Barton Gellman
The Guardian
What holds, and what fails, under pressure, standards and accountability.
Barton Gellman is a prominent journalist known for his investigative work on national security and government accountability. This interview highlights his commitment to revealing truths that safeguard democracy, demonstrating his role as a stabilizing force in turbulent political times.
“At first I thought it might be too hard to get. And Len Downey, the executive editor of the Washington Post at the time, sat me down one day and said, we really need you to do this. This is in your wheelhouse. This guy's important. We aren't penetrating. You're our best shot at this. We're going to team you up with Joe Becker.”
“Well, one thing it would look like would be the president using the bully pulpit consistently to show that his first priority right now and into the months ahead is going to be addressing this threat to democracy.”
“At the very top of the American government conspire to prevent the lawfully elected president from taking power. And as far as we know from any public hint, the Justice Department is not doing anything about that.”
“I think it was all of a piece. I mean, he was a Republican partisan as much as anyone and played hardball, absolutely played hardball, you know, as much or more than Mitch McConnell. But he does have certain principles, certain core beliefs, and he loathed Trump and all the Trumpism stands for.”
The Axe Files with David Axelrod — Ep. 473 — Barton Gellman
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