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Vice News
Investigative reporter for Vice News
PROFILE
Jason Leopold
Guest
FROM Jason Leopold
To the Point
15 Guantánamo detainees released President Obama promised to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, and the population is dwindling down. Last night the Pentagon announced the largest release so far: 12 Yeminis and three Afghans were transferred to the United Arab Emirates. Jason Leopold, investigative reporter for Vice News , has more on the detainees and the release decision.
Scheer Intelligence
Jason Leopold and the Power of FOIA Robert Scheer sits down with journalist Jason Leopold to discuss how he has used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) again and again to obtain previously undisclosed government documents.
To the Point
Guantánamo Bay: The Unmet Promise Since 2002, the "detention center" at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba has held almost 800 prisoners. When he got to the White House in 2009, President Obama said closing Guantánamo was his first order of business. Last week, five men of Yemeni descent were released, but 122 inmates are still there. The prison population is down to 122 -- with President Obama still trying to shut it down. John McCain -- the former POW -- once advocated closing the prison, but now he's joined other Republican Senators to oppose more releases any time soon. Meantime, a book by an inmate has generated claims that Guantánamo was a "laboratory for torture" of people held without charges. Will the President's first order of business be accomplished before he leaves office?
To the Point
Black Sites and Dark Days for the CIA In the first years after 911, the CIA allowed the torture of detainees and lied to the Bush Administration and Congress about the intelligence it produced. That's according to a massive 6,000-page report of the CIA's so-called “enhanced interrogation program” released today by the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by California Democrat, Dianne Feinstein. Congress is divided over the content and the impact of today's release. While some Republicans claim torture of prisoners “saved American lives,” others warn today's report will produce a backlash overseas.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Ferguson Police Email Investigation A grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, has not announced yet whether the officer who shot Michael Brown will be criminally charged. The city is braced for demonstrations if officer Darren Wilson doesn’t stand trial. Meanwhile, reporters have been filing Freedom of Information requests to see emails between police and city officials in the days following the shooting. But Ferguson police have only produced seven emails. We hear from one reporter who says that’s suspiciously low.
Recommended
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.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.