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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  • Advocating Tax Reform

    CHUCK COLLINS Yesterday the House voted to repeal the estate tax. Senior fellow at Responsible Wealth, Collins said today: “Estate tax opponents are fighting to preserve every last dime of Paris Hilton’s inheritance. … Under current law, the tax affects 1.5 percent of the people who die each year, yet will generate more than a…

  • As World Bank Begins Wolfowitz Era …

    The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and G7 will all be meeting this weekend in Washington, D.C. The following are available for interviews: BERNICE ROMERO Romero is international advocacy director for Oxfam. He said today: “Since the G7 met in February, another 2 million people have died due to poverty. … As G7 finance leaders…

  • “Why I Interrupted John Negroponte”

    ANDRES THOMAS CONTERIS Conteris is a Latin America human rights activist. He spoke out during John Negroponte’s Senate confirmation hearing today (and was handcuffed and detained.) Negroponte was U.S. ambassador to Honduras during the Nicaragua Contra war in the early 1980s. Conteris said today: “I spoke up at the hearing just as they were talking…

  • The Bankruptcy Bill: Opening Doors to Debt Slavery?

    ELIZABETH WARREN Warren is a professor at Harvard Law School and coauthor of The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are Going Broke. She directed the National Bankruptcy Review Commission’s study of federal bankruptcy laws and drafted its report to Congress. In her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in February, she said: “Overwhelmingly, American families…

  • Perspectives on Bush-Sharon Meeting

    NASEER ARURI Author of the book Dishonest Broker: The U.S. Roles in Israel and Palestine, Aruri is chancellor professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. He said today: “At the rhetorical level, both leaders pay lip service to the creation of a Palestinian state. And yet, both are committed to…

  • Views on Legacy of John Paul II

    MARK ENGLER Engler, a commentator for Foreign Policy in Focus, wrote the recent article “John Paul II’s Economic Ethics.” He said today: “A steady feature in Pope John Paul II’s obituaries has been mention of his unwaveringly conservative stances on issues such as abortion, birth control, gay rights, and the ordination of women. While these…

  • Two Views on Kurdish Iraqi Leader

    EDMUND GHAREEB Professor of Kurdish and Middle East Studies at American University, Ghareeb is author of The Historical Dictionary of Iraq. He said today: “Along with Massoud Barzani, Jalal Talabani has been the most prominent Kurdish leader for decades. This is a landmark step for the long-suppressed Kurdish minority. It signals the unity and territorial…

  • PATRIOT Act Under Scrutiny

    Congress has begun a series of hearings on the PATRIOT Act. The following critics of the Act are available for interviews: KIT GAGE Gage is director of the First Amendment Foundation. She said today: “We applaud the conversation now taking place in the Congress regarding both the PATRIOT Act and many non-legislative changes enacted since…

  • Who is John Bolton?

    John Bolton’s Senate confirmation hearing as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations will be held Thursday. TOM BARRY Barry is policy director of the International Relations Center and author of the recent article “UN Basher as UN Ambassador: Bolton’s Baggage.” He said today: “In early 2001 Bolton observed: ‘It is a big mistake…

  • Choices Ahead at the Vatican

    MARK CHMIEL Chmiel wrote the new article “A Young Woman’s Challenge to the Pope (and the Rest of Us).” He is a member of the Center for Theology and Social Analysis and teaches at St. Louis University. He said today: “The Pope’s successor will inherit [a] position in a structure that provides for security, protection…

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