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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  • The Economic Toll: War in Iraq and Disaster in New Orleans

    FRANCES FOX PIVEN Author of the book The War at Home: The Domestic Costs of Bush’s Militarism, Piven is distinguished professor of political science and sociology at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. Her past books include The Breaking of the American Social Compact. More Information ERIK LEAVER…

  • Critiques of Today’s Carter-Baker Election Commission Report

    SPENCER OVERTON Overton serves on the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform, which just released its final report. He said today: “I dissent from the voter ID provisions of the report. Unfortunately, the Commission rejected my 597-word dissent and allowed me only 250 words. (This limitation on dissent was first announced at our final meeting.)…

  • Environmental Aspects of New Orleans Disaster

    HUGH KAUFMAN Available for a limited number of interviews, Kaufman is senior policy analyst at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. He has worked at the agency for 35 years and was the chief EPA investigator for the post-9/11 emergency response. Speaking in his personal capacity he said today: “After…

  • Elections in Afghanistan This Weekend

    Nationwide legislative elections will be held in Afghanistan this Sunday. SAHAR SABA Saba is a member of the foreign affairs committee of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. She has just returned from Afghanistan to Pakistan. She said today: “Many people are hopeful about the elections but also are deeply worried about the…

  • As the UN Meets: Interviews Available on International Law · Roberts · Chavez · Sharon

    FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of international law at the University of Illinois, Boyle said today: “As Roberts made clear in Tuesday’s hearings during his interchange with Senator Leahy, he is a partisan of the Imperial Presidency. For example, Roberts refused to repudiate and condemn the infamous Korematsu decision which authorized the president to intern U.S. citizens…

  • The United Nations Summit — Being Derailed?

    YIFAT SUSSKIND SUNILA ABEYSEKERA BETTY MURUNGI TARCILA RIVERA ZEA Susskind is the associate director of MADRE, an international women’s human rights organization. She said today: “This week’s United Nations World Summit — originally intended to assess governments’ progress on pledges to reduce poverty and promote development by 2015 — is in danger of being derailed…

  • As the United Nations Summit Kicks Off

    The United Nations World Summit will take place from Sept. 14 to 16. It is expected to be the largest-ever gathering of world leaders, with more than 170 heads of state to be in attendance. JAMES PAUL Paul is the executive director of the Global Policy Forum, a think tank that monitors policymaking at the…

  • U.S. Military Policies: From New Orleans to the UN

    JEREMY SCAHILL Currently in Louisiana, Scahill is author of the recent article “Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans.” The piece notes: “Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. … They say they are on contract with…

  • 9-11: · Loved Ones · WTC and Katrina — Environmental Impacts · Dialogue with Syria and Iran

    DAVID POTORTI COLLEEN KELLY Potorti and Kelly are co-directors of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, an organization founded by family members of those killed in the 9-11 attacks. Their membership numbers 4,000, with a core group of 185 family members who lost loved ones on 9-11. The group’s name is inspired by a quote…

  • Oil-for-Food: The Real Scandal

    JOY GORDON Gordon has written extensively on the Oil-for-Food program, including articles in Harper’s Magazine and Le Monde Diplomatique. She said today: “The Volcker Committee’s final report focuses a great deal on improprieties that had little impact on the Oil-for-Food program. Where it adds up the actual money involved, it finds that the amount of…

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