Talking Feds

For the last episode of the 2024 presidential campaign, a stellar roundtable of David Frum, Jen Rubin and Stuart Stevens wrestles with Trump’s over-the-top vicious rhetoric and considers whether the country may be on the precipice of electing a fascist. We go on to consider the strange late-campaign factor of Elon Musk, and move to Harris’s closing argument, and its emphasis on civility, closing with some tentative observations about what lies ahead for the country over the next several weeks. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As part of the Talking San Diego series, Harry sits down with Nancy Pelosi for a wide-ranging conversation centering on her new book, “The Art of Power.” Pelosi takes us through her entry into Congress as a 46-year-old housewife through the great legislative triumphs of her tenure as speaker, clearly among the most successful in American history. She discusses her approach to leadership and the particular challenges posed by the conduct of Donald Trump and his allies, including their regular departure from the truth. A great conversation with the Speaker’s graciousness, savvy, poise, and judgment on full display. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Going into the campaign’s last week, there is a mile-wide chasm between the candidates in their messages & styles, but not a millimeter between them in the popular vote polls. Harris’s closing argument is emphasizing the grave dangers Trump presents to constitutional rule, but it’s not clear it’s getting through to any new voters. A fantastic roundtable—Beto O’Rourke, Tara Setmayer, & Ali Vitali—join Harry to analyze what’s happening in the final days of the tightest election in a generation. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry talks with Bob Bauer, the most prominent Democratic political lawyer of the last generation, about his new book, “The Unraveling.” The book, analyzes the contributions of lawyers to the politics-as-blood-sport that is our inheritance from the last 40 years of national campaigns. Looking back on a lifetime of representation of candidates, officials, and political institutions like the White House, Bauer analyzes the warrior’s role, including pushing on the truth and demonizing the enemy. Many of these excesses helped pave the for the far greater and more vicious dishonesty of the Trump era. Bauer ends with an extended prescription for restoring ethics and a sense of institutional values to political lawyering. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As one of our guests this week puts it, we know the dartboard but we don’t know what area to pinpoint. There has been little concrete indication of movement in the basic dynamic of the election, which means that we need to stare head on at the grim possibility of a Trump victory, and ask why the sense of panic isn’t greater, including among Republican officials who know Trump best. Susan Glasser, Charlie Sykes, & Jacob Weisberg contrast Harris’s vigor w/ Trump’s continued decline & read the sparse tea leaves. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry and Molly trade off political and legal questions in their latest mashup. As usual, they cover lots of territory on both the legal and political terrains, including Trump’s insistence that he is better for Israel, the status of the various Trump cases, including if Trump wins, the Supreme Court’s reaction to public discontent, whether the justice system is biased towards white men, whether Vance represents “Trumpism Without Trump,” FEMA lies, and a whole lot more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

T minus 22 and the two campaigns are a study in contrasts. Harris is prospecting for new voters w/ a broad media strategy, inc niche podcasts, while Trump digs deeper into the dark recesses of MAGA voters searching for supporters who sat the last two elections out. The hurricane is a vivid reminder of all that can’t be predicted, & an illustration of the damage wrought by Trump’s lies. A great trio of political experts—Jon Alter, Mara Liasson, & Bob Shrum—joins Harry to piece it all together. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Judge Tanya Chutkan abruptly unsealed Jack Smith’s 165 page brief describing the evidence he proposes to use to convict Donald Trump of trying to steal the 2020 election, there was a mad dash of activity as we all scrambled to mine the best nuggets of information; and there were many of them. Read of the brief reveals a whole other series of insights that have been overlooked or under reported to date. Harry talks with the ever-tenacious and insightful Marcy Wheeler, a.k.a. the empty wheel, and in a detailed 45-minute conversation, the two exchange and analyze the most important outstanding revelations in the brief and bear down on what the additional key points reveal about Smith’s case and the likely course of litigation ahead. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If there was a fundamental shift in the election dynamics this week, it wasn't perceptible at the surface level. A great returning panel of Alisyn Camerota, David French, and Norm Ornstein joins Harry to discuss whether Trump's increasingly brazen lies move any voters into his column. They then take up the VP debate & Vance's inability to concede that Trump lost in 2020; Harris's week, highlighted by a joint appearance w/ Liz Cheney; & finally the impact of the Jack Smith brief in the 1/6 case. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry talks with Michael Podhorzer, founder of the Analyst Institute and perhaps the foremost student in the country of the true utility and disutility of political polls. Podhorzer explains the critical difference between two types of “undecided” voters the polls lump together – those (very very rare) votes still uncertain whom to vote for and those (much more common) voters who may or may not vote but know whom they would vote for. The difference has key implications for the state of the race, the best strategies for the campaign, and the right and wrong ways to interpret polls. The distinction also helps explain Trump’s steadfast refusal to expand or soften his autocratic extreme MAGA message. Podhorzer also explains the modeling he has done of the 2024 electorate based on vote history and behavior. A rich discussion and an effective antidote to the “Mad Poll Disease” that so many of us have as the election approaches. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With five weeks to go before the election, Donald Trump seems content to double and redouble down on his appeal to the extreme elements of his base, including conspicuous racist and xenophobic undertones. Kamala Harris spent the week laying out detailed economic policy proposals, facing the press, wooing rural and blue-collar voters, and burnishing her credentials as a potential Commander in Chief. A stellar roundtable of Jen Rubin, Stuart Stevens, & Ali Vitali joins Harry to break it all down. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry sits down with Preet Bharara, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and an encyclopedic source about tradition, culture, and current state of play at the Department of Justice. The two have a wide-ranging conversation touching on the threat of Project 2025 to DOJ in particular; the current state of morale, which suffered in the Trump years; fine points of strategy in the DOJ prosecutions of Trump; the Supreme Court’s impact on DOJ practice; and a lot more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A superb panel of Jason Kander, Josh Marshall, and Tara Setmayer joins Harry to take stock of a wild & weird week and consider where it leaves us w/ 6 weeks to go. Harris logged two effective interviews, continued to headline boisterous rallies, and swamped Trump in fundraising. Trump continued to stir the pot about pet-eating in Springfield then at week’s end had to deal with fallout from news of ultra-gross online chatter by NC gov candidate Mark Robinson, whom Trump has praised extravagantly. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Harry sits down with Judge J. Michael Luttig, a leading conservative jurist and fierce critic of Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and the Supreme Court. Judge Luttig explains why Trump is the very menace to the Constitution that the Framers feared, and excoriates Republicans in Congress for enabling his authoritarian ambitions. The two move on to 3 pro-Trump Supreme Court decisions that Luttig disparages, singling out for special reproach the Court’s immunity decision, which Judge Luttig characterizes as an "abomination". It’s a hard-hitting, essential discussion with one of Trump’s most formidable conservative critics. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The debate behind us, we are in the official 50-day homestretch of the presidential campaign. And although Kamala Harris dominated the debate, it’s not clear that it translates into a political edge in the election. A fantastic roundtable of Susan Glasser, Molly Jong-Fast, and Jacob Weisberg join Harry to assess the debate and its aftermath; analyze each side’s subsequent moves and what they reveal, including Trump’s going full-out nasty; and discuss what each side needs to do going forward. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Talking Feds is excited to introduce a new conversation series: 1-on-1s with Harry Litman. This series will drop in your feed every Thursday — in addition to our Monday roundtables — and feature conversations that go in-depth with one special guest. Host Harry Litman will be engaging with all sorts of topics, from law and politics to art and science to sports, history, movies, and more. With the Talking Feds calling card of great guests -- eg Judge Michael Luttig, Scott Galloway, Gina Raimondo, Bill Kristol, Robert Sapolsky, Preet Bharara, and Swati Sharma -- each conversation is sure to be interesting. The first episode will air next Thursday, September 19th. Stay tuned! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded live at the Texas Tribune Festival Harry, Keith Ellison, Katie Phang, and Ellen Rosenblum examine Kamala Harris’s work as district attorney and attorney general, the potential points of attack it provides to Donald Trump, and what it tells us about what kind of president she'd be. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An episode focusing entirely on the dynamic, exquisitely close presidential campaign in the wake of the DNC convention. Josh Marshall, Heather Cox Richardson, and Charlie Sykes join Harry to assess whether the convention gave Harris/Walz a lasting bump or just a temporary high; the ticket’s week on the campaign trail, including the CNN interview; more unwelcome headlines for the Trump team over Arlington cemetery & flip-flopping on abortion; plus some broader historical perspectives on the race. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to the 300th episode of Talking Feds, coming to you live from the heart of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago! Today’s show celebrates this milestone with an incredible roster of guests who will help us dissect the electric atmosphere and pivotal moments of this historic week. We’ve lined up exclusive interviews with some of the foremost figures in law and politics, providing you with an insider’s perspective straight from the convention floor. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz breeze into the Windy City for the Democratic convention with a strong tailwind from 3-plus weeks of a pitch perfect campaign, abetted by a lackluster at best performance from Donald Trump and JD Vance. Bill Kristol, Bob Shrum, and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill join Harry to analyze what the ticket and party need to accomplish this week. The roundtable then broadens focus to the current state of the race, Trump’s apparent loss of mojo, and Vance’s foot-in-mouth problems. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.