Operational consequences: fear, staffing, and competence

As scandals shake Trump’s cabinet, Harry sits down with Emily Bazelon, Conor Lamb, and Charlie Sykes to discuss the revelations about Kash Patel, a Democratic redistricting win in Virginia, and the administration’s latest retaliations. Along the way, the trio discuss what it will take to revive the rule of law and whether there’s a path away from endless gerrymandering. They close by digging into the jaw-dropping details from Emily’s reporting about how Trump turned DHS into an agency incompetent at real law enforcement but adept at inflicting suffering.

Mentioned in this episode:

Harry’s Substack on the SPLC indictment:  https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/funding-extremism-please
Emily’s reporting:  https://www.nytimes.com/by/emily-bazelon#latest

Charlie’s Substack:  https://charliesykes.substack.com/

Emily's DHS article:  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/14/magazine/trump-dhs-ice-officers-immigration-deportations.html   
Emily’s conversation with Harry about her oral history of the DOJ under Trump:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PDKeMe1mXU

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