“Is the Dam Breaking?” Part 1--LIVE from Politicon in Nashville, Tennesse

Former Clinton Press Secretary Joe Lockhart (who served Clinton during his impeachment trial) joins Feds Maya Wiley Jill Wine-Vance, and Harry Litman for a discussion of a number of facets of what is suddenly an impeachment crisis for the White House. What (if anything) is the White House doing right and what is it doing wrong? How does its efforts compare and contrast with the Clinton White House’s strategy in 1998? Turning to the Congress, the Feds consider whether the Republicans “no due process” argument is getting any purchase and speculate on how both the House and the Senate Republicans will approach the coming crisis.

Read the full episode transcript [LINK TO TRANSCRIPT HERE]

The Federal Death Penalty

The Feds take up the most sober, and one of the most controversial, topics in the federal criminal justice system -- the federal death penalty.  There are currently 62 offenders on federal death row, a small fraction of the numbers in the state system, and the federal government has executed only 3 federal prisoners since 1963. So why do we have, and why do we need, a federal death penalty?  Given the different approaches to capital punishment in the states, should the federal system work to ensure uniformity among all federal capital defendants or should it reflect the variations in local communities?  As a practical matter, how does the decision whether to seek the death penalty work in the federal system? Finally, how does the Department of Justice approach the trials of capital crimes?  Feds Rod Rosenstein, Johnny Sutton, and Carmen Ortiz – 3 former U.S. Attorneys who have extensive personal involvement in federal capital cases – unpack all these questions and detail the personal experience of seeking the ultimate penalty.

Get over it!

After a blockbuster week in both Congress and the Southern District of New York, Feds Frank Figliuzzi, Barb McQuade, and Elie Honig join Harry to assess the damage against the President and his country lawyer Rudy Giuliani.  Several witnesses gave forceful closed-door testimony about the President’s turning over Ukraine foreign policy to Giuliani, who apparently executed a scheme designed to further Trump’s political interests to the derogation of the country’s national security interests.  None of the witnesses might have drawn as much blood, however, as Trump’s own acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, who acknowledge before the camera that a quid pro quo had occurred.  The Feds consider whether removal is now on the table, and also the repercussions of a potential indictment of Giuliani by his old office.

Read the full episode transcript.

Bill Barr’s Justice

Guest host Matthew Miller sits down with three reporters who cover The Department of Justice to find out what’s going on with Attorney General William Barr, the Ukraine investigation and more. Featuring Evan Perez, Katie Benner, Devlin Barrett.

Bill Barr’s 2001 interview can be found here.

Read the full episode transcript

The Whistleblowers’ Moment

The whistleblower complaint filed by a member of the intelligence community has brought the Trump Administration to the precipice, imposing a far greater threat than did the Mueller probe. Several more whistleblower complaints against the Administration are stacked up and ready to go. Whistleblowers have arrived. But who are they, and what tends to happen to them after they blow the whistle? The Feds bear down on various aspects of the life and law of whistleblowers, with two of the most prominent whistleblower lawyers in the country and the author of a just-published book that gives an encyclopedic look at this suddenly critical set of players.

Host Harry Litman talks with Eric Havian, Rob Vogel, and Tom Mueller.

Read the full episode transcript

Are we f***ed?

From Austin, Texas, it's a special bonus episode of Talking Feds. Harry Litman, Joyce Vance, Matt Miller, Asha Rangappa and Mieke Eoyang talk about the state of politics, the president and the law while producer Jennie tries to to get queso on the mic cables. It's a free-wheeling discussion in the back room at Cisco's in East Austin, so sit down and join us!

Trump Agonistes

After disclosure of a whistleblower complaint revealing President Trump’s efforts to strongarm the President of Ukraine into producing dirt on Joe Biden and subsequent WH efforts to conceal it, the Democrats moved quickly to initiate impeachment proceedings.  Talking Feds Ron Klain, Natasha Bertrand, and Frank Figliuzzi join Harry to analyze the depths of Trump’s troubles and the likely path of congressional investigation going forward.

The Whistle is Blowing

Four Charter Feds – Frank Figliuzzi, Paul Fishman, Matt Miller, and Joyce Vance—join Harry Litman to analyze the complicated questions of law, politics, and national security swirling around the bombshell revelations that 1) a whistleblower complaint from someone in the national intelligence community has been filed but is being withheld from Congress notwithstanding the plain legal command to provide it; and 2) the complaint concerns President Trump’s attempting to strongarm the President of Ukraine into gathering dirt on Joe Biden’s son. The Feds then turn their focus on Corey Lewandowski’s testimony in the House last week, including the devastating cross-examination by committee counsel Barry Berke, and consider the possibility that Lewandowski could be charged with contempt.

Read the full episode transcript [to come]

McCastrophe

In the wake of unconfirmed reports that a Grand Jury in the District of Columbia refused to indict former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the feds convene in emergency TalkingFeds Now session to analyze what happened, assess how rare—and how embarrassing—a development it would have been, speculate on just what is happening now in the US Attorney’s office and Main Justice, and consider the Department’s next moves.

Host Harry Litman talks with Barb McQuade, Mimi Rocah and Glenn Kirschner.

SDNY (2); still in the house

Following up on the last episode insiders’ account of the fabled Southern District of New Year, the Feds canvass various cases in which the SDNY is still investigating conduct by the Trump circle and Trump himself. Trump insiders often have suggested that the greatest threat to the President and his family comes from the SDNY. Now that the Mueller probe has run its course, what possible cases does the SDNY still have in store? And if the SDNY does bring additional cases, will the new regime at the DOJ, led by AG Bill Barr, sign off on them?