Our government disappeared hundreds of Venezuelans to a hellish Salvadoran prison for 125 days. When Trump's and Stephen Miller's whole CECOT plan even became too much for the dictator who runs El Salvador, Marco Rubio helped orchestrate a political win for Venezuela's strongman, Nicolas Maduro—who gets to look like a white knight in the hostage exchange. Meanwhile, the administration still has not recovered from its rake-step claim that there was no Epstein list. Did Bondi release her memo because the 1,000 FBI personnel who were made to review the Epstein documents kept finding Trump's name? Cover-ups are hard. Plus, now the Dems have new reasons to not cooperate with Republicans.
Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.
show notes
Tim and Sam's livestream after Andry and the other Venezuelans were released from CECOT
Bill and Sarah discuss the Epstein timeline for 'Bulwark on Sunday'
Rep. Boyle on not cooperating with Republicans on the budget
Lauren on Democratic messaging for the midterms
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52:34
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52:34
Tom Nichols: Secrets and Lies
If anyone in America was still thinking that Trump's ties to Epstein were a nothingburger, Trump’s own behavior this week has probably disabused them of that notion. His panicking and flailing around sure seem exactly like how a guilty man would act. And the sudden firing of Jim Comey's daughter, Maurene—who worked on the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases at the DOJ—isn't helping to tamp down the conspiracy theorizing. Meanwhile, Tulsi and Kash are trying to ferret out the unfaithful, and there are still adults in the room when it comes to the Fed. Plus, our nuclear command and control system was organized around the assumption that we would have a sane president, not somebody who has psychotic fantasies about the Unabomber.
Tom Nichols joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.
show notes
Tom on the McCarthyist moves by Patel and Gabbard
The president and the nuclear button, part of The Atlantic's August issue
Tom on Hollywood and the fear of nuclear catastrophe
James Clapper was banned from a service dog graduation at the CIA
Tim's playlist
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1:07:14
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1:07:14
David Wallace-Wells: The U.S. Is Handing the Baton to China
While the Trump administration is doubling down on fossil fuels, China is annihilating us in the clean energy space. Right now, 75% of all renewable projects anywhere in the world are being built by a Chinese company. China is dominating the green energy supply chain with solar panels and batteries, and its electric car can charge in five minutes. The U.S. may be betting on AI, but that build-out needs cheap, fast energy—like wind or solar. We may have thought modernity was a Western story, but that may not be the case. Meanwhile, inland flooding could be the new face of the climate crisis, Silicon Valley overlords want to live in a sci-fi novel, and the Epstein story has legs because it's about elite impunity.
David Wallace-Wells joins Tim Miller.
show notes
David on the increasing occurrence of inland flooding, and how we respond (gift)
David's newsletter on the mystery of rich, powerful people hanging out w/ Epstein
David's book, “The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming"
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1:11:31
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1:11:31
Ben Wittes and Michael Feinberg: Breakdown at the FBI
In addition to eviscerating the top leadership at the Bureau, Kash Patel has assigned whole squads of agents to immigration enforcement. Seasoned FBI veterans who used to focus on national security or run RICO investigations are now doing perimeter security during ICE round-ups of kids and grandmas. The administration's purge is draining the Bureau of expertise and apolitical people who did real work defending the rule of law and protecting the country. Plus, do four GOP senators care one iota about the whistleblower allegations against Emil Bove? And will Ukraine finally get badly-needed air defense weapons?Â
Ben Wittes and Mike Feinberg—a former top deputy at the Bureau who was targeted by Dan Bongino—join Tim Miller.
show notes
Mike's piece on his resignation from the FBI
Ben's Substack
Tim on the threatened cuts to UNICEF
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1:08:32
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1:08:32
Brian Beutler: Time to Pop Off, Dems
The majority of elected Democrats would prefer to talk only about policy, but that's not enough for today's freewheeling new media environment. It's way past time for Dems to figure out how to shoot the sh*t—and stop being the kids at the front of the class who don't know how to talk to the ones in the back. And when it comes to Epstein, Trump & co were either lying about the pedophiles back then, or they're lying now to protect themselves. Plus, make the Republicans own all the healthcare cuts: they are happening because of "Trumpcare."Â
Brian Beutler joins Tim Miller.
show notes
Brian's Substack piece on how Dems should talk like regular people
Brian's podcast, Politix
Tim Miller and guests discuss the latest political news for the flagship podcast of the Never Trump movement and the reality-based community. Every weekday we provide insightful analysis, political hot-takes, an unabashed defense of liberal democracy and long-form interviews that cut through the "both-sides" BS. Plus a few laughs to help you wash down the crazy.
Bulwark+ members can get a totally ad-free version of the show delivered right to their favorite podcast player.
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