Deep State Radio

There is one and only one major hoax associated with the relationship between Donald Trump and the Russian government during the 2016 elections. That's the hoax hoax, Trump's denials that he worked with Russian intelligence to get elected. This week's report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence should finally set that hoax to rest. The bipartisan report not only documents in detail how closely Team Trump worked with the GRU, it also detailed many of the ways they sought to obstruct justice, hide evidence and impede investigators. We discuss the report with four experts: Natasha Bertrand of Politico, Michael Weiss of The Daily Beast, Josh Campbell of CNN and Susan Hennessey of Lawfare. And then, while we're at it, we discuss what the Russians are up to now since 2016 was such a big success for them. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As many US observers watched brave Belarussians take to the streets to protest the rigged election engineered by their autocratic president, they wondered aloud on social media whether the US would soon be going through the same thing. We too have an autocratic president. He too depends on the support of Vladimir Putin. He too has no respect for democracy and is working to rig our upcoming elections. Anger is building among Americans, as well, and many worry that the next step after an unfair election will be taking to the streets. Ed Luce of the Financial Times, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law Center and Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute discuss. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With the president making even more outrageous remarks about his desire to impede voting by mail and the GOP mobilizing more efforts to spread disinformation, it is clear the weeks before the election will be contentious and American democracy is at risk. But who are you gonna call if the guys who are supposed to be protecting that democracy are the greatest threats to it? We discuss this and the week's other big developments--including why the Kamala Harris VP announcement was such a resounding success--with Washington Post columnist Max Boot, former Obama White House staffer Dr. Kavita Patel and co-editor of Just Security Ryan Goodman. Join us. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We summarize a busy and disturbing week of world events with a bit of free-association between Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law Center, Kori Schake of AEI and David Sanger of the New York Times. It takes us from Bill Barr suggesting Democrats were adherents of French enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau to the reality that Barr is much more a Hobbesian to other Hobbesians from Minsk to Hong Kong to a president who can't handle the truth and an intelligence community and White House staff that seems scared to give it to him. And then from there we go to why as bad as COVID has been we're grateful for the opportunity to wear gym clothes most of the time. You won't want to miss any of it. Tune in now. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this special Agenda 2021 episode, we bring together three of America's top expert commentators on the COVID crisis to discuss where we are in the crisis, what may impact it between now and the election and then what the first 100 days health policy priorities for a Joe Biden Administration ought to be. Pulitzer Prize Winner Laurie Garrett, former Baltimore Health Commissioner and practicing ER physician Dr. Leana Wen and former senior Obama health advisor and practicing physician Dr. Kavita Patel join for a hard-hitting assessment of why things are so bad, why they may get worse and why a Biden Administration will have to be bold in its response to undoing the damage their predecessors have done. Don't miss this crucial discussion. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

America has had disputed election results in the past. 2016 comes to mind. So does 2000. So does 1876. But, in all these cases and with all the instances of trying to fiddle with democracy that have marked our history, there has never been a case where the President of the United States and his entire executive branch seemed so committed to rigging the election in their favor or, short of that, to throwing the election results into doubt. Whether it is seeking foreign intervention (again) or threatening to postpone the vote, creating false doubts around mail in ballots or working with the postal service to ensure as many ballots arrive too late to be counted as possible, via disinformation or voter suppression, our democratic processes are likely to be under siege this November. The questions we must grapple with are what might that look like and what is to be done about it. We are joined by a group that has recently participated in scenario exercises on just this subject. Our own Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Un

In Russia, they refer to Trump as being "theirs." In France, the president muses about how Europe should prepare for an America that is no longer an ally. In China, they know they are gaining with every setback the U.S. faces. But what if Trump is re-elected? What will it mean for the rule of law in America? Will Bill Barr be a kind of Prime Minister of a Trump Junta? Will it be the end for NATO and the international order? Might it mean the end for our domestic institutions? For the American experiment? The answer, in the eyes of our experts, is yes. Join Kori Schake of AEI, Ed Luce of the FT and Tom Nichols of the Naval War College and the Harvard Extension School for a discussion of the unthinkable tomorrow that could very well be right around the corner. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a remarkable 50 year career in government that has seen him as Secretary of Defense, Director of the CIA, White House Chief of Staff, Director of the Office of Management and Budget and in Congressional leadership, Leon Panetta has seen it all. But, he tells us in an exclusive Agenda 2021 interview, he has never seen anything like the situation we're in now. We discuss Trump's COVID leadership failure, his kowtowing to Putin, his ignoring the threat posed by Russian bounties on US troops, and his weakening of NATO. Then we turn to the vital national security priorities that a Biden Administration must address come January--and they go far beyond merely undoing the damage Trump has done. This is a masterclass in government and policy from one of the great master public servants of our time. Do not miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Thanks to his trusty personal defense attorney Bill Barr and his defender in the Senate Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump has gotten away with betraying his country, enriching himself at the expense of the public, sidestepping national security rules, quashing his opponents and rewarding enemies of the US around the world. But, for now, we have to view that as water under the bridge. An election is coming up and everything Trump and Barr have said or done this week and over the past few weeks makes it clear that they will stop at nothing to win or to discredit a loss should it occur. They will suppress votes, make it harder to vote, send federal forces into Democratic cities, undermine the Post Office, issue reports targeting the Obama Administration, seek dirt from Ukraine on Joe Biden...and much, much more. We discuss where all this may lead with an amazing panel including former US Attorney Barb McQuade, counsel to House Impeachment Committee Norm Eisen, former US Attorney and creator and host of The Talking F

Commentator and political pro Zerlina Maxwell's book "The End of White Politics" could not be better timed. It comes in the summer of BLM and COVID when America's racial inequities and their costs could not be clearer. But it also comes as America begins a 25 year transition to becoming a society in which whites are in the minority for the first time in our history. The GOP is seeking to play on the fear those changes instill in white America. Will Democrats step up to seize the moment and become the party that produces the transformational changes America's emerging majority demands? We discuss with Maxwell, one of the smartest observers of American politics and a woman with a vision for the future of American politics that must not be ignored. Don't miss it. (And buy her excellent book.) Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

No one has provided the insight into the pathologies that define Donald Trump and his presidency like Trump's niece, Mary L. Trump. Her book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man" is a brilliantly written, harrowing tale of familial dysfunction and how it produced the most corrupt president in U.S. history. Join David Sanger of the New York Times and Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law Center as they explore with Mary how we got where we are, why the president is so easily manipulated by foreign despots and how much worse things can yet become. From denying the election outcome to a second term in which he so unfettered that as Mary warns, it may well lead to the end of the American experiment. Essential listening. Download this episode now. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Viruses occur in nature. So do epidemics. But where most of the world's leading economies managed the COVID crisis well enough to control it? America under Trump made error after error. What went wrong? Who's to blame other than Trump? Where will this all lead? We discuss with experts Dr. Kavita Patel, former top Obama health advisor, Jeremy Konyndyk, also a former advisor on epidemics to the Obama Administration, David Sanger of the New York Times and co-host Ryan Goodman of "Just Security" and NYU Law School. Don't miss this troubling analysis of how we got where we are and why it may get worse from here.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Any Democratic president would immediately work to reverse the damage that the Trump Administration has done to climate and environmental policies in the U.S. But there are signs that a Biden Administration may represent a major change on these policies even when contrasted with its Democratic predecessors. The climate crisis has worsened, a rising generation sees climate as a top priority, Biden has begun to listen carefully to green leaders from the progressive wing of the party and major, essential progress seems possible. We discuss the damage Trump has done and what that progress might look like in the latest edition of our Agenda 2021 series of conversations with two of the foremost climate, environmental and energy policy leaders in the Democratic Party, Carol Browner, who served as head of the EPA in the Clinton Administration and head of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Policy during the Obama Administration and David Sandalow who has served in top energy and environment related posts in

Some national governments are clusterfucks. Others are omnishambles. But a rare few are both. Is Donald Trump's America the capital of omnishambolic clusterfuckery? Boris Johnson's UK? Jair Bolsonaro's Brazil? Do really bad leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi have a shot at topping this league table? And from what part of the world will come the big international story that shocks everyone in the run up to the US elections in November? Will the Russians make a move against Ukraine? Will tension rise in the Straits of Taiwan? Will Trump invade New York City. We discuss with Ed Luce of the Financial Times, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law Center, Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute and our old friend, recent Congressional candidate, Evelyn Farkas. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Trump Administration and its allies in key statehouses are suppressing vital data about the spread of COVID. Without that data, tens of thousands of more Americans will die. Crimes are being committed. Who will be held responsible? And who, if anyone has a plan to get us out of this rapidly worsening situation? We discuss with Pultizer Prize-winning author Laurie Garrett and former Obama Administration White House advisor on health issues, Dr. Kavita Patel. The chilling implications of this discussion are important to understand for you, your family and for the entire U.S. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rep. Anthony Brown, (D-Maryland), Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, with a distinguished military career behind him, joins our regulars to discuss how the military is responding to major challenges before it, from its need to address major diversity problems in its ranks to the current movement to rename military bases currently bearing the names of the Confederate leaders to the expanding Russian bounty scandal in Afghanistan. Brown has led the way on helping the military address its diversity needs--including promoting more women and people of color to being generals or admirals and reducing discrimination and mistreatment in the military justice system. He also states clearly on this podcast that if Trump were a military leader his dereliction of duty on the Afghan bounty matter would lead to his court-martial. Don't miss this discussion also featuring our regulars Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law Center and Edward Luce of the Financial Time

The Supreme Court rulings on Trump's taxes put a stake through the heart of the absurd idea that U.S. presidents had absolute immunity and underscored the right of states to prosecute a sitting president. While they left some avenues for further delay for Trump and his battery of lawyers, it is now clear that sooner or later prosecutors will have the chance to review the president's financial records and indictments seem very likely to follow. As for Barr, not only did he lose the immunity argument that has been central to his fallacious and dangerous notion of a unitary presidency, he also was called out for lying and thuggish tactics by former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman, a Trump appointee to the post. We discuss the meaning of all these developments with Mimi Rocah, a 16 year veteran of the SDNY and the presumptive Democratic nominee to be the next district attorney in Westchester, NY and Ryan Goodman, co-editor of "Just Security" and a professor at NYU Law School. P

This episode of our Agenda 2021 series is a one-on-one conversation with General James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence and prior to that Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. We discuss President Trump's pattern of placing Russian interests ahead of our own, his attacks on the foundations of our national security, why a second Trump term will be "like the first one on steroids," what a President Biden should do to repair the damage done by Trump and how to draw a new generation into service of our national security despite the damage done by "truth decay" in Washington. It is an absolutely riveting, essential podcast. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The most charitable interpretation of the events surrounding the Russian bounty scandal is that we have suffered a catastrophic breakdown in our policy processes. But the scandal likely reveals other, even larger, internal crises--a government wide set of leadership failures from COVID to the economy to social unrest to this national security scandal and, of course, the President's pattern of putting Russia before America in his thoughts and as the prime beneficiary of his actions. We discuss this extraordinarily disturbing series of events with former Trump Special Envoy and advisor to President's Obama, Bush and Clinton, Brett McGurk, former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe Mark Hertling and Vice President for the Third Way's National Security Program Mieke Eoyang. Join co-hosts Ryan Goodman of Just Security and David Rothkopf for this special episode.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Russian-Afghan bounty on allied troops scandal is rocking the White House. But it is actually many scandals in one. There is the scandal that Russia sought to pay to have US and allied forces killed, the scandal associated with the president's assertion he never heard about it, the scandal that exist if he did hear about it and didn't do anything about it, the compounding of that last scandal that occurs because he sought to reward the Russians in the wake of this news becoming known, and the scandal of keeping this information from the U.S. Congress. But as our panel--Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law, Kori Schake of AEI, Ed Luce of the Financial Times and David Sanger of the NY Times--point out, there is another scandal brewing. And that is that this entire matter may have no impact at all--politically, on Trump or, once again, on the Russians. (They have literally attacked Americans every way imaginable and have discovered that under Trump there are absolutely no consequences.) Don't miss this conversation