This week friend of the show Kevin Gosztola of Shadowproof.com joined me to discuss the latest developments with Julian Assange. Kevin explained the charges that have been brought against Assange and the spin they have received in the media. He talked about the use of term “hacking” and why that is, in fact, an incorrect definition of what Assange has actually been charged with. Kevin also talked about Chelsea Manning who is still in jail after losing a recent appeal. Kevin also talked about the 2017 FBI affidavit which is the theory for the government’s case against Assange, should he be extradited back to the US. Kevin talked about the language used in the affidavit and its similarity to the Espionage Act. We also talked about the government’s theory that Assange aided the enemy through the publication of the Afghanistan War Logs. We discussed how this could set a dangerous precedent for all journalism. Later Kevin and I explored the larger implications of the US government’s attacks on Assange and journalism in general. We touched on the criminalization of basic journalistic practices like eliciting information from sources and protecting sources. We also talked about how this could be used against foreign and Americans journalists across the world. We closed out the first hour by talking about Ecuadorian president Moreno.
In the second hour, I talked about CIA director Gina Haspel’s recent speech and Q&A at Auburn University. I talked about Haspel as the director of the CIA and how she has differed from recent directors. I also touched on the doublespeak and doublethink used throughout her speech encouraging young people to join the intelligence services. Later I talked about comments made by the moderator Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess regarding Guantanamo Bay.
Journalist Kevin Gosztola of Shadow Proof joins me for an in depth discussion of the Reality Winner whistleblowing case. We begin by recapping the case itself and who Reality Winner is. Kevin talks about Winner’s career in the Air Force and later with the NSA as a contractor. We talk about what Winner is accuses of doing: leaking a classified report on Russian hacking of voter software to The Intercept. Kevin touches on The Intercept’s sloppy handling of Winner’s information, and how this contributed to her ultimate arrest. We also discuss the political issues surrounding Winner’s leak. Kevin and I then explore provision 793(e) of the Espionage Act which is what Winner is being accused of breaking. Kevin talks about the broad interpretation that the government is using and how this is merely the latest expansion of government power to persecute whistleblowers. Kevin uses about two important historical whistleblower cases to illustrate this point: Navy Analyst Samuel Morrison, and the State Department’s Stephen Kim. We discuss how the government has criminalized the very act of leaking, and has blocked whistleblowers from arguing why they leaked said documents. We finish out the first hour by talking about the government’s bogus claims that Reality Winner is an anti-American super spy.
In the second hour Kevin and I dive into the allegations by Winner and her defense team that the FBI violated her rights during the so called “interview.” Kevin explains how this interview was in fact an interrogation. We talk about the fact that Winner was never mirandized or told that she could in fact leave whenever she wanted to, as the government maintains she had a right to do. Kevin lays out several important factors during this interrogation/interview that would lead one to believe that Winner was in fact under arrest the moment the FBI arrived. Kevin also talks about the US v Craighead case and how that applies to Winner’s motion to suppress her alleged confession. Kevin and I also touch on the broader implications of this aspect. We talk about how it puts the onus on the accused to ask for their rights from law enforcement. Kevin talks about how this motion might play out and why it is so important to Winner’s case going forward. We round out the conversation by talking about the media’s lack of coverage of Reality Winner’s case, and why she should be paying close attention to it.
Apparently it is a serious crime to joke about being molested by TSA goons in the airport. Just another aspect of the new normal that is the police state in America.
Here is another admission of the shadow government that rules our lives.
Now, just more specifically, then, on Brazil and Mexico. I said that I would look into the allegations. I mean, part of the problem here is we get these through the press and then I’ve got to go back and find out what’s going on with respect to these particular allegations — I don’t subscribe to all these newspapers, although I think the NSA does — now at least. (Laughter.)
Yes that is the allegedly democratically elected President of the United States admitting that he doesn’t actually know what the NSA does. Instead he reads the news like so many of us to figure out what the NSA does, and then goes and ask’s the NSA if there is an validity to the news reports. Ladies and gentleman of Amerika, our “elected” leaders are merely puppets of a shadowy cabal which seeks to control every single aspect of your lives. When the President of the United States doesn’t know what an intelligence agency that is under his command is doing we are living in very scary times.
Porkins Policy Review 