S2 Ep152: Todd Blanche’s Jaw-Dropping Ethics Violation (w/ Andrew Weissmann)
The Illegal News with Sarah Longwell
The Bulwark
4.9 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 28 March 2026
⏱️ 77 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
JVL (filling in for Sarah Longwell) joins Andrew Weissmann for a wide-ranging breakdown of a system under strain. They discuss the DOJ’s $1.25M payout to Michael Flynn, a surprising leak tied to the Trump investigations, and the backlash that followed—including a top official calling prosecutor Jack Smith a “proven liar.”
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So I'd like to slop, slop a little. |
| 0:02.5 | Can we do a little slopping up? |
| 0:04.0 | I love it. |
| 0:04.7 | Get sloppy with me. |
| 0:06.6 | I need to know you a little better. |
| 0:09.8 | You're like, do we just become best friends? |
| 0:12.2 | I think you're like, line, over the line. |
| 0:19.3 | Hello, everyone. |
| 0:20.3 | Welcome to the illegal news. I am not Sarah Longwell, but I am her best friend. I'm JVL. |
| 0:25.1 | Wait, wait. You're JVL and you're not Sarah? I know. I know. Uh-oh. Like Sarah Longwell, I am not a lawyer. Unlike Sarah Longwell, I crushed the LSATs and did get into law school. So I could have become, |
| 0:39.9 | I'm basically 120th of a lawyer, which is really exciting for me. And I am joined today by |
| 0:46.7 | Andrew Weissman, who's become a absolute pro guest hosting in the illegal news. |
| 0:52.2 | Andrew is not just a real lawyer, a 100% lawyer, but a very storied, storied lawyer spent 20 years |
| 0:59.6 | the Department of Justice, who's general counsel at the FBI. |
| 1:03.3 | He has a podcast now on MSN now called Maine Justice. |
| 1:07.3 | And on May 19th, he has a book coming out, Liars Kingdom, How to Stop Trump's Deceit |
| 1:12.7 | and Stay of America. Andrew, I will just repeat what I said to you in the green room. I am dying |
| 1:18.1 | to read this book and the minute I'm done, I want to tape a show with you and Sarah because I have |
| 1:25.2 | so many questions. You did a little teaser with Sarah about Liar's Kingdom and how forward looking it is and |
| 1:35.0 | looking at how other countries have tried to authoritarian proof their legal systems. |
| 1:42.2 | And you know what? |
| 1:44.0 | Can I just put a quarter in the machine before we start? |
... |
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