McClatchy Newspapers
Special correspondent and investigative reporter for McClatchy Newspapers.
PROFILE
Peter Stone
Guest
FROM Peter Stone
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
What we know about the Russian woman indicted on espionage charges and her link with the NRA On Monday, the Justice Department announced espionage charges against Maria Butina. She says she’s a Russian gun-rights advocate. Butina was arrested on Sunday in Washington. She’s accused of infiltrating an American political group at the direction of a senior Kremlin official. That political group isn’t named in the indictment, but it’s widely believed to be the NRA. This is a separate investigation from the one led by Robert Mueller.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
FBI investigates whether NRA funneled Russian money to Trump The NRA donated at least $30 million to Donald Trump’s campaign. But the FBI is now investigating whether some of that money was funneled from a Russian banker named Alexander Torskin. That would be illegal -- using foreign money to influence elections.
To the Point
Fake news microtargeting now part of Russia investigation "Hillary Clinton is running a child sex ring out of a pizza shop." "Democrats want to impose Sharia law in Florida" These are just some of the headlines you may have seen online last fall. Among other, more constructive things, social media was used during the 2016 campaign to disseminate targeted fake news stories that may have swayed the election in favor of Donald Trump. Russia operatives seemed to have played an active role in the process. Among the many questions is whether the Trump campaign's digital operation, run by son-in-law Jared Kushner, guided the hand of Russia's internet masters of propaganda.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Did Jared Kushner help Russians plant fake news in voters' feeds? Investigators in the House, Senate, and Justice department are now looking into the Trump campaign’s digital operation -- headed by Jared Kushner. They want to know whether that team helped Russia target voters in key swing states with critical information and fake news about Hillary Clinton.
Recommended
Bookworm
Claudio Magris: Blameless In Claudio Magris' Blameless, a museum of the implements of war and destruction is created to inspire peace. But this conversation is not just about war and peace.
The Treatment
Hua Hsu: A Floating Chinaman Author Hua Hsu stops by to discuss his book A Floating Chinaman, recounting the life of 1930's actor/writer H.T. Tsiang and his struggles entering the American literary world.
Design and Architecture
Farewell LA freeways, Peter Shire is back Angelenos don't want more freeways but we seem not to want mass transit either. Metro has killed the 710 freeway extension, and bus and train ridership is down across the region. What's the future of getting around in LA? And, Peter Shire is having a comeback. What attracts a new generation to his playful ceramics and furniture?
Design and Architecture
Securing Public Spaces, Super Wealthy Asians Vehicles are increasingly being used as weapons, as seen in the London Bridge attack over the weekend and in New York’s Times Square last month. The Compton-based company Calpipe is designing security bollards to help make public spaces safer. And novelist Kevin Kwan satirizes the “crazy rich” Asian jet set and their luxurious tastes in his latest book, “Rich People Problems.”