Will Any of The Officials On The Leaked Chat Face Consequences?

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the hilarious-if-it-wasn’t-so-terrifying accidental sending of secret attack plans from Trump administration officials to a journalist; the chilling capitulation of big law firms to Trump’s onslaught; and similar aggressive efforts to intimidate higher education in the United States.

Here are some notes and references from this week’s show:

Jeffrey Goldberg and Shane Harris for The Atlantic: Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal

Aaron Blake for The Washington Post (Analysis): How the Signal transcript undermines key Trump administration claims

Josh Marshall for The Talking Points Memo: SignalGate Is Bad; But OPSEC Isn’t Even The Worst Part Of It

Matthew Petti for Reason: The Atlantic Should Not Find Out About a War Before Congress Does

Dan McLaughlin for National Review: I Don’t Care If It Wasn’t Classified

CBS Evening News Plus with John Dickerson: Former National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster reacts to Trump administration leak(video: 4:02)

Michael Birnbaum for The Washington Post: Law firms refuse to represent Trump opponents in the wake of his attacks

Aziz Huq for The Atlantic: America is Watching the Rise of a Dual State

Chris Geidner for LawDork: Donald Trump wants to, and is working to, destroy the rule of law

The Editorial Board for The New York Times (Opinion): Who Will Defend the Defenders of the Constitution?

Talking Feds Podcast, Hosted by Harry Litman, March 24, 2025 Episode: Capitulation Nation with guests Emily Bazelon, Susan Glasser, & Carol Leonnig (audio 49:19)

The Daily Podcast from the New York Times, Hosted by Michael Barbaro, March 25, 2025 Episode featuring Jim Rutenberg: Nixon Dreamed of Breaking the Media. Trump Is Doing It. (audio 46:54)

Bob Bauer for Executive Functions (Substack): Paul Weiss’s Deal With Donald Trump

Andrew Prokop for Vox: A longtime target of the right is finally buckling under Trump pressure

The Editorial Board for The New York Times (Opinion): The Authoritarian Endgame on Higher Education

Christopher L. Eisgruber for The Atlantic: The Cost of the Government’s Attack on Columbia

Michael S. Roth for The New York Times (Opinion): How Higher Education Can Win Back America

Jabari Simama for Governing (Opinion): What We’ll Lose If We Slash Higher Ed

Here are this week’s chatters:

Emily: Rwanda Reseen, a collaboration between Rwandan photographer Jacques Nkinzingabo and U.S. photographer Bill Bamberger; Louise Ronnerdahl for Kiva.org: Rwanda – how it became such an inspiring act of modern rebirth; The Agahozo Shalom Youth Village

John: Office of the New York State Comptroller: DiNapoli: Wall Street Bonus Pool Reaches Record High of $47.5 Billion in 2024; Taylor Telford for the Washington Post: The average Wall Street bonus is now 4 times a U.S. worker’s salary

David: Jonathan Edwards for the Washington Post: Two killer whales are hunting great white sharks – to eat their livers; Tamlyn M. Engelbrecht, Alison A. Kock, and M. Justin O’Riain in journal Ecosphere: Running scared: when predators become prey

Listener chatter from Alex in West Hartford, Connecticut: Since Yesterday: The Nineteen-Thirties in America; September 3, 1929-September 3, 1939 by Frederick Lewis Allen; Stephan Benzkofer for the Chicago Tribune: Summer fun: Go sit in a tree

For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily and David talk with Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow about the path forward for Democrats and her new book Hate Won’t Win: Find Your Power and Leave This Place Better Than You Found It.

In the latest Gabfest Reads, David talks with author Adam Higginbotham about his new book, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space.

Email your chatters, questions, and comments to [email protected]. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Research by Emily Ditto

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Bonus Episode