Vanquishing Justice at DOJ (with Carol Leonnig & Aaron Davis)

Stay Tuned with Preet

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, Politics, Government, News

4.8 • 32.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2025

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Can DOJ survive Trump? On a new episode of Stay Tuned, Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporters Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis join Preet Bharara to discuss their new book, Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department. They speak about the politicization of DOJ under the Trump administration, how career DOJ staff are resisting or enabling the weaponization of law enforcement, and the erosion of public trust in the institution. Then, Preet answers listener questions about the DOJ’s response to former FBI Director Jim Comey’s motions to dismiss his criminal charges. In the bonus for Insiders, Preet, Carol, and Aaron discuss the pressure that Trump administration leaders are putting on DOJ prosecutors to pursue politically motivated cases against Trump’s rivals, including Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Join the CAFE Insider community to stay informed without the hysteria, fear-mongering, or rage-baiting. Head to cafe.com/insider to sign up. Thank you for supporting our work. Subscribe to The Long Game podcast. Watch the trailer. Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available on our website. You can now watch this episode! Head to the Stay Tuned Youtube channel and subscribe. Have a question for Preet? Ask @PreetBharara on BlueSky, or Twitter with the hashtag #AskPreet. Email us at [email protected], or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail. Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, welcome to stay tuned.
0:05.9	I'm Preet Bharara.
0:08.3	Ultimately, Donald Trump is the person who began the weakening of the Justice Department in his first presidency.
0:16.2	We didn't fully realize the scarring and damage that he was doing.
0:25.4	Can the Department of Justice ever recover from the politicization of the Trump era?
0:30.4	This week I'm joined by journalists Carol Lennox and Aaron Davis.
0:34.1	They are investigative reporters who have won multiple awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for Lennox's work uncovering security failures within the Secret Service and the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their investigative series on the January 6th attack for which Davis was the lead reporter.
0:50.3	The pair worked together at the Washington Post before Lennox departure to join MSNBC
0:55.0	as its senior investigative reporter back in August.
0:58.8	Now they're out with a new book, Injustice,
1:01.9	How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department.
1:05.9	After the interview, I'll answer your questions.
1:09.1	That's coming up. Stay tuned.
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1:46.1	This episode is brought to you by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect
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	...

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