NPR News Now: NPR News: 11-20-2020 2AM ET - FBI Reform

Listen to this article

NPR News: 11-20-2020 2AM ET

Download audio: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-500005/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/newscasts/2020/11/20/newscast020740.mp3?awCollectionId=500005&awEpisodeId=936957319&orgId=1&d=300&p=500005&story=936957319&t=podcast&e=936957319&size=4500000&ft=pod&f=500005

NPR News Now

Audio Review – Security and FBI

Talking Feds

Talking Feds is a roundtable discussion that brings together prominent former government officials, journalists, and special guests for a dynamic and in-depth analysis of the most pressing questions in law and politics.

Over the next two days, would-be Attorney General Todd Blanche will get a grilling from the Senate about how he and the Department of Justice handled transparency regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. Julie K. Brown—the reporter who has done the most to expose and explain the Epstein saga—knows what senators need to ask. She joins Harry to lay out how the DOJ continues to fail Epstein’s victims, why she thinks Trump will pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, and all the ways Epstein worked to manipulate the federal prosecutors tasked with delivering justice.

Mentioned in this episode:

Julie’s reporting: https://www.miamiherald.com/profile/218644665/

Julie’s Substack: https://jkbjournalist.substack.com/

Harry’s column about Katie Phang’s Epstein transparency suit: https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/cutting-edge-legal-argument-could

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Search Episodes

The Biggest Epstein Questions for Blanche and Trump

July 15, 2026

Harry Litman

Trump’s Economy: Inflation, Instability, and Influence

July 13, 2026

Harry Litman

Adam Schiff is Ready to Battle Blanche

July 9, 2026

Harry Litman

Slaughterhouse-Six

July 6, 2026

Harry Litman

David Brooks on Trump, AI, and Fixing America

July 2, 2026

Harry Litman

Kick Out Your Tired and Poor

June 29, 2026

Harry Litman

Chris Murphy on Fighting Trump and Pursuing Happiness

June 25, 2026

Harry Litman

Will the FBI Stand Up to Trump?

June 22, 2026

Harry Litman

Molly Mashup: “Who’s Not Mad at Trump Right Now?”

June 18, 2026

Harry Litman

Trump’s Birthday Bummer

June 15, 2026

Harry Litman

Search Results placeholder

News and Opinions From The SoundCloud

FBI: you do not know how to fish. Go back to your Pinkerton Fishing School!!!

#Рыбак из Австралии выловил из глубин океана гигантскую золотую рыбку. Вес рыбки составлял около 10 килограммов. Мужчина опубликовал видео с рыбой в соцсетях. Чтобы идентифицировать #улов, ему пришлось обратиться к специалисту по глубоководной рыбалке ...https://t.co/6LGTboo0mp pic.twitter.com/6Iut28Z9K1
— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) August 22, 2021

FBI is just a Church for its members

John Durham and his investigations of FBI

John Durham | Whitey Bulger

M.N.: The FBI issues of dysfunction and problems with legality are not random or sporadic, they appear to be systemic, structural, and deeply rooted. The whole organization and some workers appear to be just as cynical, psychopathic, conniving, and rotten as the very field they are dealing with.

The FBI and the Mob appear to have many common elements in their collective mentality, and it is logical: The primary function of the both groups is to protect and to benefit their respective members. In essence as Norman Mailer observed so aptly, the FBI is a Church which exists to satisfy and to tender to the needs of its members (“the true mediocre”), first of all and most of all.

„At bottom, I mean profoundly at bottom, the FBI has nothing to do with Communism, it has nothing to do with catching criminals, it has nothing to do with the Mafia, the syndicate, it has nothing to do with trust-busting, it has nothing to do with interstate commerce, it has nothing to do with anything but serving as a church for the mediocre. A high church for the true mediocre.“

I think, it was the truth then, and it still is the same truth now.
In 1963, Mailer wrote — as paraphrased in an FBI memo — that the bureau had done more damage to America than the Communist Party. That same year, a magazine quoted Mailer as calling Hoover “the worst celebrity in America.”Nov 15, 2008

Political attacks on Chris Wray

Michael Novakhov

All I see now in these #FBI comments are the political attacks on Chris Wray in order to unseat him. Be careful and aware of what you are asking for: the FBI dysfunctions can become worse with the new leader, male-female issue is irrelevant here. I recommend to create THE FBI ADVISARY BOARD, of the best minds in Academia and related fields, and to proceed with the reforms; gradually, cautiously, and prudently, under Mr. Wray, who appears to be committed to these reforms. 14w