Welcome to Talking Feds, a round table that brings together prominent former federal officials

and special guests for a dynamic discussion of the most important legal topics of the day.

I'm Harry Littman. I'm a former United States attorney and I'm the legal affairs columnist

for the Los Angeles Times opinion page. We are at a significant inflection point in the country's

all-consuming struggle with COVID-19 and the country itself seems to be dividing along its

seams. In the last few days, states like Georgia and Texas have begun a process of ending their

shelter in place orders. Those decisions are not tied to any scientific or medical assessment,

for example, two weeks of declining numbers of cases, but rather come down to people being sick

of the restrictions and in serious need of resuming economic life. And like everything else in the

country during the last three-plus years, the divergences among states track pre-existent

red-blue division and fault lines of support or opposition to President Trump. So in other states

where orders remain in place, we're now seeing the breakout of demonstrations typically by Trump

supporters and with organized support from deep pocketed far-right activists. Much of the blame for

the polarization lies directly at the feet of Trump and the White House, who, when not dispensing

unvented advice like maybe people should swallow bleach, continue to whip up the anti-government

sentiments of the base and dull out critical equipment according to raw political calculations.

It's the same Trump playbook except here the botched and politicized plays pose serious danger

for human life. No aspect of the Trump presidency is immune from Trump's divisiveness and base

self-interest and that goes in spades for intelligence and homeland security areas that above all need to

run on candor and credibility. Talking Feds listeners remember that we've approached these areas

in a special way, namely in complete, unmediated discussion among the experts. So let's return now

to the table in the back of the virtual double agent bar and grill where phenomenal group of experts

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