Summary of Mikie Sherrill and Michael Fanone: Full-Time Criming and Corruption

Overview of The Bulwark Podcast — "Mikie Sherrill and Michael Fanone: Full‑Time Criming and Corruption"

This episode of The Bulwark (host Tim Miller) features two interviews: a long conversation with New Jersey governor‑elect Mikie (Mikey) Sherrill about her campaign, message, and governing priorities; and a discussion with former Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone about recent developments tied to January 6, Jeffrey Epstein emails, politicization of federal law enforcement, pardons, smear campaigns against officers, and aggressive ICE/CBP activity. The show interleaves political analysis, firsthand law‑enforcement perspective, and practical takeaways for Democrats and listeners following governance and accountability issues.

Key takeaways

• Mikie Sherrill won the New Jersey governor’s race by a comfortable margin (~14 points) by centering affordability — especially utility costs, housing access, and economic opportunity — and building an intensive ground turnout operation that reached young voters and urban communities.
• Sherrill’s message blended civic‑liberty concerns with economic populism: she frames “liberty and prosperity” as both necessary and under pressure (discusses concentrated power, Trump’s economic impact, and the need for opportunity).
• Major policy priorities Sherrill emphasized: declare a state of emergency on utility costs, expand first‑time homebuyer programs, increase competition to control food and basic goods prices, support small business/entrepreneurship, protect unions, and defend federal infrastructure funding (e.g., Gateway Tunnel).
• Michael Fanone addressed multiple law‑enforcement crises: newly revealed Epstein emails (connecting Epstein, Maxwell, and Trump), disinformation and conspiracy smears directed at Jan. 6 officers, recent mass pardons protecting false‑elector and insurrection actors (and specific pardons of individuals with sexual‑crime allegations), and the politicization of the FBI under Kash Patel’s influence.
• Fanone described real operational harm: staffing and investigative gaps caused by retasking agents to immigration work, career agent firings, leadership that prioritizes publicity over process, and reported failures to respond to credible threats against him and his family after his congressional testimony.

Segment 1 — Mikie Sherrill (governor‑elect of New Jersey)

• Campaign strategy and surprise margin:

  • Sherrill attributes the margin to focusing on the concrete economic anxieties of voters (costs of prescription drugs, utilities, groceries, housing, childcare, education), building huge turnout in cities and suburbs, engaging young voters, and executing old‑school door‑knocking operations.
  • She argues that the pundit class underestimated how central affordability is to voters’ calculus.

• Policy priorities and governing approach:

  • Emergency declaration on utility costs; action on housing supply and expanding first‑time homebuyer aid; push for more market competition (e.g., food markets); help for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
  • Pro‑business but anti‑concentrated wealth: she supports capitalism with strong access to opportunity, not concentrated power or robber‑baron outcomes.
  • On federal relations: willing to pick fights with the White House (e.g., on Gateway funding) but also needs federal cooperation for major projects (FIFA World Cup, historic funding).
  • Concerns about federal cuts affecting SNAP, Medicare, healthcare services, and the downstream effect on states.

• Advice to Democrats/Candidates:

  • Spend time hearing ordinary voters (not just advocacy groups); connect on tangible issues that keep people up at night; mobilize turnout, target young voters and urban constituencies; articulate how national policies concretely affect household costs.

Notable quotes from Sherrill:

• On campaign message: “People wanted to hear the economic crisis.”
• On the state motto: “Liberty and prosperity — you need both.”

Segment 2 — Michael Fanone (former MPD officer, Jan. 6 survivor)

• Epstein emails and Trump:

  • CNN-obtained emails between Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell reference “the dog that hasn’t barked is Trump,” and a victim spending hours at Epstein’s house — Fanone reads these as further evidence connecting Trump to the Epstein circle and the broader cover‑up of powerful abusers.

• Smears and conspiracy theories against officers:

  • Outlets (e.g., The Blaze) promoted a debunked claim that a former Capitol Police officer was a “forensic match” for a pipe‑bomb suspect using gait analysis — Fanone calls such claims absurd and malicious targeting of officers who testified against rioters.

• Pardons and the justice gap:

  • Trump’s pardons for figures tied to the insurrection include people with violent or sexual‑crime histories (Fanone highlights one who sent sexually explicit material to someone he thought was a minor). Pardons are eroding accountability and victimize survivors and officers.

• Kash Patel and the FBI:

  • Fanone critiques Kash Patel’s tenure/behavior: political posture, misuse of resources (taxiing government planes to personal destinations), firings of career agents, public sensationalism that risks operations (premature tweets), and undermining professional morale.
  • He describes agents leaving the bureau or being demoralized; genuine investigations (child exploitation, hostage responses) being sidelined as resources are diverted.

• Threat reporting and institutional failure:

  • Fanone reports he submitted death threats and doxxing incidents to the FBI and received no follow‑up; he says local and federal leadership’s inaction demonstrates politicization and abandonment of officers targeted for publicly testifying.

• ICE/CBP operations in cities:

  • Fanone condemns aggressive federal immigration enforcement tactics in major cities (Chicago, Washington, etc.), criticizes the lack of municipal leadership pushing back, and warns of damage to community trust and public‑safety cooperation.

Notable quotes from Fanone:

• On conspiracies: “The whole theory of the case is moronic.”
• On pardons and the insurrection: many participants “were already predisposed to violence.”

Notable quotes & soundbites

• “The dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.” — Jeffrey Epstein (email cited in discussion)
• Mikie Sherrill: “Liberty and prosperity — you need both.”
• Michael Fanone: “You can’t cure stupid.” (on conspiracy persistence)

Action items & recommended follow‑ups mentioned on the show

• Check Bulwark’s extra content: interviews with Julie K. Brown (on Epstein/Maxwell), Sarah Longwell rapid response videos, The Next Level interview with Dave Wasserman (redistricting), and Michael Fanone’s own YouTube/Substack coverage.
• For those tracking accountability: follow documents/releases from House Oversight Democrats and reporting on the Epstein/Maxwell email tranche; monitor DOJ and congressional responses to recent pardons and FBI leadership changes.

Bottom line

The episode pairs electoral analysis and governing priorities from a newly elected governor who won by emphasizing affordability and turnout, with a gritty law‑enforcement perspective warning that political interference, pardons, and misinformation are corroding accountability and operational capacity in policing and federal investigations. The two conversations together emphasize how concrete economic and institutional questions — utilities, housing, SNAP, and the integrity of investigative institutions — are central to both voters’ daily lives and to the health of democratic governance.