Normally, after a controversial law enforcement shooting like that of Renee Good or Alex Pretti, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division would quickly announce an investigation. Under Trump, however, there's still no investigation into Good's killing, and the Department announced it would examine Pretti's shooting only after days of immense pressure. Bill Yeomans, a 24-year veteran and former acting head of the Division, walks Harry through the ways that Trump has stifled, undermined, ...
Feb 05, 2026•37 min
It was a tumultuous week on the streets and in the courts, with panelists Kristen Holmes, Juliette Kayyem, and Josh Marshall joining Harry to break it all down. ICE's reign of terror in Minnesota continues, even as top Trump officials sing a softer tune after nationwide outrage over the death of Alex Pretti. The panel marches through the latest fallout from Pretti's killing, as well as the newest attempts by the DOJ to advance Trump's agenda elsewhere, from the arrest of Don Lemon to the shockin...
Feb 02, 2026•1 hr 2 min
Talking Feds stalwart Elliot Williams joins Harry to discuss his new book, Five Bullets. The pair turn to the blighted and crime-stricken New York of the 1980s to get at some of the unanswered questions from the case of Bernhard Goetz and why the five shots he fired at Black teenagers which made him—to so many Americans—a folk hero. What made it so hard for prosecutors to convict Goetz? What did his trial expose about the limits of what our justice system can offer? And why the lasting American ...
Jan 29, 2026•39 min
As the killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis roils the country, Harry breaks down the fallout with Susan Glasser. Then, turning to the week's main discussion, three stellar journalists—Susan, Emily Bazelon, and Ruth Marcus—join Harry to break down Trump's assaults on the rule of law that made Pretti's death possible. From the corruption of the FBI and the carnage in Minnesota to Trump's escape from the prosecutions brought by Jack Smith, the trio engage in a wide-ranging discus...
Jan 26, 2026•1 hr 18 min
Attorney General Keith Ellison of Minnesota speaks to Harry from the frontlines of the state's legal defense against what he calls a "federal invasion." AG Ellison gives a vivid picture of how the administration's mission is causing chaos on the ground and, in his view, aiming to provoke a violence response. Then, the two dive deep into the thorny questions around a state prosecution of Renee Good's killer—all made more complicated by the federal government's intransigence, if not outright inter...
Jan 22, 2026•32 min
In our latest Contrarian episode, Norm Eisen, Katie Phang, and Jen Rubin join Harry for a deep dive on ICE's rampage through Minnesota. The panel reviews the legal and political prospects for stopping what local leaders call a "federal invasion." Can congressional Democrats restrain ICE? What about the broad-gauge lawsuit brought by Minnesota? Then the panel turns to whether the Administration has stepped on the third rail with its investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which Powe...
Jan 19, 2026•57 min
Chief Justice John Roberts famously told the country that, if confirmed to the Supreme Court, he would act like an umpire—just there to call balls and strikes. To help answer the question of how Umpire Roberts Court has fared, Harry spoke with Lisa Graves about her new book, Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights , in which Graves makes the case that Roberts has acted less as an umpire than a political loyalist. In the ...
Jan 15, 2026•43 min
Guest host Jonathan Alter brings together former Senator Barbara Boxer, Norm Ornstein, and Stuart Stevens to break down the Trump administration's mounting aggression, at home and abroad. The four talk through the shocking killing of Renee Good in Minnesota and the fallout from the toppling of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Then, they dig into a deeper story: how congressional Republicans became the devoted, crucial enablers of Trump's worst impulses. Mentioned in this episode: Jonathan’s Sub...
Jan 12, 2026•59 min
Harry sits down with Georgetown law professor Steve Vladeck to dissect the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. From the UN Charter and head-of-state immunity to the infamous 1989 Barr memo, they unpack the administration’s legal gymnastics, multiple legal illegalities, and tenuous positions. In particular, they zero in on the interplay between U.S. criminal law and the international law that we appear to have knowingly violated. They then turn to the long-term practical moral consequ...
Jan 06, 2026•37 min
While the Talking Feds team is on holiday break, we are re-airing a roundtable conversation with Steve Adler, then-mayor of Austin; Jenny Durkan, then-mayor of Seattle; and Bill Peduto, the former long-time mayor of Pittsburgh. This special topical episode focuses on municipal government and the mayors who run it. The first year of Trump 2.0 has brought to the forefront the clash between federal and state authority. But it’s at the municipal level that the potholes and garbage pickups hit the ro...
Jan 05, 2026•55 min
Harry talks to Anne Applebaum about the Trump administration's chaotic and slanted approach to ending the war in Ukraine. Applebaum exposes the perverse heavily pro-Russian underpinnings of the U.S. plan that kicked off the latest round of talks. After contrasting Ukraine's repudiation of corruption with Trump's embrace of it, the pair zoom out to discuss the global battle for democracy and what's still at stake on the frontlines in Eastern Europe. Plus, a bonus: a discussion with Ruth Ben-Ghiat...
Jan 01, 2026•1 hr 6 min
Talking Feds closes out 2025 with a close look at the institutional damage and lawlessness Trump has imposed on an essential arm of the U.S. government: the Department of Defense. CNN's Natasha Bertrand, the Washington Post's Alex Horton, and retired Major General Steven J. Lepper take Harry inside a Pentagon transformed by cowboy-in-chief Pete Hegseth. Why is the U.S. blowing up boats near Latin America? Did Hegseth oversee a war crime in the Caribbean? And what are the potential domestic dange...
Dec 29, 2025•1 hr
Harry talks to veteran reporter Chris Whipple to get the inside scoop on his bombshell account of the Trump White House's inner workings. The two discuss why Trump's Chief of Staff Susie Wiles was so unguarded in her interviews with Whipple. They cover Wiles's sharp criticisms of administration officials and her admissions of serious wrongdoing by the president, including misleading the public on the Epstein files. The two dig deep into the details—several as yet overlooked—from one of most impo...
Dec 24, 2025•34 min
As the Department of Justice slow-walks an over-redacted release of its files on Jeffrey Epstein, Harry convenes CNN's Aaron Blake, former Senator Heidi Heitkamp, and NOTUS White House correspondent Jasmine Wright to analyze the administration's ham-handed noncompliance. The trio also dig into Vanity Fair's explosive revelations about the White House and Trump's top aide Susie Wiles. They close by considering the administration's escalations in the Caribbean and the real motives behind them. And...
Dec 22, 2025•1 hr
In a new mashup episode, Harry and Molly Jong-Fast swap questions about the White House's latest political embarrassments and legal embroilments. Molly wants to know: when—and how—will some of Trump's inner circle face criminal charges? Harry is curious: why did this press-hating White House let their guard down so spectacularly for Vanity Fair? Together, the pair make sense of the noisy headlines and lay out the real consequences behind the week's serving of scandals. Molly's book: https://www....
Dec 18, 2025•26 min
Harry talks to Alisyn Camerota, David French, and Jonathan Lemire about whether President Donald Trump is finally losing his grip on the Republican Party. Why couldn’t Trump convince Indiana Republicans to back his gerrymander scheme for the state? Have his famed rallies have lost their political magic? And can the president overcome deepening scrutiny of his aggressive military moves in the Caribbean and far-fetched legal maneuvers in the courts? Mentioned in this episode: Alisyn's Substack: ht...
Dec 15, 2025•57 min
Why did an ad urging U.S. troops not to break the law make President Donald Trump so angry that he practically called for Senator Mark Kelly's head? The retired Navy captain can't answer that. Instead, the senator is focused on investigating the controversies that have gripped the military in the past month. Harry and the senator dig into what makes Pete Hegseth such an unfit Defense Secretary, the dangers the potentially illegal U.S. strikes in the Caribbean pose for American service members, a...
Dec 11, 2025•21 min
Harry turns to Mimi Rocah, Tara Setmayer, and Jacob Weisberg to delve into the DoJ’s latest humiliations, the furor over strikes in the Caribbean, and Trump’s racist outbursts. What will it take for Attorney General Pam Bondi to give up the case against Letitia James? Did Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth oversee a criminal missile attack, in addition to risking troops with his Signal messages? And why are Trump’s immigration crackdown and hate-filled outbursts prompting so little pushback? Mention...
Dec 08, 2025•1 hr
Harry talks with journalist Jerusalem Demsas about her case for a robust, combative liberalism capable of taking the fight to the current political power structure. Demsas has just launched a new publication—The Argument—dedicated to renewing and improving the kind of politics that helped fostered many of the country's best achievements. Harry asks Demsas about the shape of that revived liberalism, how she plans to persuade MAGA and other skeptics, and why she feels so optimistic in such a diffi...
Dec 04, 2025•31 min
Harry talks with a prophet of our moment of democratic decline: Steven Levitsky. The Harvard scholar explains why Trump’s grip on power is both unequaled in a century of American history and, at the same time, deeply fragile. The pair think through why Trump has targeted universities, how the president’s own incompetence has undermined his drive for power, and what role the American people can still play in defending their democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Dec 01, 2025•31 min
For his latest periodic deep dive on the Department of Justice, Harry talks to DOJ veterans Paul Fishman and Amy Jeffress as well as reporter Anna Bower to assess an institution that looks to be coming apart at the seams. The panel digs into the political and legal flashpoints facing the Department, including its response to the embarrassing dismissals of the prosecutions against James Comey and Letitia James, the revival of possible contempt sanctions against the department, and the prospect th...
Nov 27, 2025•51 min
Three of the most insightful observers of American politics—Jason Kander, Mara Liasson, and Josh Marshall—join Harry to analyze a week in which President Donald Trump was knocked on his heels, and lashed out viciously in response. The panelists talk through the big questions: Will Republicans keep up the pressure for transparency about Jeffrey Epstein? Why have Trump's recent outbursts been so vile even by his standards? Were Democrats aiming to further provoke him when they warned troops agains...
Nov 24, 2025•55 min
Journalist and Talking Feds regular Emily Bazelon joins Harry to share her reporting on the stories of the rank-and-file Department of Justice staff who’ve weathered Trump’s takeover. Emily spoke with 60 different attorneys who served in the department, and she tells Harry their stories of a department in ruin. What have the key moments looked like from the inside? How have career attorneys handled the wrenching choice of whether to stay on, or quit and risk replacement by a Trump loyalist? And ...
Nov 20, 2025•37 min
For Talking Feds’ latest Contrarian episode, Harry speaks with Norm Eisen, Jen Rubin, and Neera Tanden about the reopening, revelations, and reprisals that dominated the week’s news. They break down where the Democrats went wrong in the shutdown fight and whether the cases against James Comey and Letitia James are collapsing. But, of course, with newly released documents exposing some of Jeffrey Epstein’s connections to Donald Trump, the panel takes a hard look at what can be surmised from the c...
Nov 17, 2025•57 min
Harry talks to Marty Lederman, the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General who authored an amicus brief with a legal discovery that has shaken the Administration's attempt to deploy the National Guard to Chicago and other Democrat-led cities. Marty and Harry explain the critical oversight in the administration's reasoning, and they think through what a bruising legal defeat would mean for the effort to put boots on the ground in American cities. It's a possible game changer in a case Harry has ...
Nov 13, 2025•46 min
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s sweeping nationwide Democratic wins, Harry calls in a trio of some of the country’s sharpest political thinkers—Emily Bazelon, Dave Weigel, and Rick Wilson—to unpack the meaning of the results. Was the increasingly painful government shutdown a decisive factor? Why are the voters who swung to Trump last year deserting him? And, crucially, how might Democrats keep their momentum going? Mentioned in this episode: David’s reporting: https://www.semafor.com/author/david...
Nov 10, 2025•53 min
After releasing Harry’s conversation with Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis two days early to sync up with the publication of their new book— Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department —Talking Feds is hosting a special preview of another podcast that’s exploring the consequential issues that impact, and define, American culture: The Alabama Murders, a new series by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast. Entangled in an affair with a paris...
Nov 06, 2025•37 min
The Department of Justice has been at the epicenter of both Trump's efforts to subvert the rule of law and the attempts to hold him accountable during his years out of the White House. Now two of the country's most prominent investigative journalists—Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis—have authored an authoritative account of these tumultuous years at DOJ. Their book is Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department. Leonnig and Davis join Harry for an in-depth discussion...
Nov 04, 2025•43 min
Harry sits down with David A. Graham, Katie Phang, and Maya Wiley to discuss federal agents' on-the-ground escalations and the courts' efforts to rein them in. They then move to the early warnings that Trump may interfere in next year’s midterms before ending with a quick look at some of tomorrow's critical elections. The overlapping question that criss-crosses all 3 topics: how can Americans band together to protect the democracy, and especially to blunt the threat of a far more systematic atte...
Nov 03, 2025•1 hr 1 min
We are living through what feels like unprecedentedly dark days, which can cause us to lose sight of context, history, and all the hard moments that the nation has faced before. This week, Harry turns to legendary Congressman Barney Frank for his perspective of the Trump era through a more long-term lens. Rep. Frank, who won landmark achievements on issues from banking reform to civil rights, speaks to Harry about what Democrats need to do now, his forthcoming book, and whether Donald Trump's ou...
Oct 30, 2025•46 min
