‘Liar's Kingdom:’ Andrew Weissmann on Democracy and Deception

KQED's Forum

KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann spent years inside some of the country’s most consequential investigations, from the Justice Department’s fraud unit to Robert Mueller’s election interference investigation. In his new book “Liar’s Kingdom,” Weissman argues the U.S. needs new laws to stem the corrosive effects of political deception. We talk with Weissmann about his case for reform and how we can make our democratic institutions more resilient. We’ll also talk to him about efforts to stop the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and recent upheavals at the Department of Justice. Guests: Andrew Weissmann, professor, NYU Law School; former federal prosecutor and general counsel to the FBI; author, "Liar's Kingdom: How to Stop Trump's Deceit and Save America" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from the Exploratorium, presenting life in space.
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0:19.8	This summer, switch to Xfinity and get Wi-Fi so reliable you can host the world.
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0:28.7	Xfinity, imagine that.
0:30.7	Restrictions apply, select plans only.
0:34.5	From KQED.
0:36.9	Welcome to Forum.
0:38.3	I'm Mina Kim.
0:39.5	President Trump abruptly ended an interview with Meet the Press's Kristen Welker that aired yesterday
0:44.3	after she challenged the president for repeatedly saying without evidence that the 2020 election was rigged,
0:51.0	and as he went after California's primary election vote count.
0:55.4	Let me ask you about Todd Blanche.
0:57.1	Listen to me. Listen to me.
0:58.9	Let's talk about Todd Blanche.
1:00.2	There's tremendous evidence. There's nothing but evidence.
1:02.6	The election was rigged. It was a dirty election.
1:05.7	Mr. President, it's happening again right now in California.
1:08.8	It's happening right now in California. Right now it's looking, look at what's happening. Where's the evidence to that? It's four days. The Republicans are doing well in California. It's, no, they're not there. They're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let me tell you, it's four days and they aren't even close to coming up with it. You know why they're doing that?
1:28.9	Because they're cheating on the election.
1:30.5	Do you have evidence to support that?
	...

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