Background Briefing: April 18, 2021

On By gram

 

Finally the “Smoking Gun” of Collusion Mueller Was Looking For Emerges

We begin with the proof of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin that just emerged which Andrew Weissman the number two in charge of the Mueller Report, now characterizes as the smoking gun that they were looking for. Weissman went on to remark that this intelligence was in the hands of the Trump administration during their investigation and was held back from Mueller. Joining us is Mark Lowenthal, President Emeritus of the Intelligence and Security Academy who was Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production, Vice Chairman for Evaluation on the National Intelligence Council , Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for intelligence and Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. We look into the possibility of more evidence of Trump/Russia collusion leaking out and the announcement by the Biden White House that the Intelligence Community was not unanimous in its conclusions that Russian intelligence paid bounties to the Taliban to kill Americans. The evidence was not considered sufficient to sanction individuals based on detainee interrogations of members of a criminal/militant network linked to the Taliban whose leader Rahmatullah Azizi fled to Russia allegedly on a passport provided by the GRU.

 

“Liberty” in the U.S. Now Threatens Life and the Pursuit of Happiness

Then we assess the piling on by right wing media and the anti-vaxxing movement over the pause in J&J vaccinations based on six people getting blood clots out of seven million who received doses. Naomi Oreskes, a Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Science at Harvard University and author of Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming and Why Trust Science, joins us. We discuss the Republican attack on science and data laid bare by Congressman Jim Jordan’s manic interrogation of Dr. Fauci over when we would get our liberty back, even though liberty in America is now endangering life and the pursuit of happiness.

 

Fox’s Tucker Carlson Mainstreams the Charlottesville Nazi Chant “The Jews Will Not Replace Us”

Then finally we speak with Ruth Ben Ghiat, a Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University whose latest book is Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. She joins us to discuss her article at CNN, “The new lies of the GOP and Tucker Carlson” who, as the top rated propagandist on Fox News, is mainstreaming the racist replacement theory heard at the anti-Semetic Tiki-torch march from the neo-Nazis at Charlottesville chanting, “The Jews will not replace us.”