The Asset
District Productive
1 Creator
1 Creator
In 2016, Donald Trump conspired with a foreign government to become President of the United States. On July 25, 2019, with the 2020 election around the corner, he decided to do it again.
The first time around, it was collusion, aiding and abetting Russia’s attack on American democracy. The second time, it was extortion, demanding the Ukrainian government manufacture dirt on Trump’s political opponents in exchange for help the country needs to fend off a Russian invasion and chart a democratic future free of Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin.
To make sense of these recent events that have rocked American politics and led to very real concerns that the President of the United States may be a Russian asset, we need to dig a little deeper.
In Season 1, The Asset dives into Trump’s decades-long history with Russia, from his extensive business dealings with Russian oligarchs to his presidential campaign and the investigations that have sent some of his closest associates to prison.
In Season 2, The Asset explores the backstory to Trump’s infamous phone call with the newly-elected Ukrainian President, where he demanded an investigation into a political opponent and set off a series of events leading to the impeachment inquiry.
Hosted by Max Bergmann, a senior fellow and director of the Moscow Project at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and featuring expert guests, The Asset will put together the pieces of Trump’s relationship with Russia and Ukrainian extortion campaign.
The Asset is a partnership between the Center for American Progress Action Fund, District Productive, and Protect the Investigation. It is produced by Paul Woodhull, a 20-year veteran media executive and president of Build Better Media, and Peter Ogburn, the executive producer of the Bill Press Show.
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 The Asset Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Asset episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Asset for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Asset episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Running
The Asset
06/25/19 • 65 min
We break down the beginnings of the two campaigns to elect Donald Trump: one run out of Trump Tower, and the other run out of the Kremlin.
From the moment Trump announced he was running for president, he was unabashedly pro-Russia. It made no sense. Until we learned that throughout the campaign, the Trump Organization was actively seeking to develop a Trump Tower in Moscow.
In this episode of The Asset, host Max Bergmann, the director of The Moscow Project, an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, details the early connections between the two campaigns. Trump surrounded himself with shady actors with ties to the Kremlin, including his campaign chairman Paul Manafort, national security adviser Michael Flynn, and campaign aides George Papadopoulos and Carter Page.
Lastly, the episode breaks down the beginning of the Russian campaign to elect Donald Trump and the origins of its online efforts. Russia created an online army online designed to poison American discourse on social media and advance Trump’s campaign. The Russian efforts worked like a political campaign and we will break down their impact on the 2016 election.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Epilogue: Rehashing
The Asset
10/30/20 • 64 min
In the year since season one of The Asset concluded, we have learned a lot. There are tell all books about the Mueller investigation, explosive new reporting, and the bombshell Senate Intelligence Committee Report. In this special episode of The Asset we break it all down and tell you what it all means.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Michael Flynn Story
The Asset
05/08/20 • 32 min
In this very special episode of The Asset, Max Bergmann brings us the back story of Michael Flynn's rise within the Trump adminstration and breaks down why Donald Trump can never let Flynn be incarcerated.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
03/05/20 • 20 min
Russian investigative journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan risk their lives every day to expose the truth about Vladamir Putin's murder sprees around the world, including in the United States and Great Britain. In wide-ranging exclusive interview with Max Bergmann, the host of The Asset podcast, Soldatov and Borogan explain how and why Putin orders international assassinations and the reason there are little to no consequences for the Russian leader.
To hear the full interview, please subscribe to our Patreon page.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/34596098/edit
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
02/16/20 • 11 min
Now that Donald Trump's first Impeachment Trial has wrapped up, Max Bergmann and Peter Ogburn discuss what was lost and gained in the trial and the path forward to saving our democracy.
To hear the full episode and all of our unedited interviews,please subscribe to our Patreon Page.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/34081678
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
BONUS -- I is for Impeachment
The Asset
12/15/19 • 13 min
Max Bergmann, Executive Director of The Moscow Project and host of The Asset podcast, blazes the trail that could lead to a trial in the Senate with full witness testimony, something Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is working to thwart.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Impeaching
The Asset
12/11/19 • 71 min
Earlier in Season 2, we explained the backstory to the Ukraine scandal, tracing Trump’s efforts to extort a foreign government for his own personal gain. When a whistleblower complaint brought this scandal to light, it sparked the fourth impeachment investigation in our nation’s history.
In this episode of The Asset, host Max Bergmann, the director of The Moscow Project, an initiative of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, explains why Democrats finally moved forward on impeachment, and talks about how the Ukraine scandal grew out of an effort to shield Trump from the political fallout of his decision to collude with Russia in 2016.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
12/05/19 • 13 min
"Follow the Trail of Dead Russians" was the advice given by national security expert Clint Watts when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. In this excerpt from our Patreon page, Max Bergmann continues down the mysterious trail that crosses the globe and is littered with the dead bodies of Russian diplomats, businessmen, and gangsters.
To listen to the full episode please subscribe to our Patreon Page here:
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Extortion
The Asset
11/19/19 • 80 min
On July 25, 2019, Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and asked him for a favor: a public announcement of investigations into Trump’s political opponents. After he hung up, White House lawyers immediately sprang into action, burying the records of the incriminating phone call on a secret server and swearing those on the line to secrecy.
That call was part of a broader effort, a shadow foreign policy agenda in which a coterie of Trump advisers—including Rudy Giuliani, Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, and Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker—demanded political favors in exchange for first a White House meeting and, later, $400 million in desperately needed military aid. In this episode, host Max Bergmann outlines how that extortion scheme came to be, starting with the Trump administration’s attempts to build a relationship with the new Ukrainian government and leading to the infamous July 25 call that prompted a whistleblower complaint and launched impeachment proceedings.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
09/20/19 • 12 min
As an FBI Special Agent, Asha Rangappa specialized in counter intelligence investigations, pursuing threats to our nation's security. In that role, Rangappa tracked down assets of foreign governments and neutralized those threats. She also flipped foreign nationals into becoming assets of the United States government. In this trailer to our Patreon post of the full 45-minute interview with Rangappa, the former agent lays down the groundwork to analyze Donald Trump's role in the Russian interference in the 2016 election.
To hear the full interview, subscribe to our Patreon page
https://www.patreon.com/posts/29901493
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does The Asset have?
The Asset currently has 51 episodes available.
What topics does The Asset cover?
The podcast is about Election, Russia, True Crime, Fbi, Cia, Ukraine, Hacking, Podcasts and Government.
What is the most popular episode on The Asset?
The episode title 'BONUS-The Truth about Vladmir Putin's Reign of International Terror' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Asset?
The average episode length on The Asset is 40 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Asset released?
Episodes of The Asset are typically released every 8 days, 21 hours.
When was the first episode of The Asset?
The first episode of The Asset was released on Apr 26, 2019.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ