James Bamford joins us to discuss the case of NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, the government’s overreach in bringing espionage charges against him, and the Obama Administration’s unprecedented level of retaliation against government whistleblowers. He discusses the Obama Administration’s shift from military wars to covert-secret wars, the increased use of the CIA as a war branch, and Obama’s violation of the Presidential War Powers Act. Continue reading →
Carlos Miller provides us with an overview of the history, purpose and mission of his award-winning website Photography is Not a Crime. He talks about First Amendment violations against photographers throughout the country, which occur on a shockingly regular basis, and illustrates this alarming trend with documented incidents and examples. Mr. Miller tells us about abuses and misinterpretation of State Wiretapping Laws, the recent attention given to these abuses by the mainstream media and the previous lack of coverage, the increased power of ordinary citizens due to the internet, and more.
Bush wiretapping ruled illegal! More on CIA use of LSD and assassinations. Attorney Jon Eisenberg returns to our program to discuss his legal victory against the NSA wiretapping under Bush. Judge Vaughn Walker ruled against the government and the Obama team’s legal ploys. Eisenberg explains the ruling, possibility of an appeal and his view of our prospects for regaining our 4th Amendment rights.
Mizgin Yilmaz provides us with an overview and background on the Kurdish Issue in Turkey, the origin of the conflict involving the Kurdish minority and Turkey’s central government, and the status and latest developments on the ‘Kurdish Initiative.’ She describes the depth and reach of the influential Turkish lobby in the United States, which is now ranked as the number one foreign group in spending on lobby activities here. She talks about the Turkish Deep State, Gladio, Grey Wolves and the assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II, Turkey’s status as the top heroin trafficking nation worldwide, Fethullah Gulen’s Islamic movement and its headquarters here in the United States, and more!
Stephen Kohn explains whistleblowing as a civil liberties and a First Amendment issue, the role of whistleblowers as enablers of congressional oversight, and discusses the legal and political implications involved in whistleblowing. He talks about the broken Merit System Protection Board, the abuses of secrecy laws and State Secrets Privilege, the current status of whistleblower protection laws in Congress, the case of Halliburton whistleblower Bunnatine Greenhouse, the current administration’s highly disappointing stand against national security whistleblowers despite President Obama’s endorsement prior to his elections, and more!
Stephen M. Kohn is the Executive Director of National Whistleblowers Center, one of the nation’s foremost experts in whistleblower protection law, and the author of the first legal treatise on whistleblowing, Protecting Environmental and Nuclear Whistleblowers: A Litigation Manual. Since 1984, Mr. Kohn has successfully represented whistleblowers in numerous cases (both at trial and on appeal), has testified in Congress on behalf of whistleblower reforms, and has worked directly with the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee on drafting the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate whistleblower law. Mr. Kohn has a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law; an M.A. in Political Science from Brown University; and a B.S. in Social Education from Boston University. In addition to his books on whistleblower law, Mr. Kohn is the author of Jailed for Peace and American Political Prisoners.
Former FBI Agent John Cole talks about his work on counterintelligence, the Sibel Edmonds case and his own experience as a whistleblower. This is the 8th in our series of Boiling Frogs interviews, co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds. Cole has a lot to say about the internal workings of the FBI, and the chilling effect on its employees who witness the retaliation against people like Cole and Edmonds who raised issues of criminal behavior or agency mismanagement. He talks about Turkish and Israeli espionage operations in the US, the infiltration of the Bureau by a Pakistani spy, abuses of FISA applications, the TRILOGY software fiasco, and more. Cole’s new book is “While America Sleeps–An FBI Whistleblower’s story”. Continue reading →
In this final installment, Sibel gives us a guided tour of the Turkish network of influence in the US. As a guide, we cite the work of Luke Rosiak at the Sunlight Foundation, and his chart of the Turkish Lobby you can find here. We name names: the last 3 Speakers of the House are all registered lobbyists for Turkey: Livingston, Hastert and Gephardt. Along the way, Sibel describes the “deep state”–the real US government with Henry Kissinger and his crony Brent Scowcroft influencing every administration and linking US foreign policy to the interests of our military-industrial complex. We also look closely at the role of Bruce Fein in advancing Turkish interests, which seems to conflict with his advocacy for our Constitution and the impeachment of Bush and Cheney. And Sibel has special criticism of Colin Powell for failing to stand up to the bad policies and illegal events he witnessed as Secretary of State. Continue reading →
As the corporate media continues to ignore the important information about illegal Turkish influence on our government, Edmonds details the sequence of events that led to the unprecedented gag orders issued to her and enforced by Judge Reggie Walton, and the incredible retroactive gag order on Congress, which also classified her date of birth! She reveals that Rep. Henry Waxman backed off his promise to permit Edmonds to testify under oath, informing his staff just after he met with Speaker Pelosi in March, 2007. She reacts to the comments of retired FBI manager John Cole from Podcast #45 confirming that top FBI management knew Edmonds was telling the truth as they moved to gag her. Part 3 will be released next week, providing a tour of Turkish interests and influence in the US. http://www.123realchange.blogspot.com.
An 18-year Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Manager for the FBI has called for a Special Counsel to be appointed to investigate the allegations of FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. John M. Cole, who now works as an intelligence contractor for the Air Force, made his comments during an audio interview released late last week with radio journalist Peter B. Collins.
He also offered a detailed insiders look at the concerns among high-level officials inside the Bureau as Edmonds disturbing allegations began coming to light back in 2002, before they would be quashed for seven long years by the Bush Administration’s unprecedented use of the so-called “State Secrets Privilege” to gag her.
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Peter B. Collins interviews John M. Cole, 10/02/09, (appx. 30 mins)
In recent interviews, former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds suggested that all channels were apparently closed in her particular case because it appeared that she had exhausted her options within the Judiciary (and both Congress and the Corporate Media refused to offer her a forum to disclose what she knows about malfeasance at the Pentagon and State Department)
That all changed today, as Sibel outlines in a ‘BREAKING NEWS‘ item at her blog. Because of an unlikely set of circumstances, Sibel’s sworn deposition and affidavit testimony was requested in a case involving the Ohio Election Commission involving Ohio Congresswoman Jean Schmidt. Schmidt has been accused by her electoral opponent of being on the payroll of Turkish interests, and her opponent, David Krikorian, sought Sibel’s testimony about: Continue reading →
Dandelion Salad 