The Oath and The Office

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, the subject and hero of the new film The Social Reckoning, joins Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang for an in-depth conversation about Facebook’s responsibility for January 6. How did its systems help fuel the attack? Could the company have prevented it? And how did that day shape her decision to blow the whistle? Corey also shares his reaction to the film and a story about Hillary Clinton at Brown University that raises questions about political belonging and why she lost to Trump.

Before that, Corey and John discuss the misogyny of Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump, and whether Obama’s “Cheesecake Factory” mockery offers an effective response to a politics where extremism has become mainstream. They also examine the Trump administration’s California election crackdown, including arrests over alleged voting-related offenses and an effort to block the counting of ballots from roughly 20,000 voters whose citizenship it disputes.

00:09 – Intro
01:35 – Vivek Ramaswamy’s Controversial Campaign Ad
09:37 – The DOJ’s Voter Fraud Charges in California
21:11 – Maureen Comey’s Firing was Illegal; a Judge Agrees
31:10 – Frances Haugen Interview

Can writing an article put you at risk of deportation? The Stanford Daily editor George Porteous joins Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang to explain how deportation fears are silencing student journalists—and why his newspaper took the Trump administration to court. After a major district-court victory, the administration is appealing. At stake: freedom of the press and the First Amendment rights of noncitizens.

Plus: Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation fight, harassment of Rep. Ilhan Omar, the revolving door in the Trump administration, the golf-course controversy involving Judge Reyes, and the battle over Russian sanctions.

Timestamps:
00:11 – Intro
01:43 – How Noncitizens’ First Amendment Rights are Under Attack
06:28 – The Push to Denaturalize Representative Omar
17:38 – Trump’s New Friend in Putin
21:48 – Musk’s Impact on the Midterms
23:30 – The DC Golf Course Controversy
30:35 – One Student Paper Fought Back Against Trump (with George Porteous)

Here is a link to The School Board Project: act.link/gi-schools 

Read George Porteous' essay here: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/stanford-speech-student-press-ozturk-the-stanford-daily/

Congress has the power to impeach Trump. Will it use it?

John Fugelsang and Corey Brettschneider discuss the attack on Ilhan Omar, calls to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Elon Musk’s DOGE assault on USAID and Congress’s constitutional powers. Why should accountability stop with the president’s subordinates?

Then Congressman Al Green joins the show to make his case for impeaching Trump. From Nixon to Trump, we examine Congress’s responsibility to confront presidential abuses—and the danger of treating any president as above the law.

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Jack Smith turns the tables on his congressional questioners and doubles down on why he indicted Donald Trump. Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang break down the fiery hearing, the threats of prosecution against Smith, and what this battle over accountability reveals about the upcoming midterms. Plus: Can Democrats win in red states, and what would taking back Congress actually accomplish?

Then, Congressman Ted Lieu joins Corey to discuss his proposed AI “kill switch” legislation, the dangers of unchecked artificial intelligence, and federal efforts to stop the sale of presidential pardons.

Learn more about our sponsor, Americans United for Separation of Church and State: https://www.au.org/tenc/

Timestamps:
00:52 – Intro

05:02 – Jack Smith is Grilled in the Senate
23:32 – Which States We’re Watching in the Midterms
46:07 – Congressman Lieu on AI Regulation
55:31 – What Legislation Do We Need to Restrain the Pardon Power?
01:01:16 – How Congress Can Keep Trump in Line

What if the government sends you to a country you've never known—where you fear persecution or torture—and you never get a real chance to challenge it?

The Supreme Court has allowed Trump's third-country deportations to continue while the case is pending. Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang examine the human stakes, and what it means when the government acts first and the courts decide later.

Also this week: taxpayer-funded ads pushing Trump's political message, the fight over a federal voter database, and the White House's ongoing restrictions on the press.

Learn more about our sponsor, Americans United for Separation of Church and State: https://www.au.org/tenc/

00:51 – Third-Party Removals

17:06 – Donald Trump’s Taxpayer-Funded Campaign Ads
31:41 – SCOTUS is Letting States Use the SAVE Databases