Republican Senators Roll Over the Democrats Determined to Do Trump’s Bidding and Confirm a Dangerously Unqualified Ideologue as Secretary of Defense
We begin with today’s confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth before the Senate Armed Services Committee which was stacked in advance by the Republican chair who denied a second round of questioning and reduced the question time from 10 to 7 minutes as the Republican Senators, in lock step, followed Trump’s dictate to confirm this dangerously unqualified ideologue. Joining us is someone who spent years in the war zones with the US’s “tip of the spear” warriors and knows the military culture, Robert Young Pelton, an author, filmmaker, journalist, and explorer. He is the publisher of Dangerous magazine and has a first-hand perspective on the war on terror from direct contact with the world’s most infamous jihadi, rebel and insurgent groups. His books include: The World’s Most Dangerous Places, Come Back Alive, Three Worlds Gone Mad, Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror and his autobiography, The Adventurist.
A Former Female JAG Officer on Hegseth’s Disparagement of Women in the Military and Military Justice
Then we address the issues of women in the military and military justice which Hegseth has disparaged and speak with Rachel VanLandingham, a (ret.) Lt Col., as well as a former judge advocate in the U.S. Air Force who is now the Co-Associate Dean of Research and a Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School. During her military career, she served as a senior legal advisor on the international law of armed conflict, military prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, appellate defense attorney and nuclear surety inspector, stationed in the United States, South Korea, and Italy with deployments to the Middle East. She was the legal advisor for international law at Headquarters, U.S. Central Command, where she advised on operational and international legal issues related to the armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Jack Smith’s January 6 Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted Had the Case Gone To Trial
Then we examine the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report that, had the January 6 case gone to trial, says Trump would have been convicted. Joining us is Laurie Levenson, who holds the David W. Burcham Chair in Ethical Advocacy at the Loyola University School of Law. Prior to joining Loyola Law School, she served for eight years as an Assistant US Attorney. She has written widely on criminal law, focusing both on criminal procedure and on the relationship between the law and the media.
Unlike Biden, Trump Uses Leverage to Get a Ceasefire and Hostage Release Deal Between Israel and Hamas
The finally we look into the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas that is close to signing and speak with Dr. Annelle Sheline, a research fellow at The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and an expert on religious and political authority in the Middle East and North Africa. She has worked as a journalist in Egypt and Yemen and served for a year as a foreign affairs officer at the Office of Near Eastern Affairs in the Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor until recently resigning over US policy on the war in Gaza.