CAFE Insider

In this bonus from Stay Tuned, Professor Eddie Glaude ruminates on patriotism and reacts to Princeton’s recent decision to rename the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS:“President Eisgruber’s message to community on removal of Woodrow Wilson name from public policy school and Wilson College,” Princeton University, 6/27/20

In this bonus material from a special episode of Stay Tuned, “Scenes from the Mueller Probe,” Anne Milgram talks to Andrew Weissmann, former lead prosecutor in the Mueller investigation, about his time reforming FBI’s forensics lab, that time he prosecuted Vincent Gigante, the boss of the Genovese crime family, and a death penalty case he defended early in his career as a young lawyer. In the full episode, Weissmann reflects on the probe, shares his view on the Roger Stone commutation, and previews his forthcoming book, Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation. As always, tweet your questions to @PreetBharara with hashtag #askpreet, email us at staytuned@cafe.com, or call 669-247-7338 to leave a voicemail.REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALSSpenser S. Hsu, “Convicted defendants left uninformed of forensic flaws found by Justice Dept.,” Washington Post, 4/16/2012Spenser S. Hsu, “U.S. reviewing 27 death penalty convictions for FBI forensic testimony errors,” Washington Post, 7/17/2013“FBI Testimony on Microscopic Hair Analysis Contained Errors in at Least 90 Percent of Cases in Ongoing Review,” FBI.gov, 4/20/2015“Innocence Project Praises DOJ for Undertaking Unprecedented Review of FBI Forensic Testimony,” Innocence Project, 2/24/2016Robert Mueller, Testimony on Forensics before the Senate Judiciary Committee, CSPAN, 5/16/2012Eddie William Finney, Petitioner, v. Walter D. Zant, Warden, Georgia Diagnostic Andclassification Center, Respondent, 709 F.2d 643 (11th Cir. 1983), Justia“First set to die, Ga man gets life in killings,” Access DWUN, 9/21/2013Joseph P. Fried, “In Closing Arguments, U.S. Says Tapes Prove Gigante Is Mob Kingpin,” New York Times, 7/23/1997Blane Harden, “Gigante Guilty of Racketeering, Conspiracy,” Washington Post, 7/26/1997Selwyn Robb, “Vincent Gigante, Mafia Leader Who Feigned Insanity, Dies at 77,” New York Times, 12/19/2005

In this episode of CAFE Insider, “Portland, Vance, and Voting Rights,” Preet and Anne break down the controversy surrounding the use of federal officers to arrest and detain protesters in Portland, the most recent legal maneuvering in the Manhattan District Attorney’s pursuit of President Trump’s tax returns, and the Supreme Court’s decision to leave in place (for now) a lower court order which disenfranchises hundreds of thousands of people in Florida with felony convictions. We hope you’re finding CAFE Insider informative. Email us at letters@cafe.com with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Anne. References and Supplemental materials at CAFE.com. 

CAFE Insiders can enjoy this recording of Preet reading his note, "Leadership in Crisis’” and read his note in the CAFE Insider Newsletter every Thursday.

A weekly Note from Elie is part of the CAFE Brief, and Insider members can listen to a recording of the note the same day. Please enjoy Elie reading this week's note, "Miseries of MDC are Ghislaine Maxwell’s Incentive to Flip,” and read his note in your inbox every Friday.

In this bonus from Stay Tuned, Preet asks Senator Cory Booker a lightning round of questions about being Newark’s mayor, who he wants to play him in a biopic, and his favorite party game. Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS:Street Fight (dir. Marshall Curry), StreetFightFilm.com, 2005Jonathan D. Tepperman, “Complicating the Race,” New York Times, 4/28/2002Cory Booker Tweet about Danny DeVito, Twitter, 7/2/2014Werewolf: A Party Game for Devious People, PlayWereWolf.Co

In this episode of CAFE Insider, “Pardon Me?” Preet and Anne break down President Trump’s decision to commute the sentence of his friend and advisor Roger Stone, the unusual circumstances under which Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen is returning to federal prison, the pair of long-anticipated Supreme Court decisions concerning Trump’s personal financial records, and the congressional testimony of former U.S. Attorney for SDNY Geoff Berman. We hope you’re finding CAFE Insider informative. Email us at letters@cafe.com with your suggestions and questions for Preet and Anne.References and Supplemental Materials at CAFE.com

A weekly Note from Elie is part of the CAFE Brief, and Insider members can listen to a recording of the note the same day. Please enjoy Elie reading this week's note, "Ghislaine Maxwell and the “Would You Cooperate” Game," and read his note in your inbox every Friday.

On this inaugural episode of United Security, “Bounties, Bolton, and COVID-19,” Lisa Monaco and Ken Wainstein discuss recent reporting that the Russians paid bounties to Taliban linked militias to kill U.S. service members in Afghanistan, make sense of the Bolton saga including a breakdown of the pre-publication review process for former government officials, and provide an update on the resurgence of COVID-19.Read the shownotes & the transcripts at CAFE.com

In this bonus from Stay Tuned, FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub discusses her time as counsel to the House Ethics Committee and offers some hopeful examples of election reform. Thank you for being a member of the CAFE Insider community.REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS:James Bornemeier, “‘How-Not-To' Guide: Helping Politicians to Go by the Book,” Los Angeles Times, 5/13/1992“General election 2019: How much can parties spend?,” BBC, 11/4/2019“Matching Funds Program,” New York City Campaign Finance Board, 2020Sarah Kliff, “Seattle’s radical plan to fight big money in politics,” Vox, 11/5/2018