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Like the prophets he quotes at the pulpit, Senator Raphael Warnock feels he’s watching his country descend into greed, injustice, and tyranny. He sees a MAGA movement “corrupting” his Christian faith and a president who seems to think charity begins (and mostly ends) at home.

No sense mincing words. Jim Jordan’s criminal referral of Jack Smith is the weakest false statement case I have ever seen. I suspect it’s the weakest false statement case any prosecutor has ever seen. You might expect that a referral to the Department of Justice in a false statement case would allege that the person made a false statement. Jordan’s own referral never even does. Nor can he, because Smith’s claims were true, and not just technically but wholly true.

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On Fridays, we like to lighten things up a little bit with our five-words-or-fewer contest. Today, we have an outside-the-box conversation to go with it. But first, a winner. After Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals and held a UFC match at the White House, we asked Fed Heads to weigh in, in five words or fewer, how the president would put his stamp on the World Cup. And you all didn’t disappoint. Kerry answered: “Present himself a FIFA trophy”. Too on the nose?

The lower federal courts are holding strong; state AG’s are joining the fight; Trump’s numbers are tanking. Things seem to be looking up. Is it too soon to daydream? Picture the halcyon day after the new president, evoking Gerald Ford’s phrase the morning after Nixon flew into disgraced exile, tells us our national nightmare is finally over. Democracy restored, the fever broken, time at last to relax and take your first deep breath in many years. So you fly down to Florida for a few days in the sun.

Maggie Haberman has been on the Trump beat for decades. Now she has written—with co-author Jonathan Swan—a tour de force on how the president is remaking our government in his image. Haberman gives Harry an inside look at a White House in thrall to a president who’s never been so uninhibited.

From the moment of its announcement, the so-called settlement agreement between the DOJ and Donald Trump has provoked fierce opposition in Congress and among the American public.

Aaron Blake, Conor Lamb, and Mimi Rocah join Harry to break down Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing, two new ICE killings, and a primetime election rant. Did Todd Blanche manage to persuade senators that he’s a traditional do-the-right-thing prosecutor? Why is Trump suddenly embracing ICE’s abuses again, and could that cost him the midterms?

Talking Feds Live is a home for all of Harry’s live videos. Talking Feds Live is a separate subscription from Harry's written columns. You can opt in or out of email notifications for it by visiting https://harrylitman.substack.com/account. Talking Feds Live is a home for all of Harry’s live videos. Talking Feds Live is a separate subscription from Harry's written columns. You can opt in or out of email notifications for it by visiting https://harrylitman.substack.com/account.

I spoke with my friend and fellow DOJ alum Joyce Vance to discuss Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. We provide a prosecutor’s review of the questions asked by the Senators so far and what early posturing by Senators Tillis and Cornyn suggests about where they might fall on the vote to advance Blanche’s nomination. Joyce and I have both written extensively about Todd Blanche and the stain he’s leaving on the Department of Justice we both served.