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independent journalist
Independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties for the website Expose Facts, as well as for Foreign Policy, the Guardian and Salon
PROFILE
Marcy Wheeler
Guest
FROM Marcy Wheeler
To the Point
Preview of CIA Whistleblower Trial For seven years, Attorney General Eric Holder has been trying to force New York Times reporter James Risen to reveal what he learned from CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling. Next week, Sterling will go on trial for leaking classified information that he revealed government secrets to James Risen for the book, State of War , which was published nine years ago — but Risen still isn't talking. Sterling says he's being selectively prosecuted for things other CIA agents have also done. Marcy Wheeler, who writes about national security and civil liberties for Foreign Policy, the Guardian, and the website Expose Facts.com , has the details.
To the Point
CIA Torture: Partisanship — and Accountability Last week, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee released a 400-page report on what they called CIA "torture" of imprisoned suspects in the aftermath of September 11. Yesterday on NBC's Meet the Press, former Vice President Dick Cheney defended the program . "We got the authorization from the president and authorization from the Justice Department to go forward with the program. It worked. It worked now for 13 years. We've avoided another mass casualty attack against the United States and we did capture Bin Laden and we did capture an awful lot of the senior guys of Al Qaeda who were responsible for that attack on 9/11. I'd do it again in a minute." One-time POW John McCain is one of few Republicans to agree with Senate Democrats that American values were endangered along with national security. "There were violations of the Geneva conventions for the treatment of prisoners, there were violations of the convention against torture which Ronald Reagan was a primary signatory of, and I think in retrospect some of these practices fly in the face of everything America values and stands for." Former CIA insiders blame inexperienced agents and outside contractors, along with orders from Washington to "get tough" with prisoners. What are the prospects for accountability 13 years later?
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To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
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.
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?