News Items

  • Calls to Suspend Syrian Refugee and Other Recent Anti-Muslim Statements by Government Officials

    Compiled by the Institute for Public Accuracy with Arun Kundnani and Deepa Kumar. Kundnani said: “While it’s very easy to denounce Trump’s recent repugnant, bullying statements — and much of the political class has — it’s important to keep several things in mind: First, as the compilation of statements by elected officials makes clear, he made these statements after many officials from across the country made scores of statements playing on unfounded fears against Syrian refugees and other Muslims.”

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  • Classified Politics: A System and a Clinton in Disrepute

    It is most unlikely, however, that Hillary Clinton will fall victim to accusations that rely on improper over-­classification. The State Department and White House, including President Obama himself, sought to protect her and to minimize the effects of her behavior. The case is extremely high­-profile, Democrats in Congress would attack any borderline classification, and a host of well-­paid lawyers would rise to her defense. Improperly classified items or those deemed Sensitive but Unclassified may be redacted from publicly released documents, but it is hard to imagine that Mrs. Clinton would be falsely accused of felonies.

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  • Video of Sterling News Conference

    Please enjoy the full video of Holly Sterling’s news conference, which was her first such appearance since her husband’s trial and imprisonment. The news conference also featured Thomas Drake, Delphine Halgand, Ray McGovern, and Jesselyn Radack.

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  • Open Letter to President Obama from Holly Sterling

    Does the government have no shame in destroying one man’s life and wasting tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to punish a man who had the audacity to do two things: Stand up for his constitutional rights and utilize proper channels provided to him to express concern for the citizens of our country? I am deeply saddened by our lives’ events that Jeffrey and I have suffered and endured. You publicly committed to a transparent government led by your administration, yet it has been shrouded in mistruth and secrecy.

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  • Unprecedented News Conference: Wife of Imprisoned CIA Whistleblower to Speak Out

    Jeffrey Sterling was convicted under the Espionage Act as a source for New York Times reporter James Risen’s book State of War. He began serving his three-and-a-half year prison sentence in June. His wife’s news conference will be the first time the spouse of a CIA whistleblower has made such an appearance.

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  • Cultural Shift Needed on Police Militarization

    Police militarization is a 25 year long trend that has only grown in momentum over time. The restrictions on militaristic gear directed by the White House while important symbolically, will certainly not substantively impact this trend in and of itself. Police militarization at this point is as much a cultural problem as it is a material one, and reversing the cultural trend toward police militarization will require more far reaching efforts.

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  • Watch the Short Documentary “The Invisible Man: CIA Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling”

    “‘The federal courtroom in northern Virginia where Holly and Jeffrey Sterling returned for the sentencing on May 11 was the scene of a disturbing, though scantly reported, simulation of justice in late January. At the outset, covering the trial, I noted that ‘prospective jurors made routine references to ‘three-letter agencies’ and alphabet-soup categories of security clearances.’ Steeped in a local atmosphere of deference to mega-employers like the CIA and Pentagon along with numerous big contracting firms nearby, ‘the jury pool was bound to please the prosecution.’”

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  • On Jeffrey Sterling: From the Filmmaker of “Invisible Man”

    “The most shocking element of this story it that Jeffrey Sterling seems to be punished because he ‘pulled on Superman’s cape’ first with a racial discrimination suit they were able to squash and then by reporting what he considered a dangerous CIA operation to the proper government channels for hearing such a concern.”

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  • News Conference: Whistleblowers Weigh In on Policy

    William Binney (NSA), Thomas Drake (NSA), Daniel Ellsberg (Pentagon Papers), Raymond McGovern (CIA), Jesselyn Radack (Justice Department), Coleen Rowley (FBI) and Kirk Wiebe (NSA) spoke at this news conference, sponsored by ExposeFacts.org, a project of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

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  • Netanyahu Victory Opens Door for One-State Solution

    Just before the election, Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu ruled out the creation of a Palestinian State, which means that he repudiated the two-state solution to the dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This has been the pronounced objective of American foreign policy since the Madrid Conference and the Middle East Peace Negotiations in 1991 held under the auspices of the United States government and with the full support of the international community.

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  • Murdoch’s Scandals

    CBS News reports: “A U.S. senator has urged an investigation into whether Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. newspapers, in the spotlight of a phone hacking and bribery scandal, had violated U.S. law. “Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., called for the investigation after a report surfaced Monday that 9/11 victims may have been targeted by one of Murdoch’s papers,…

  • Senators Push to Tighten Tax Loopholes

    The New York Times reports: “Saying that offshore tax havens deprive the United States Treasury of tens of billions of dollars of revenue a year, two senior Democratic senators are pushing to help reduce the federal deficit by tightening rules that allow hedge funds, derivatives traders and corporations to skirt federal taxes. “A bill unveiled…

  • Is Debt Ceiling Being Used as “Opportunity” to Cut Social Security?

    In a letter to the president sent this Saturday, nine Senators wrote: “The inclusion of Social Security in the debt renegotiations is extremely troubling. Social Security has contributed nothing to the debt and yet seniors face potential cuts to their earned benefits. … Our bedrock social safety net programs should not be adjusted as part…

  • Iraq: Green Zone Attacked as Panetta Visits; Is U.S. Trying to Extend Stay?

    AFP reports “Rockets Hit Baghdad Green Zone as Panetta Visits.” Aswat Al Iraq reports: “U.S. Defense Secretary’s visit aims to keep U.S. forces in Iraq, MP says.” RAED JARRAR, jarrar.raed at gmail.com An Iraqi-American blogger and political analyst based in Washington, D.C. and currently in Iraq, Jarrar said today: “According the U.S.-Iraqi Security Agreement, all…

  • * Protests in Tahrir Square * Israel Blocks Activists from Reaching West Bank

    * The Washington Post reports: “Tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered Friday in Tahrir Square, the symbol of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak this year, to protest what they perceive as an unwillingness to prosecute Mubarak-era officials and police responsible for the killing of nearly 900 protesters. “The demonstration, dubbed the ‘Friday of…

  • “Horrific” June Jobs Report

    CNBC reports: “June’s miserable jobs report has put the fear of a double dip recession back into the markets. The U.S. economy added a paltry 18,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent from 9.1 percent as laid off government workers continued to join the ranks of the unemployed. There were…

  • Budget Cuts Hit Women Disproportionately Hard

    The New York Times reported yesterday: “President Obama stepped up pressure on Congressional Republicans on Tuesday to agree to a broad deficit-cutting deal, pledging to put popular entitlement programs like Medicare on the table in return for Republican acquiescence to some higher taxes.” TERRY O’NEIL, via Latoya Veal, press at now.org O’Neil is president of…

  • Black Unemployment Nearly Twice that of Whites

    The Associated Press reports: “The Labor Department will report the latest figures on unemployment and payrolls on Friday, and analysts expect to hear more bad news. They forecast that the unemployment rate will remain unchanged from May at 9.1 percent. They also expect that employers added only 90,000 jobs last month, below the 100,000 threshold…

  • * Israeli Official Does Not Deny Sabotage Allegations Against Gaza Flotilla * Reports of U.S. Green Light for Violence

    The Jerusalem Post reports: “The Greek Coast Guard has now stopped the U.S. boat [The Audacity of Hope is attempting to go to Gaza in spite of an Israeli siege] and is demanding that they return to the Port of Athens.” Passengers on the boat are tweeting regular updates: “Captain explaining to Coast Guard it’s not…

  • * Offense Major Portion of “Defense” Budget * State Shortfalls Could be Wiped out by Ending Afghan War

    MIRIAM PEMBERTON, Miriam at ips-dc.org, via Lacy MacAuley, Lacy at ips-dc.org Pemberton is research fellow of Institute for Policy Studies and co-author of the just-released report “Unified Security Budget for the United States, FY 2012,” which finds that retiring Pentagon head Robert Gates’ “words were never matched by the facts of his own budget requests.…

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