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Bruce Fein Guest
Bruce Fein

attorney

A Washington attorney specializes in constitutional and international law, Bruce Fein is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle of Our Constitution and Democracy and American Empire Before the Fall.

Fein, an associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan, was a senior policy advisor to Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign. He is also a former fellow at the Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute, and a former columnist for the Washington Times.

FROM Bruce Fein

Whatever happened to 'America first?'
To the Point

Whatever happened to 'America first?' President Trump's surprise missile strike in Syria has outraged many supporters — after his campaign against more involvement in the Middle East. Russia is outraged, too, and Secretary of State Tillerson is getting a chilly reception in Moscow. A reported White House power struggle pits isolationist Steve Bannon against Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, allied with generals who have internationalist leanings. And there's criticism of those family ties: are the "adults in the room" lining their pockets? Is there any such thing yet as a "Trump Doctrine?"

31 MIN, 51 SEC Apr 11, 2017

Can Snowden's Dad Convince Him to Come Home?
To the Point

Can Snowden's Dad Convince Him to Come Home? After nine days out of view, presumably at the Moscow airport, Edward Snowden may be running out of options. The New York Times reports that eight countries have rejected requests for sanctuary, with only Venezuela and Bolivia offering any hope, and Russia says he's withdrawn his application to stay there. Snowden is charged with violations of espionage law for leaking classified NSA information about vast global surveillance by US intelligence agencies. His father has had no direct contact since his son fled to Hong Kong and Moscow. On Lonnie Snowden's behalf, attorney Bruce Fein, who served in the Justice Department during the Reagan Administration, has approached the Obama Administration.

7 MIN, 51 SEC Jul 02, 2013

Can the Republicans Weather More than One Storm?
Which Way, L.A.?

Can the Republicans Weather More than One Storm? To the Point is in Tampa this week, where Tropical Storm Isaac has forced the Republican National Convention to wait a day before getting down to business tomorrow. Yesterday, former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee addressed the Faith and Freedom Coalition with other religious conservatives. Today the Convention will be gaveled to order by Party Chairman Reince Priebus and then immediately recessed until tomorrow. The GOP faces some heavy political weather, with Ron Paul refusing to get on board and social issues clouding the focus on the economy. As the carefully choreographed TV show has now shrunk to just three days, convention planers are struggling to coordinate their messages. With polls still showing a virtual dead heat, this is the last major chance for the Republicans to get a leg up on President Obama before the televised debates. We hear from outside the arena and from inside the Convention Center. Can Mitt Romney heal his party's divisions? Is Paul Ryan making a difference? (In addition to our guests, we hear the voices of Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Chathryn Walters and others.)

Aug 27, 2012

Can the Republicans Weather More than One Storm?
To the Point

Can the Republicans Weather More than One Storm? To the Point is in Tampa this week, where Tropical Storm Isaac has forced the Republican National Convention to wait a day before getting down to business tomorrow. Yesterday, former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee addressed the Faith and Freedom Coalition with other religious conservatives. Today the Convention will be gaveled to order by Party Chairman Reince Priebus and then immediately recessed until tomorrow. The GOP faces some heavy political weather, with Ron Paul refusing to get on board and social issues clouding the focus on the economy. As the carefully choreographed TV show has now shrunk to just three days, convention planers are struggling to coordinate their messages. With polls still showing a virtual dead heat, this is the last major chance for the Republicans to get a leg up on President Obama before the televised debates. We hear from outside the arena and from inside the Convention Center. Can Mitt Romney heal his party's divisions? Is Paul Ryan making a difference? (In addition to our guests, we hear the voices of Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Chathryn Walters and others.)

Aug 27, 2012

Court Says Speak Up if You Want to Remain Silent
Which Way, L.A.?

Court Says Speak Up if You Want to Remain Silent Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the US Supreme Court ruled that police must inform criminal suspects they have " the right to remain silent " until they talk to an attorney. Yesterday, in five-to-four ruling , the John Roberts court said suspects have to speak up and say they want to be silent. Dissenter Sonya Sotomayor said the conservative majority had turned Miranda Rights "upside down." Bruce Fein, Associate Deputy Attorney General during the Reagan Administration, is author of Constitutional Peril : the Life and Death Struggle of Our Constitution and Democracy.

5 MIN, 41 SEC Jun 02, 2010

Court Says Speak Up if You Want to Remain Silent
To the Point

Court Says Speak Up if You Want to Remain Silent Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the US Supreme Court ruled that police must inform criminal suspects they have " the right to remain silent " until they talk to an attorney. Yesterday, in five-to-four ruling , the John Roberts court said suspects have to speak up and say they want to be silent. Dissenter Sonya Sotomayor said the conservative majority had turned Miranda Rights "upside down." Bruce Fein, Associate Deputy Attorney General during the Reagan Administration, is author of Constitutional Peril : the Life and Death Struggle of Our Constitution and Democracy.

5 MIN, 25 SEC Jun 02, 2010

Shedding Light on the Dark Side
Which Way, L.A.?

Shedding Light on the Dark Side During the Bush Administration, the CIA referred for possible prosecution about 20 cases of prisoner interrogations so abusive they might have violated the law. All but two were declined by the Department of Justice due to insufficient evidence of criminal conduct or criminal intent and the low probability of conviction. The New York Times , Newsweek magazine and the Los Angeles Times have all reported that despite President Obama not wanting to look back, Attorney General Eric Holder is likely to appoint a special prosecutor to re-open the cases. The release of a formerly classified report will put a lot of disturbing questions back in the news. Would investigation of low-level interrogators lead to policy makers up the chain of command? How high might it go? Can the Obama Administration handle another highly-charged political controversy with Constitutional overtones? Can it afford not to?

34 MIN, 51 SEC Aug 11, 2009

Shedding Light on the Dark Side
To the Point

Shedding Light on the Dark Side During the Bush Administration, the CIA referred for possible prosecution about 20 cases of prisoner interrogations so abusive they might have violated the law. All but two were declined by the Department of Justice due to insufficient evidence of criminal conduct or criminal intent and the low probability of conviction. The New York Times , Newsweek magazine and the Los Angeles Times have all reported that despite President Obama not wanting to look back, Attorney General Eric Holder is likely to appoint a special prosecutor to re-open the cases. The release of a formerly classified report will put a lot of disturbing questions back in the news. Would investigation of low-level interrogators lead to policy makers up the chain of command? How high might it go? Can the Obama Administration handle another highly-charged political controversy with Constitutional overtones? Can it afford not to?

34 MIN, 51 SEC Aug 11, 2009

Prosecuting the Bush Administration for Possible War Crimes
Which Way, L.A.?

Prosecuting the Bush Administration for Possible War Crimes In September, the conservative Weekly Standard quoted Vice President Cheney as saying, "I think on the left wing of the Democratic Party, there are some people who believe that we really tortured." Today Bob Woodward, in the Washington Post, quotes a lifelong Republican, the Pentagon's Inspector General when Cheney was Secretary of Defense, saying that one suspect was tortured and that she assumes others were tortured as well. Susan Crawford is now in charge of deciding if Guantánamo Bay suspects should be brought to trial. Her statements are intensifying the debate on whether Bush Administration officials should be investigated and possibly brought to trial.

26 MIN, 53 SEC Jan 14, 2009

The Bush Administration and Possible War Crimes
To the Point

The Bush Administration and Possible War Crimes In September, the conservative Weekly Standard quoted Vice President Cheney as saying, “I think on the left wing of the Democratic Party, there are some people who believe that we really tortured.”  Today Bob Woodward, in the Washington Post, quotes a lifelong Republican, the Pentagon's Inspector General when Cheney was Secretary of Defense, saying that one suspect was tortured and that she assumes others were tortured as well. Susan Crawford is now in charge of deciding if Guantanamo Bay suspects should be brought to trial. Her statements are intensifying the debate on whether Bush Administration officials should be investigated and possibly brought to trial. We speak with attorneys, journalist and scholars about accountability, the rule of law and national security.

36 MIN, 47 SEC Jan 14, 2009

Presidential Transition and Accountability
Which Way, L.A.?

Presidential Transition and Accountability The Senate Armed Services Committee report says "abusive" interrogation techniques were not the work of a few low-level "bad apples" at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay. Top Administration officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, Air Force General Richard Myers and Condoleezza Rice, signed off on water-boarding and other practices some call torture.  All committee members from both parties agreed that was wrong. Vice President Cheney says he personally approved those practices , and calls them effective — and legal.

25 MIN, 21 SEC Dec 16, 2008

New Reports Raise Questions About Bush's Iraq Legacy
To the Point

New Reports Raise Questions About Bush's Iraq Legacy With a month left in office, the Bush Administration is getting reviews and voicing its own assessments of the past eight years. An unpublished official history of the Iraq reconstruction says it was crippled before it began and bungled in execution. John McCain and other Republicans signed a unanimous Senate report that so-called "abusive" interrogation techniques in the war on terror were not the work of a few low-level "bad apples" at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay, but that top Administration officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, Air Force General Richard Myers and Condoleezza Rice, signed off on water-boarding and other practices some call torture.  Now, Vice President Cheney says that's true .  Should he and others be praised for protecting the country or investigated for possible crimes?

35 MIN, 2 SEC Dec 16, 2008

Is Eric Holder the Right Pick for Attorney General?
To the Point

Is Eric Holder the Right Pick for Attorney General? During the Bush Administration, career attorneys have resigned from the Justice Department over political intrusion into hiring and the filing of cases, the authorization of brutal interrogation techniques and eavesdropping without court warrants. Today, Barack Obama named Eric Holder as his choice for Attorney General . Holder was named superior court judge for the District of Columbia by Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton made him US Attorney for the District and, four years later, Deputy Attorney General. We get two perspectives on the controversy over the top man at the Justice Department.

9 MIN, 16 SEC Dec 01, 2008

Ron Paul's Counter-Convention
To the Point

Ron Paul's Counter-Convention Ron Paul was an also-ran in the Republican primaries, but he attracted a lot of supporters. Now he's holding a three-day Rally for the Republic across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Jesse Ventura will be on hand. One of the speakers at the rally will be Bruce Fein, who held a high post in the Reagan Administration's Department of Justice. His upcoming book is Constitutional Peril : The Life and Death Struggle of Our Constitution and Democracy.

6 MIN, 31 SEC Sep 02, 2008

Supreme Court Divided Again on a Major Decision
To the Point

Supreme Court Divided Again on a Major Decision In 1954, US Supreme Court ruled --without a dissenting vote--that racial segregation in public schools violated the Constitution.  The Court's unanimity was considered a great achievement by the new Chief Justice, Earl Warren --and a major factor in driving the subsequent integration of schools. Today, the US Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that schools cannot consider race in trying to maintain racial diversity. School districts nationwide could be affected by a split decision with Bush appointees Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts on the winning side. In dissent, Stephen Breyer said, "This is a decision the nation and the court will come to regret." We consider the first term of the Roberts Court, and whether its record of 5-to-4 decisions will make history or leave major issues more muddled than ever.

34 MIN, 44 SEC Jun 28, 2007

Alberto Gonzales Preps for Senate Hearing
To the Point

Alberto Gonzales Preps for Senate Hearing Advance copies of what Alberto Gonzales will tell the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow have failed to silence his critics. Alberto Gonzales has released the 25-page opening statement he plans to read tomorrow to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.  It says he has "nothing to hide," that no US attorney was fired "for an improper reason," and that he "never sought to mislead the Congress or the American people."   Republican Senator Arlen Specter questions whether Gonzales is "capable of administering the Department of Justice."  Democrat Charles Schumer says the hearing will "make or break" the Attorney General. It's all about Gonzales' role in firing US attorneys. What did politics have to do with it?  What about Karl Rove and missing White house e-mails?

Apr 16, 2007

Recommended

Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story
To the Point

Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.

51 MIN, 18 SEC Jun 08, 2017

Janesville and the American Dream
To the Point

Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years.  On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.

51 MIN, 19 SEC May 29, 2017

What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace?
To the Point

What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?

51 MIN, 5 SEC May 23, 2017

President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord
Left, Right & Center

President Trump: US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord Trump says he was elected to serve Pittsburgh, not Paris.

28 MIN, 31 SEC Jun 02, 2017

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