Rubicon: The First Hundred Days of the Biden Presidency

This week on Rubicon, host Brian Beutler talks to writer Matthew Yglesias about President Biden's pledge to forgive student loan debt, the debate over how much debt should be forgiven, what authority Biden has to do it -- and the political and economic risks and benefits. Beutler and Yglesias take different sides on the importance of loan forgiveness - and debate whether Biden should follow through on his promise quickly or wait until other Congressional scores are settled. For a transcript of this episode, visit crooked.com/rubicon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Rubicon: Brian Beutler talks to John Dean, the former White House counsel for Richard Nixon who got swept up in the Watergate conspiracy before turning on his boss and helping end the Nixon presidency. They discuss the fallout from the impeachment hearings, whether Democrats have the stomach to truly hold the Trump Administration accountable, and how commissions, select committees and subpoena power can be wielded without Republican votes. For a transcript of this episode, visit crooked.com/rubicon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Rubicon, Brian Beutler looks beyond Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial to the broader question of what post-Trump accountability should look like across the federal government. He asks author, historian, and culture critic Ruth Ben-Ghiat about the common tactics modern authoritarian leaders use (and have used for the past century), how other countries have tried (and often failed) to stop them, and whether the early steps President Biden and his majorities in Congress have taken suggest they will do what needs to be done to stop resurgent authoritarianism in the U.S. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Rubicon: Brian Beutler talks to climate science writer Emily Atkin about the predictable first steps President Biden has taken to fight climate change, and the exciting but under-the-radar ways that Biden has woven climate science into offices throughout his administration. They discuss the more difficult, lasting steps that have tripped up progressive officials and activists for decades (carbon tax, legislation, regulations, it's all here!) Learning from the Obama years, they survey the roadblocks Biden will likely encounter in the Senate and the courts, and hunt for ways around them. Want to know more? Check out Emily's newsletter, Heated: https://heated.world/ And here are some related climate reads: https://www.volts.wtf/p/biden-is-blitzing https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/climate-change-after-pandemic.html https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/27/fact-sheet-president-biden-takes-executive-actions-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad-create-jobs-and-restore-scientific-integrity-across-federal-governme https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/climate/trump-climate-change.html For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Rubicon: Brian Beutler talks to MSNBC's Chris Hayes about Biden's COVID plan, the parts of the plan that will be hardest to execute (spoiler alert: vaccines!), and how to recalibrate our criticism for a president who finally takes the pandemic seriously. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon.  For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our season two launch episode takes a broad look at the ways Republicans might try to hobble President Biden as he ramps up his administration, and how he and Democrats in Congress can team up to stop them. Host Brian Beutler speaks with Faiz Shakir, a Capitol Hill veteran who also managed Bernie Sanders's 2020 campaign, about the policies, strategies, and messages Democrats should use if they want to govern successfully. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/rubicon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Crooked Media’s Editor in Chief Brian Beutler walks you through the early decisions that will mark the dawn of the Biden era, explain their importance, and analyze whether or not they meet the urgency of the moment. New episodes every Friday starting Jan. 22. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the impeachment of Donald Trump behind us, the most vulnerable Republican senators will now have to explain to their constituents why they voted to conceal evidence of Trump’s guilt, and let him off the hook, and contend with the fact that Mitt Romney, the former leader of their party, refused to participate in the coverup. But they’ll only face these questions if the rest of us keep the public eye trained on Trump’s corruption. Matthew Miller rejoins host Brian Beutler to discuss how what comes next matters just as much as what we’ve just been through. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Republicans acquit Donald Trump, it’ll mark the end of this impeachment process. Much more importantly it’ll mark the dawning of a brave new world. What kind of America will we live in? And, short of Trump losing the election soundly, will it be possible to go back? Susan Hennessey, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Executive Editor of the Lawfare blog, joins host Brian Beutler to discuss whether Republicans are unmaking the republic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the Senate completes an impeachment trial in a way that deprives the public of the fairness it demands, and plainly violates the oath senators take to do impartial justice? Harvard Law Professor, and host of the Noah Feldman joins host Brian Beutler to discuss the opening of the trial of Donald Trump, and the legitimacy crisis we face if Republicans complete his coverup for him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A deluge of new details about the Ukraine scheme have made Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump more desperate than ever to conceal as much incriminating information as they can. And they may still have the tools they need to keep the public from ever learning the full truth. Kate Brannen, the editorial director at Just Security who unearthed some of these details, joins host Brian Beutler to discuss the lastest extraordinary developments, and what Trump and McConnell, in their desperation, might do to prevent more of them from coming to light. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins—whenever it begins—the Senate will be divided between Democrats, who will demand to hear from all the first-hand witnesses who defied the impeachment inquiry, and Republicans who will want to acquit Trump without letting any new incriminating information come to light. Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Sarah Binder joins host Brian Beutler to walk us through all the arcane rules and requirements senators will have to navigate if they hope to hold a fair trial—or a coverup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The House of Representatives has impeached Donald Trump, but the fight has only just begin. His trial won’t begin until 2020; but between now and then that fight won’t stop. In fact, this may be the most important phase of it. The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent joins host Brian Beutler to look ahead, and discuss what each of us—Democratic members of Congress, presidential candidates, impartial journalists, activist, or just regular voters—can do to make sure both Trump and those who seek to cover up his crimes are held accountable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week House Democrats announced the official articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Trump is just the fourth president in U.S. history to face the prospect of impeachment for alleged misconduct in office, but many were left wondering why there were only two articles, one for abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to assist him in his re-election campaign and the second for obstruction of Congress. This week, Rubicon host Brian Beutler speaks to Michelle Goldberg, a columnist for the New York Times and cohost of the podcast, The Argument. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump wants House Democrats to impeach him as soon as possible. Lucky for him, House Democrats ALSO want to impeach him as soon as possible. The problem? When it comes to what’s best for Donald Trump, only one of them can be right. Sorting out who’s right and who’s wrong is one of the most pressing issues in all of politics right now. So host Brian Beutler brought Matthew Miller, former Justice Department official, back on the show to try to answer the question and sort through ALL of the fast-moving developments in the impeachment of Donald Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Through two weeks of impeachment hearings, we learned a lot about the hoops President Trump and his associates jumped through before he hopped on the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart and said, “I would like you to do us a favor, though.” What they left fairly murky is why Trump viewed Ukraine as such a ripe target for corruption in the first place. On this week’s episode, Brian Beutler and The Atlantic’s Frank Foer discuss the true origins of the Ukraine scandal, and how they fit into a much larger story of global corruption. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The impeachment inquiry will soon move into its closing phase. Republicans have given no indication that they will take any steps to protect the country from President Trump’s corruption. And we remain in the dark about a great deal. As the public hearings draw to a close, Quinta Jurecic, managing editor with the Lawfare blog, joins host Brian Beutler to discuss the dots left unconnected  thus far, and what we risk by not connecting them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This impeachment is a test for Republicans: When it’s all said and done, when they’re all out of excuses, will they admit that what Trump did was wrong? Or will they vote, with the whole world watching, to say they’re fine with it. As the inquiry enters a new open phase, the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent joins host Brian Beutler to discuss how close we are to that point, and whether Republicans will pass or fail the test when we get there. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Republicans are out of excuses, their defenses of Donald Trump have all been debunked by the facts. Slate legal writer Dahlia Lithwick joins Brian Beutler to examine the tactics the GOP have now turned to in order to defend their president, and what it will mean for the country if they get away with it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Rubicon: The Impeachment of Donald Trump” is hosted by Crooked Media's Brian Beutler and launches on November 1st. New episode out every Friday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices