News Items

  • Affidavit by Daniel Ellsberg for Plowshare Activists Being Allowed a Defense of Necessity

    In 1971 I gave the U.S. Senate, the New York Times and the Washington Post copies of what have come to be known as The Pentagon Papers. I was arrested on twelve felony counts. My trial was dismissed because of government misconduct which figured in the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon…These considerations bear on two other elements of the necessity defense, the “lack of legal alternatives” and the “imminence” of the harms to be averted. Again, I speak from my own experience, but not only mine, in saying that it is the perceived insufficiency of other means, by themselves not…

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  • A Long List of Democratic Candidates Requires a Large Catalog of Their Funders

    By Sam Haut: As the first debates for the Democratic primary begin, and the list of candidates has grown to 24, it can be difficult to contextualize where each candidate has received funding from over the course of their time in office. What follows is a list of the Democratic candidates and the top sources for how much money they’ve made and where those top sources come from.

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  • NATO and US Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead

    RootsAction.org held a news conference Thursday on “NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead” hosted by the Institute for Public Accuracy. Speakers include former State Department officials Matthew Hoh, Ann Wright, as well as Martin Fleck. The event was moderated by Norman Solomon.

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  • Media Advisory: “NATO and U.S. Foreign Policy: Dangers Ahead”

    At 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at the National Press Club: On the same day that President Trump is scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House, this news conference will focus on the U.S.-NATO relationship. Speakers include former State Department officials Matthew Hoh and Ann Wright.

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  • Statement by Floyd Abrams in response to Attorney General nominee William Barr’s remarks on the First Amendment

    “It’s one thing to say that there could be circumstances in which a journalist’s need to protect her sources could lead to a potential finding of contempt of court if she refused to obey a court order requiring such disclosure. But the notion that a journalist could properly be jailed for publishing material that the government thinks could ‘hurt the country’ is something else entirely and would be deeply threatening to First Amendment norms in general and journalistic freedom in particular.”

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  • Statement on NAFTA’s “Kafkaesque” Turn

    The supposedly concluded renegotiation of NAFTA has reached a Kafkaesque stage. As the United States Trade Representative has stated: “The United States and Mexico have reached a preliminary agreement in principle, subject to finalization and implementation.” Not only the negotiations have not been finalized, and without Canada, but the texts remain hidden from the public.

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  • What’s the Cost of Medicare for All?

    Even a Koch-backed think tank finds Medicare for all would cut health care spending. In a report released by the Mercatus Center, a single-payer health care system would offset costs with even greater savings. The Intercept and other media reporting on this are citing the work of Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler. They are distinguished professors of health policy at the City University of New York at Hunter College and lecturers in medicine at Harvard Medical School. They have written an analysis of the work of the Koch-backed think tank, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which is…

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  • Trump Team Hired Israeli Spy Firm Used by Harvey Weinstein to Attack Obama Officials on Iran Deal

    “Aides to Donald Trump, the U.S. president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a ‘dirty ops’ campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal. People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to ‘get dirt’ on Ben Rhodes, who had been one of Barack Obama’s top national security advisers, and Colin Kahl, deputy assistant to Obama, as part of an elaborate attempt to discredit the deal.”

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  • From the desk of Noam Chomsky

    From the desk of Noam Chomsky

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  • 15 Years Later: The Whistleblower Who Almost Blocked the Iraq War

    Media Advisory: Press Conference to Mark 15th Anniversary Of Leak by GCHQ Translator Katharine Gun Revealing US “Dirty Tricks” at UN for Iraq War When:  Thursday, 1 March 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Where:  Head office, National Union of Journalists Headland House, 72 Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NB Who:  Katharine Gun, Thomas Drake, Matthew Hoh, Jesselyn Radack This press conference will take place the day before the 15th anniversary of the Observer’s publication of the explosive March 2, 2003 story “US dirty tricks to win vote on Iraq war” — based on a leak by GCHQ translator Katharine Gun — revealing the US National Security Agency’s UN surveillance memo that aimed to grease the way for the…

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  • “Downing Street Memo” Shadowing Blair Visit with Bush in Washington

    Two days before Tony Blair’s scheduled Tuesday meeting with President Bush in Washington, the chairman of the Republican National Committee faced questioning on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about the festering Downing Street Memo scandal. Tim Russert said: “This was a memo, July 23, 2002, from the head of British intelligence to Prime Minister Blair; in…

  • Beyond “Deep Throat”: The FBI and American Democracy

    ATHAN THEOHARIS Professor of history at Marquette University, Theoharis has written a number of books about the FBI, most recently The FBI and American Democracy: A Brief Critical History. He said today: “Contrary to what some are implying, it was hardly unprecedented for the FBI to leak derogatory information about people — they typically did…

  • The Future of Europe

    This week, voters in both France and the Netherlands turned down the proposed European Constitution despite intense efforts by their governments. The following analysts and activists are available for interviews: ERIK WESSELIUS DANIEL DEJONGH Wesselius is a member of the board of the Dutch Committee for a No Against This Constitution. He said today: “This…

  • “Deep Throat”: Then and Now

    MIKE GRAVEL U.S. Senator from 1969-81, Gravel said today: “W. Mark Felt, the assistant director of the FBI during the Watergate scandal, has admitted to being ‘Deep Throat.’ He was the source of important information for Washington Post investigative reporters Woodward and Bernstein. Felt’s revelations and tips kept the investigation alive by pulling back the…

  • Political Theater of “Absurd”: Bush on Amnesty International

    Dismissing criticism from Amnesty International, President Bush said at his news conference today: “I’m aware of the Amnesty International report, and it’s absurd. … When there’s accusations made about certain actions by our people, they’re fully investigated in a transparent way. … It was an absurd report.” The following analysts are available for interviews: REED…

  • Victory for Nuclear Proliferation?

    Four weeks of meetings at the United Nations to review the Non-Proliferation Treaty are expected to end today in failure. Arms control and disarmament groups are blaming the United States and other nuclear weapons states. The following policy analysts are available for interviews: Amb. THOMAS GRAHAM, Jr. Graham is a member of the Global Security…

  • * Abbas * Bolton * AIPAC

    STEPHEN ZUNES Zunes is a professor of politics and chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. He said today: “It was a telling juxtaposition that as Senate Republicans were arguing for the confirmation as UN ambassador of John Bolton, who has displayed contempt for international law, President Bush,…

  • Democrats vs. Bush? * Filibuster * Veto

    THEODORE LOWI Lowi is Professor of American Institutions at Cornell University and author of several books including The End of Liberalism. He said today: “It was very sad to see the Democrats draw their ‘line in the sand’ on the filibuster, given the history of the use of the filibuster by Southern Democratic segregationists —…

  • Weapons in Space and More “Usable” Nukes

    Today the New York Times in its lead editorial criticizes plans for U.S. weapons in space. Last Wednesday the paper reported that the Air Force is seeking a presidential directive that could strengthen military uses of space. The following policy analysts are available for interviews: DAVID WRIGHT Wright is a physicist and co-director of the…

  • Karzai in Washington, Torture in Afghanistan

    While President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan visits Washington, the following analysts are available for interviews: SONALI KOLHATKAR Kolhatkar, based in Los Angeles, is co-director of the Afghan Women’s Mission and has recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan. More Information REED BRODY Currently in Los Angeles, Brody is special counsel with Human Rights Watch, which…

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