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Harry Litman

Harry Litman is a senior legal columnist at The New Republic, a senior fellow at the USC Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, and the creator of Talking Feds, a Substack and podcast on legal and political issues. A lawyer, professor, and legal commentator, he is the former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and has served as a deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice. He clerked for Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and Anthony Kennedy, and has taught at UCLA School of Law and UC San Diego. He is also a former legal affairs columnist at The Los Angeles Times.

All Articles
March 10, 2026
Harry Litman
Should Stoners Have Guns? It Depends on How Much John Adams Drank.
Or so the Supreme Court seemed to think, in a very weird—and quite revealing—oral argument the justices heard last week.
February 18, 2026
Harry Litman
The Four Ways Trump Plans to Delegitimize this Fall’s Elections
His goal here isn’t necessarily victory on the merits. It may be delay, uncertainty, and public doubt—especially in close races.
January 29, 2026
Harry Litman
Trump’s Too Dumb to Know, but Philip Glass’s Symphony Is About Him
The work that the famed composer pulled from the Kennedy Center is inspired by a historic Lincoln speech that’s almost a little too on point.
January 13, 2026
Harry Litman
DOJ Resignations Over the Renee Good Shooting Confirm Our Worst Fears
Justice officials are obviously trying to insulate Jonathan Ross from accountability. And four senior career people couldn’t take it anymore.
December 1, 2025
Harry Litman
Pete Hegseth Crossed a Clear, Bright Line. Will He Pay a Price?
The rule against attacking people “out of the fight” is foundational in U.S. and international law. And there’s no doubt it was crossed. What now?
November 20, 2025
Harry Litman
The Comey Hearing: This Would Be Hilarious If It Weren’t So Scandalous
Before Wednesday, Trump’s handpicked Comey prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, had egg on her face. Now it’s an entire omelet.
November 6, 2025
Harry Litman
Confirmed: ICE Is Arresting American Citizens—and Lying About It
A government that flouts the Fourth Amendment and then lies about it to courts and the people has crossed a moral and legal frontier.
October 20, 2025
Harry Litman
The Good News: Scummy George Santos Isn’t Out of the Woods Just Yet
Trump’s commutation of his sentence was a disgrace. But under a new law, New York State can still pursue justice here.
October 6, 2025
Harry Litman
A Federal Judge Shows How the Courts Should Deal With Trump’s Lies
District Court Judge Karin Immergut’s opinion shows that courage in judging doesn’t require rhetoric or defiance—only the quiet insistence that facts still matter.
September 19, 2025
Harry Litman
Maurene Comey’s Case Will Tell Us: Does Impartial Justice Still Exist?
She was an exemplary prosecutor fired for one reason: The president didn’t like her (or her father). Can that really stand, in the United States of America?
September 11, 2025
MagazineHarry Litman
Ketanji Brown Jackson Is the Conscience of the Resistance
The Supreme Court justice is not hanging back and waiting her turn. And thank God for that.
August 21, 2025
Harry Litman
Who Is Dustin Burrows? Even by Texas Standards, He’s a Lawless Bully
The state House speaker’s vindictive campaign against Democrat Nicole Collier has no basis in law. But it’s Texas, where anything probably goes these days.
August 5, 2025
Harry Litman
Bondi’s Obama Grand Jury: The Authoritarian Moment We’ve All Feared
It’s officially happening: the use of the machinery of justice to go on fishing expeditions about political predecessors. Absolute madness.
July 21, 2025
Harry Litman
Why Trump’s Lawsuit Against Murdoch and the Journal Is a Sure Loser
Yes, his base rallied to him after the big story broke. But this lawsuit is stupid on several levels and will come back to bite him.
July 10, 2025
Harry Litman
The Little-Noted Trump-DOJ Move That Should Scare the Hell Out of You
The Justice Department is looking at criminal charges against local election officials who don’t “safeguard” their systems. And yes, it’s as bad as it sounds.
June 19, 2025
Harry Litman
Donald Trump Is Already Waging War: Against Blue America
The National Guard in Los Angeles, the arrests of Democratic politicians, the prosecution of Vance Boelter—the aim is to create chaos in blue states and use it as a pretext.
June 3, 2025
Harry Litman
Why Trump Moved Leonard Leo From the Short List to the Sh*t List
Conservative legal scholars believe in things like originalism and the Second Amendment. Donald Trump’s OK with those, but he really believes in only one thing.
May 14, 2025
Harry Litman
Trump Writes Congress out of the Constitution—and Congress Says Fine
The question regarding the Qatari plane deal isn’t whether it’s corrupt or illegal. It’s both of those. The question is, who will stop it?
May 1, 2025
Harry Litman
Shame: Bukele Cares More About Abrego Garcia’s Rights Than Trump Does
The president’s words and actions on this case have been atrocious. But as of Wednesday, the clock on his antics is now ticking fast.
April 16, 2025
Harry Litman
On Abrego Garcia, Trump Is Lying on the Facts and Wrong on the Law
As a federal judge put it Tuesday, “Every day Mr. Abrego Garcia is detained in CECOT is another day of irreparable harm.”

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