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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  • * New Healthcare Ads * Corrupted Finance Committee?

    MIKE FARRELL, CLARK NEWHALL Farrell is an actor best known for playing Dr. B.J. Hunnicutt on M*A*S*H. He appears in a series of just-released TV ads calling for healthcare reform. Available for a limited number of interviews, Farrell is author of the book Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist. One of…

  • Mother’s Day: A Day Against War?

    The first Mother’s Day proclamation, an impassioned plea for peace, was written by Julia Ward Howe in 1870; see here. SUSAN GALLEYMORE, via Karen Pomer Galleymore, author of the new book Long Time Passing: Mothers Speak About War and Terror, said today: “During a trip to Iraq in 2004 to visit my soldier son on…

  • Doctors Arrested at Senate “Roundtable” on Healthcare

    Doctors and other advocates of a national single-payer health system — also known as improved Medicare for All — directly confronted senators at a Senate Finance Committee “roundtable” on health reform today. Videos are available here and C-SPAN coverage is here. One by one, single-payer advocates in the audience stood up and asked why single-payer…

  • Wolves Targeted

    AP reports: “Wolves in parts of the northern Rockies and the Great Lakes region come off the endangered species list on Monday, opening them to public hunts in some states for the first time in decades.” RODGER SCHLICKEISEN, SUZANNE ASHA STONE President of Defenders of Wildlife, Schlickeisen said: “This delisting is a potentially disastrous turn…

  • AIPAC

    The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is holding its annual convention. Speakers include Democratic and Republican leaders from both houses of Congress. On Friday, the administration dropped espionage-related charges against two former officials of AIPAC. MEDEA BENJAMIN RAE ABILEAH Benjamin is co-founder and Abileah is national organizer of the peace group CodePink. During Israeli President…

  • Kagan on the Supreme Court?

    Solicitor General Elena Kagan is widely reported to be a leading contender for the Supreme Court position being vacated by David Souter. FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of law at the University of Illinois, Boyle is author of Tackling America’s Toughest Questions. He said today: “As dean of the Harvard Law School, Kagan hired Bush’s outgoing director…

  • Swine Flu and Factory Farms

    ROBERT WALLACE Wallace is visiting professor in the department of geography at the University of Minnesota and author of the forthcoming book Farming Human Pathogens: Ecological Resilience and Evolutionary Process. He writes a blog called “Farming Pathogens: Disease in a world of our own making.” His most recent piece is “The NAFTA Flu,” available at…

  • Torture, State Secrets and Spanish Prosecution

    FRIDA BERRIGAN In his news conference last night, Obama seemed to claim that the detention center at Guantanamo Bay was closed: “We have rejected the false choice between our security and our ideals by closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.” Berrigan is an organizer with Witness Against Torture, which is protesting outside the White…

  • Swine Flu: Budgets and Immigration Status

    DAVID KATZ Katz is a family physician at CommuniCare Health Centers in Yolo County, California. He said today: “We have had decreased capacity in our clinics in dealing with something like swine flu because we’ve had county and state cutbacks over the last year. … “CommuniCare is a network of community health centers that cares…

  • Swine Flu and Sick Days

    BARBARA GAULT, via Elisabeth Crum Director of research for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Gault said today: “The Centers for Disease Control has recommended that those who are sick should stay home from work or school to avoid infecting others. “However, analyses of Bureau of Labor Statistics and other data conducted by the Institute…

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