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Podcast Episode

How Trump Made a Broken DOJ Even Worse

Current Affairs··14 September 2026·31 min

About this episode

🌹 Use the code "15OFF" for a discount on Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership Rachel Cohen is an attorney and organizer who previously resigned from the law firm Skadden Arps amid the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against major law firms.  She joins Current Affairs to discuss her article “Business as Usual at the Department of Injustice,” which examines how Trump has intensified the politicization of the Justice Department while relying on prosecutorial powers, institutional habits, and forms of state violence that long predate his administration. 🏛️ Follow Rachel on Instagram: https://cohen489.substack.com/ 🏛️ Subscribe to Rachel's Substack: https://www.instagram.com/cohen.489/?hl=en 0:00-5:20 What’s happening at the DOJ under Trump? 5:20-8:08 Disturbing trends under Trump 8:08-13:36 What Trump didn’t change 13:36-18:21 The injustice was already built in 18:21-23:06 The problem goes beyond Trump 23:06-25:40 The “presumption of regularity” 25:40-31:26 Resistance and refusing conformity 🦩Subscribe to Current Affairs: https://www.currentaffairs.org/membership