Talking Feds

“The fight,” Senator Chris Murphy tells Harry, “shouldn’t just be to get rid of Trump. The fight should be to create a different economy and a different culture.” That’s the message of the senator’s new book—Crisis of the Common Good—which offers a host of provocative ideas for fixing the cracks in our society through which Trump crawled his way to power. After the two look at some of the latest Trump-induced crises, like Iran and the slush fund, Harry digs into the book’s many big ideas. He closes by asking the senator about the steps any American can take toward a happier life and a healthier democracy.

Mentioned in this episode:

Senator Murphy's book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621117/crisisofthecommongood/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three veterans of the FBI—Michael Feinberg, Andrew McCabe, and Asha Rangappa—join Harry for a special deep-dive on the Bureau. The panel explores the dangerous, erratic leadership of Kash Patel, whose blunders keep embarrassing his agents and harming their mission. They dig into the costs of Patel’s relentless purge of old personnel, of which Michael was an early victim. Finally, the trio zeroes in on the crucial leaders within the Bureau whom they urge to stand up to Patel—as their oath requires—or watch him turn the FBI into a corrupt and politicized tool of Trump. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Andrew’s podcast:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unjustified/id1317481380 

Michael’s analysis:  https://www.lawfaremedia.org/contributors/mfeinberg 

Asha’s Substack:  https://asharangappa.substack.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In their newest mashup, Harry and Molly Jong-Fast trade questions about the president's weak deal with Iran and latest failures in federal courts. Molly wants to know where the slush fund stands and whether the Kennedy Center fiasco is the beginning of the end for Trump’s makeover of D.C. Harry asks about the political price the president will pay for the Iran deal, and if Trump can get away with a self-styled “bit of intrigue” aimed at installing ultra-loyalist Bill Pulte at the nexus of the U.S. intelligence services. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Molly's podcast: ⁠ https://fastpoliticspod.com/Molly's Substack: ⁠ https://mollyjongfast.substack.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talking Feds stalwarts Norm Ornstein, Tara Setmayer, and Jacob Weisberg join Harry to break down a week where Congress and the courts put Trump on his heels. The group explains the growing legal headwinds for the president’s slush fund and tax amnesty. Next, they dig into how an apparent classic Trump u-turn was a sneakier maneuver than it seemed. Finally, they turn to the new revelations about how the Epstein scandal rocked the administration, and why the DOJ’s handling of the files—among other issues—should sink Todd Blanche’s AG nomination.

Mentioned in this episode:

Norm's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dsrs-words-matter/id1420216970

Tara's Substack: https://tarasetmayer.substack.com/ 

The New York Times' new reporting about Epstein: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/magazine/trump-epstein-files-white-house-vance-doj.html
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Veteran reporter Devlin Barrett takes Harry inside the secret negotiations that created the $1.8 billion slush fund and the transformation within the Department of Justice that made Trump's self-dealing possible. Drawing from his new book—The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice—Devlin tells the inside story of how the president’s cronies remade the DOJ. 

Devlin's book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Department-of-Revenge/Devlin-Barrett/9781668065129
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices