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.”

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.’”

    Read more »


  • 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.”

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • 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.

    Read more »


  • To Generate Revenue, Tax the Casino

    CHUCK COLLINS Collins is senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, where he coordinates the Working Group on Extreme Inequality. He wrote the piece “A Fair Plan to Pay for Economic Recovery,” which states: “The corporations that rigged the casino economy and the wealthy CEOs and investors that profited at everyone else’s expense should…

  • Global Activists on Economic Summit

    As the G-20 convenes in Washington, D.C. this weekend to discuss the global financial system, grassroots activists working on poverty and other issues will be in D.C. and available for interviews. Many are organizing protests and educational events in the coming days. Events in D.C. this weekend are listed online. The following activists just arrived…

  • Election Lessons

    HARVEY WASSERMAN Wasserman is co-author of the books What Happened in Ohio? and As Goes Ohio. He said today: “The primary election protection lesson of the 2008 election is that the entire nation must convert to universal automatic voter registration and universal hand-counted paper ballots as soon as possible. Even with thousands of election protection…

  • Auto Bailout

    SUSAN STEIGERWALT A practicing physician in Detroit and past president of Physicians for a National Health Program, Steigerwalt said today: “The auto industry would be saving a huge amount of money and would not be in such dire straits if we had a single-payer healthcare system. The same is true for many industries and our…

  • Obama’s “Number 1 Priority”

    “Finding the new driver of our economy is going to be critical. There’s no better driver that pervades all aspects of our economy than a new energy economy … That’s going to be my No. 1 priority when I get into office…” — Barack Obama, Time magazine, Oct. 22, 2008 PETER BARNES Co-author of Climate…

  • Toward a Green Economy

    KEVIN DANAHER Danaher is the executive director of Global Exchange, which is co-sponsoring the Green Festival, happening at the Washington (D.C.) Convention Center this weekend. He co-edited the new book Green Festival Reader: Fresh Ideas from Agents of Change. He said today: “There’s far more growth in the green sector of the economy. As the…

  • Who is Rahm Emanuel?

    CHRISTINE CEGELIS An IT professional in the Chicago area, Cegelis ran as the Democratic nominee for Congress against longtime incumbent Henry Hyde in 2004, winning an unexpected 44 percent of the vote. After Hyde announced he would be retiring, she attempted to run again in 2006, but Emanuel — then head of the Democratic Congressional…

  • “Must Bring America Back into the World of Civilized States”

    MICHAEL RATNER President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Ratner said today: “It is historic. A black family in the White House that slaves built. Yes, slaves were used in the construction of the White House. … “Obama has been disappointing regarding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These must be ended and the time…

  • A Better Election Next Time?

    ROB RICHIE Richie is executive director of FairVote and co-author of Every Vote Equal and Whose Votes Count. He said today: “2008 was an historic election in terms of the election of the first African-American to be president and the largest number of voters at the polls in our history. But we have a long…

  • Election Day: Voting-Rights Concerns

    TOVA WANG Wang is the vice president for research at Common Cause. WENDY WEISER Weiser is the deputy director at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. CHRIS KROMM Kromm is the executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies. ALEX KEYSSAR Keyssar is the Stirling Professor of History…

Mastodon