Show Notes
Host Simone Leeper speaks with Mark Lee Greenblatt, Jodi Vittori and Kedric Payne to examine how corruption and abuses of power are eroding safeguards in government; how failures of accountability in Congress and the courts are weakening public trust; and what reforms could protect against corruption and conflicts of interest now and in the future.
More from Democracy Decoded
Host Simone Leeper is joined by League of Women Voters' Marcia Johnson, Campaign Legal Center's Anna Baldwin, and Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar to trace the Trump administration's multi-front campaign against naturalized and first-generation voters and discuss what happens when a president tries to choose his voters instead of the other way around.
Host Simone Leeper is joined by Campaign Legal Center’s Jonathan Diaz and Chad Dunn of the UCLA Voting Rights Project to explore how attempts to undermine our elections reveal a coordinated effort to erode trust in American democracy, both historically and in the run-up to the 2026 midterms.
Host Simone Leeper is joined by former pardon attorney Liz Oyer and Campaign Legal Center’s Brendan Fischer to expose how President Trump has turned the pardon power into a tool for personal and political gain — rewarding donors, shielding corrupt allies, and fueling a lobbyist-driven market for clemency.
Host Simone Leeper traces a throughline from a handcuffed senator to blacklisted law firms, surveilled protesters, and hijacked government emails — and asks Yale Law Professor Robert Post and Campaign Legal Center's Danielle Lang what's left of the First Amendment when dissent comes with a price.
Host Simone Leeper is joined by Michael Feinberg, Joyce Vance, and Dana Paikowsky to unpack how loyalty to the president and his political agenda has replaced impartiality and serving the public good inside the Department of Justice.