Talking Feds stalwarts Norm Ornstein, Tara Setmayer, and Charlie Sykes join Harry to review Pam Bondi's flailing theatrics before Congress as well as a raft of other embarrassments for the Trump administration. After panning the DOJ's determination to avoid transparency on Epstein, the group turns to the sudden federal retreat in Minnesota and a searing courtroom humiliation for Pete Hegseth. To close, they break down the stirrings of mutiny within Trump's party and the president's effort to rewrite election rules.

Mentioned in this episode:
Norm’s podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dsrs-words-matter/id1420216970
Tara’s Substack: https://tarasetmayer.substack.com/
Charlie’s Substack: https://charliesykes.substack.com/
Harry’s column about the administration’s Epstein strategy: https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/the-administrations-long-con-with

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Superstar SCOTUS expert Kate Shaw joins Harry to talk in broad strokes about the Supreme Court's performance during the first year of Trump 2.0 and about the pivotal cases on the horizon. Kate considers the Court’s rejection of parts of Trump’s agenda, and why that’s cold comfort given their subservience when it counts most. They dig into the breakdown and fault lines of the nine justices. Finally, they consider recent radical critiques that the Court needs to be torn down and replaced.

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Contrarian stalwarts Norm Eisen, Asha Rangappa, and Jen Rubin join Harry for a special episode filmed in front of a live audience at Princeton University. They begin with the cataclysmic fall of the Washington Post and what it shows about Trump's power to demolish even the most powerful civic institutions. From there, they turn to the deportation effort, which seems to be running itself into the ground, and Trump's latest noises about election interference. They end with some measured but forceful optimism for American democracy in 2026. A video version of this episode is available on YouTube. 

Mentioned in this episode:

The Contrarian: ⁠https://contrarian.substack.com/

The Contrarian’s YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/@ContrarianNews⁠

Democracy Defenders Fund: https://www.democracydefendersfund.org/⁠

Asha's Substack: https://asharangappa.substack.com/

Asha's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-complicated/id1434320092

The New York Times piece on lawsuits against the administration: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/us/trump-administration-lawsuits.html⁠

Image credit: Sameer Khan, Fotobuddy

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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, and perverted this crucial wing of the DOJ.

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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 shocking raid on a Georgia election office. 

Mentioned in this episode:

Kristen’s reporting:  https://www.cnn.com/profiles/kristen-holmes-bio

Juliette’s writing in the Atlantic:  https://www.theatlantic.com/author/juliette-kayyem/

Josh’s analysis:  https://talkingpointsmemo.com/author/josh_m

Also, check out some big changes coming to the Talking Feds Substack:

https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/big-changes-for-the-talking-feds

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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 fascination with the idea of a gunman taking the law into his own hands?
Mentioned in this episode:

Williams' book:  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/768052/five-bullets-by-elliot-williams/

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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 discussion anchored in their in-depth reporting. Can the FBI withstand another year of Kash Patel's leadership? Is Jack Smith next on Trump's list of targets for reprisal? Finally, are the tragic events in Minnesota, as Susan says, Trump's most Trumpian accomplishment?

Mentioned in this episode: 

Harry's Substack on the aftermath of Alex Pretti's death:  https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/congress-must-act-now

Susan's piece on Trump's actions in Minnesota: ⁠ https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/the-minnesota-war-zone-is-trumps-most-trumpian-accomplishment

Emily's report on the FBI:  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/22/magazine/trump-kash-patel-fbi-agents.html

Ruth's piece on Jack Smith: ⁠ https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/jack-smiths-closing-argument

Ruth's profile of Pam Bondi: ⁠ https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/08/25/pam-bondi-profile

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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 interference. 

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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 Powell denounced as an obvious pretext for Trump's crusade to control interest rates.

Mentioned in this episode: 

The Contrarian: https://contrarian.substack.com/

Katie's YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@katiephangnews 

Jen's piece about Democrats and ICE:  https://contrarian.substack.com/p/democrats-must-seize-the-opportunity 

David Frum's piece about J.D. Vance:  https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/vance-defends-minneapolis-shooter-ice-maga-symbol/685584/ 

Katzenbach memo:  https://www.justice.gov/olc/file/477221/dl?inline#page=509

Minnesota's 10th Amendment lawsuit:  https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/docs/00190_DHS_Complaint.pdf

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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 conversation, Harry and Lisa discuss Roberts’s background as a movement conservative at DOJ, his nomination and ascension as Chief Justice, and his tenure now entering its third decade. They also delve into the modern Federalist Society, unpacking how Roberts and his fellow conservative justices align—or don’t—with its ideology. With the Supreme Court wielding unprecedented influence over American policy, this discussion provides a clear look at how we arrived at the Court we have today.

Read Lisa's book: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/lisa-graves/without-precedent/9781645030676/

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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 Substack:  https://oldgoats.substack.com/

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

Stuart's Substack:  https://stuartstevens.substack.com/

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