FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2025
Today the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law launched its podcast The Briefing with Michael Waldman with an episode on the past, present, and future of the U.S. Department of Justice. Waldman, the Brennan Center’s president and CEO, hosts former Associate Attorney General of the United States Vanita Gupta and former Acting Attorney General Peter Keisler. Gupta served under President Biden and Keisler under President George W. Bush.
In the new episode, “Justice Weaponized,” Gupta, Keisler, and Waldman talk about the ways the Trump administration is using the Justice Department to benefit allies and prosecute political opponents. They discuss the dangers to the institution’s credibility and how to rebuild its legitimacy with the American people. (Listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.)
Waldman brings an ideal combination of experience and expertise to a democracy podcast. He served as chief White House speechwriter for President Clinton. He is a historian who has written books for Simon & Schuster about the Supreme Court (The Supermajority), voting rights (The Fight to Vote), and The Second Amendment. And he is one of the country’s leading experts on the Constitution, campaign finance, and the presidency.
As in the episode released today, Waldman will dedicate future episodes to the latest democracy issues. He will talk with key newsmakers and top experts inside and outside the Brennan Center. He will share the Center’s latest research and thinking on how Congress, the courts, the states, and the public can protect democracy and ensure it works for all.
Each episode of The Briefing is an hour and available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
The podcast complements the Brennan Center’s weekly newsletter, also titled The Briefing, in which Waldman writes about democracy news. Subscribe here.
Gupta and Keisler are members of the Brennan Center’s board of directors.
