from Minneapolis consolidate into an international movement. The Feds discuss the broader circumstances that gave rise to the George Floyd killing, and turn to the national political landscape and the President’s out-of-step chest-thumping response. They analyze the systemic reasons for the...

As worldwide demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd stretched into their tenth day, Feds Roy Austin, Barb McQuade, and Jen Rubin join Harry to discuss the state of play in the case against the 4 officers charged in the death and then take up the possibility that the stars are aligned for comprehensive national legislation to reform police practices. The Feds then turn to Trump’s disastrou...

In a week that began with turbulence and ended on the edge of anarchy, Natasha Bertrand, Matt Miller, and Senator Barbara Boxer join Harry to make sense of the unfolding dramas in Minnesota, DC, and around the country. The Feds analyze the impact of the killing of George Floyd and its interaction with the continuing ravages of COVID-19. They then turn to current events in DC, including McConnell’s...

Four charter feds, ex-prosecutors and government officials all -- Paul Fishman, Maya Wiley, Barbara McQuade, and Harry – convene in a classic home-for-Memorial-Day Talking Feds. The 4 explore why the virus disproportionately victimizes people of color, and turn to the new wave of lawsuits challenging state authority. They then take up the DC Circuit’s aggressive move to possibly disable Judge Sull...

After a week with dramatic action on multiple fronts – testimony by Fauci and Bright; Trump’s “unmasking” charge and Obamagate trope; abysmal economic news; and the specter of criminal charges against Senator Richard Burr—feds Aaron Blake, David Gura, and Asha Ragganpa join Harry to talk through the political and legal landscape but also the real-world impact, especially on more vulnerable populat...

In our continuing series of 1-on-1 interviews with political leaders who are prominently mentioned as possible running mates for Joe Biden, Harry spoke with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer has drawn fire from Trump and extremist protesters for her relatively strict shelter-in-place order; but she continues to have strong approval ratings among Michiganders generally. We focused on viru...

Journalistic legend Andrea Mitchell joins Ron Klain, Anne Milgram, and Harry to discuss the jaw-dropping news of the Flynn dismissal, which the Feds unanimously agree can only be explained by corruption at DOJ. The group then takes on the uneven and dangerous pattern of easing of shelter-in-place orders in various states, and then discusses the whistleblower complaints, particularly the one by Dr....

Four of the nation’s premier experts in counter-intelligence and national security—Kate Brannen, Frank Figliuzzi, Juliette Kayyem, and Sam Vinograd—reconvene without Harry at the virtual Double Agent Bar & Grill, for a no-holds-barred discussion of the most troubling and important aspects of the virus. The 4 cut to the core in a rich and freewheeling conversation about the grave dangers that the v...

Abortion returns to the Supreme Court with June Medical Services v Russo, which the Court heard March 4 and could decide any day. It’s the first big abortion case since Gorsuch and Kavanaugh were appointed by Trump, who promised in the 2016 campaign to select Justices who would overturn Roe v Wade. Former Solicitor General Walter Dellinger, Leah (no relation) Litman, and Amy Howe join Harry to dis...

An All-Feds classic, featuring 4 former AUSA’s/MSNBC contributors: Joyce Vance, Maya Wiley, Andrew Weissmann, and Harry. The feds focus on the federal, state and local law enforcement’s responses to the virus, including the efforts to ensure (and Trump’s resistance to) effective oversight; the DOJ’s ongoing work and its political support of Trump; and the only partially successful effort to integr...

In this first ever Talking Feds 1-on-1, Harry speaks with congresswoman Val Demings from her Florida home where she’s sheltered in place. After discussing the challenges in Florida to ameliorate the effects of COVID-19, they discuss Demings‘s career in the Orlando Police Department, where she became the first ever female chief, and her recent experience as an impeachment manager. They end with dis...