A Cold Day in Hell

Talking Feds

Harry Litman

Election, Government, January 6, Politics, Merrick Garland, Law, Harry Litman, Trump, News, Legal

4.8 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Published on the day of Trump’s inauguration, this episode takes brief stock of Biden’s unusual farewell address before pivoting to the perilous future. A great roundtable of Talking Feds stalwarts--Jonathan Alter, Norm Eisen, & Jen Rubin--assesses the confirmation hearings & what they suggest about the nature of Trump rule, as well as the prospects for the most controversial nominees, especially Kash Patel. We end with a set of open-ended reflections about what to expect in the next few months.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Ranking Member Durbin, President Biden is the president of the United States.
0:05.3	He was duly sworn in, and he is the president of the United States.
0:09.0	There was a peaceful transition of power.
0:11.9	President Trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024.
0:30.7	Welcome to Talking Feds, a roundtable that brings together prominent former federal officials and special guests for a dynamic discussion of the most important political and legal
0:36.0	topics of the day. I'm Harry Littman.
0:39.5	On May 29, 2010, Hungary was a flourishing democracy with a free press, strong civil liberties,
0:48.0	an independent judiciary, and a multi-party political system. That day marked Victor Orban's return to power as Prime Minister after a free and fair
0:59.1	election driven by public outrage over the incumbent government's mishandling of the 2008
1:05.8	financial crisis.
1:07.8	In his years out of power, Orban had cemented his control over Fides, molding it into a vehicle for his brand of right-wing populism.
1:17.6	In short order, Orban's government, having commandeered the legal and political system, eviscerated judicial independence and installed a loyalist judiciary.
1:29.3	It attacked and undermined the free press, enacted election laws that hugely advantaged Fides and ended free and fair elections,
1:38.3	labeled dissenters as foreign agents and restricted their activities, and overhauled the Constitution to centralize and consolidate
1:47.0	power. Fifteen years later, Orban remains firmly entrenched, his rules sustained by these subversions
1:55.1	of democracy, despite repeated condemnation from the European Union and the broader international community.
2:03.1	Donald Trump, who returns to official power at noon today, has consistently expressed
2:09.3	admiration for Orban as a, quote, tough and quote, smart leader and a, quote, strong man.
2:16.8	During his debate with Kamala Harris, Trump dismissed her claim that world leaders lacked respect for him,
2:23.6	citing Orban as a counter example in calling him, quote, one of the most respected men.
2:30.3	Following Trump's election victory, the two leaders spoke by phone with Orban declaring afterwards that they had, quote,
2:36.4	big plans for the future. Then, just last month, Orban came to Mar-a-Lago to visit with Trump and Elon Musk.
	...

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