Evidence-free claims of a Russian government effort to aid Bernie Sanders have been exploited by centrist Democrats alarmed by Sanders' primary success. This should be no surprise. Sanders and his movement are a threat to the very same interests that have pushed Russiagate for more than three years -- the failed neoliberal Democratic Party establishment and the national security state. The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal joins Pushback. Guest: Max Blumenthal, Editor of The Grayzone and author of "The ...
Feb 25, 2020•35 min
A hearing on the US effort to extradite Julian Assange for charges brought under the Espionage Act has begun in London. Satirist and broadcaster Randy Credico, a friend of Assange, discusses the stakes involved: an unprecedented assault on press freedom and a media publisher who has exposed the crimes and secrets of the US establishment. Guest: Randy Credico, political satirist and broadcaster.
Feb 24, 2020•17 min
US media is once again consumed with evidence-free claims that Russia intends to interfere on Donald Trump's behalf. But as Democrats accuse Trump of being "Putin's Puppet," Trump is overseeing a hawkish agenda that has worsened US-Russia tensions. Nowhere is that more dangerous than Trump's escalation of the nuclear arms race with Russia: abandoning arms control treaties while deploying and developing new nuclear weapons. Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter joins Pushback to discuss the ov...
Feb 23, 2020•29 min
Roger Stone has been sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to a Congressional investigation of Russiagate and threatening a witness, Randy Credico. Stone falsely claimed to have a secret backchannel to Wikileaks, and that Credico was his source. Stone then tried to intimidate Credico into not contradicting his falsehoods. In an exclusive interview with Pushback, Randy Credico responds to the Stone sentencing and tells the real story of what happened. Guest: Randy Credico, political satirist...
Feb 22, 2020•32 min
Idlib is facing a humanitarian disaster as hundreds of thousands flee a Syrian and Russian military campaign to retake the province from militant rule. Overlooked in Western coverage of the crisis is that Idlib is mostly controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a rebranded affiliate of Al-Qaeda -- and that Turkey, with U.S. backing, has intervened to keep the extremist group in place. Guest: Scott Ritter, former UN Weapons Inspector and Marine Corps Intelligence Officer. Support Pushback at Patreon: ...
Feb 21, 2020•24 min
Iowa's voting debacle has renewed fears that the DNC is again working against Bernie Sanders and his grassroots campaign. The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal breaks down the network of dark money billionaires, Democratic elites, and Russiagate profiteers behind the app that ruined the Iowa vote, and a wider effort to stop Sanders' progressive momentum. Guest: Max Blumenthal, Editor of The Grayzone and author of The Management of Savagery. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate ...
Feb 07, 2020•27 min
As the Trump administration’s stated rationale for killing Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis collapses, journalist Gareth Porter has pieced together the overlooked background. Porter reports that the assassination was in fact the culmination of a lengthy provocation campaign involving Mike Pompeo, John Bolton, and the Israeli government, which carried out a number of under-reported bombings inside Iraq and Syria in the months prior. Guest: Gareth Porter. Journalist and historian. His lat...
Feb 01, 2020•35 min
President Trump was joined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to unveil the so-called "deal of the century" at the White House. Attorney and author Noura Erakat says Trump's so-called "peace plan" is a con that seeks to cement Israeli apartheid for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Guest: Noura Erakat. Human rights attorney, legal scholar, Assistant Professor at Rutgers University, and author of Justice for Some: Law and in the Question of Palestine.
Jan 29, 2020•15 min
At the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, chief Democratic prosecutor Adam Schiff has claimed that the US is arming Ukraine "so that we can fight Russia over there so we don’t have to fight Russia here" and called Russia a "wounded, dangerous animal." Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton University, says that Schiff's rhetoric is "ignorant and debased." Guest: Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University an...
Jan 28, 2020•27 min
Michael Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former senior official in the Bush administration, joins Pushback to discuss the Trump administration's Iran policy; the Iran nuclear deal; and decades of US-Iran confrontation in the Middle East. Guest: Michael Doran, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former senior official in the Bush administration. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Pushback on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pushbackshow Aaron Maté o...
Jan 26, 2020•52 min
As Bernie Sanders ignores Hillary Clinton's attacks, Tulsi Gabbard is fighting back. Gabbard has filed a $50 million defamation suit against Clinton for labeling her a "Russian asset." Independent journalist Michael Tracey joins Pushback to discuss. Guest: Michael Tracey, independent journalist. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Pushback on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pushbackshow Aaron Maté on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aaronjmate Find more reporting at https://t...
Jan 25, 2020•31 min
On the campaign trail, Joe Biden is falsely claiming that he opposed the Iraq war when it began. Biden says that his 2002 war authorization vote was not intended to approve the 2003 invasion, but instead to ensure UN inspections. "It's a completely disingenuous statement," says Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq who testified before Biden in the U.S. Senate. "Joe Biden, from the very beginning, was a proponent of regime change in Iraq." Guest: Scott Ritter. Former UN Weapons Ins...
Jan 19, 2020•44 min
OPCW whistleblowers have exposed a cover-up, under US pressure, of evidence that undermined allegations that the Syrian government committed a chemical weapons attack in Douma in April 2018. The allegation prompted US-led airstrikes on Syria that same month. Former Bush administration official Col. Lawrence Wilkerson says that reports of US pressure on the Douma investigation recall the Bush administration's coercion of the IAEA and OPCW before the Iraq war. Guest: Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, forme...
Jan 13, 2020•18 min
The Trump administration is imposing new sanctions on Iran and defying Iraq's call for a US troop withdrawal. This comes as the stated rationale for the US assassination of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is being undermined by its top officials' own statements. Scott Ritter, a former Marine Corps intelligence officer, analyzes the increased White House coercion efforts and collapsing intelligence claims. Guest: Scott Ritter -- former UN Weapons Inspector, former Marine Corps Intellige...
Jan 12, 2020•31 min
The threat of an immediate US-Iran military conflict has been averted, but President Donald Trump has vowed to continue his "maximum pressure" campaign with new sanctions on Tehran. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Prime Minister's claim that Qassem Soleimani was on a diplomatic mission in Iraq when the U.S. assassinated him is raising new questions about Trump's motives. Guest: Sina Toossi, Senior Research Analyst at the National Iranian American Council. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.co...
Jan 09, 2020•16 min
As millions of Iranians mourn the US murder of Qassem Soleimani, ex-Bush administration official Col. Lawrence Wilkerson discuses the parallels between Bush's war on Iraq and Trump's campaign against Iran; the history of US shunning diplomacy with Tehran; and how an addiction to war drives US foreign policy. Guest: Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell. Currently a distinguished professor at the College of William and Mary. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreo...
Jan 07, 2020•25 min
The US assassination of Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander, is the culmination of three years of Trump administration war-mongering against Iran. Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, discusses Trump's radical neocon agenda in Iran and how Democratic votes for new sanctions against Tehran helped lay the groundwork for the current crisis. Guest: Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon...
Jan 04, 2020•23 min
The US media continues to ignore one of 2019's top scandals: a cover-up inside the OPCW, the world's top chemical weapons watchdog, that was used to justify US-led military strikes on Syria. Theodore Postol, award-winning professor of Science, Technology and National Security policy at MIT, joins Pushback to discuss the latest leaked revelations and what he calls the "criminal" US media silence on the story. The leaked documents and testimony from inside the OPCW show there were major doubts abo...
Jan 02, 2020•31 min
Journalist Tareq Haddad explains his decision to resign from Newsweek over its refusal to cover the OPCW's unfolding Syria scandal. According to whistleblower testimony and leaked documents, OPCW officials raised alarm about the suppression of critical findings that undermine the allegation that the Syrian government committed a chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma in April 2018. Haddad's editors at Newsweek rejected his attempts to cover the story. "If I don’t find another position in j...
Dec 19, 2019•26 min
A new report from DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz confirms that the FBI relied on the Steele dossier – a DNC-funded work of fiction – during the Trump-Russia probe. The FBI used Steele's work to obtain surveillance warrants but concealed his errors and other critical information from the FISA court. Matt Taibbi joins Aaron Maté to discuss how Horowitz's investigation exposes not just the FBI's deceit, but also that of the prominent media and political figures who enabled it. Guest: Matt T...
Dec 16, 2019•31 min
Jeremy Corbyn, a real progressive, could win UK's elections. Max Blumenthal joins Pushback to discuss how powerful forces are trying to stop Corbyn with a Russiagate-fueled smear campaign -- and why Bernie Sanders could be their next target. NATO-funded "researchers" are claiming that leaked documents publicized by Corbyn that exposed secret US-UK talks over the British health service are in fact the result of a Russian disinformation campaign. The Russia-baiting against Corbyn comes as the Labo...
Dec 11, 2019•36 min
The US government has dropped a false charge of assault against The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal stemming from an incident at the Venezuelan embassy in May. Blumenthal was seized from his home by a group of officers and held for two days in cells and cages. The case was dropped after Blumenthal's legal team sought call logs that could have exposed collusion between the Secret Service and right-wing Venezuelan activists. Blumenthal discusses his vindication, the state of the US-backed coup atte...
Dec 10, 2019•33 min
The Empire Files' Abby Martin and Mike Prysner discuss their new documentary "Gaza Fights For Freedom," a vivid account of the Great March of Return against the Israeli siege of Gaza, and the urgency of global solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. Guests: Abby Martin and Mike Prysner, co-creators of The Empire Files and co-directors of the documentary, Gaza Fights For Freedom. Watch Gaza Fights For Freedom: https://gazafightsforfreedom.com/ Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.co...
Dec 01, 2019•24 min
The recent death of White Helmets founder James Le Mesurier, and an unfolding cover-up at the OPCW of an apparently staged chemical weapons incident, has shed new light on the group’s shadowy role in the Syria proxy war. We speak to The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal, whose reporting has exposed the White Helmets’ ties to jihadists groups and its use as a PR tool for Western military intervention in Syria. “We don’t know if there’s a cover-up around his [Le Mesurier’s] death — I can’t go that far,” B...
Nov 26, 2019•36 min
Pushback with Aaron Maté In Seattle's recent election, Amazon spent at least $1.5 million to defeat a slate of progressive candidates -- and lost. One of Amazon's top targets, re-elected socialist city councilmember Kshama Sawant, explains how people power beat big business. Guest: Kshama Sawant, re-elected Seattle City Councilmember and member of Socialist Alternative. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Pushback on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pushbackshow Aaron Maté...
Nov 25, 2019•20 min
A second whistleblower from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has come forward to accuse top OPCW officials of suppressing critical evidence. The evidence undermines allegations that the Syrian government committed a chemical weapons attack in Douma in April 2018 -- an allegation that prompted US-led airstrikes. The second whistleblower also says that three US officials took part in pressuring the OPCW. We speak to veteran journalist Jonathan Steele, the first reporter to ...
Nov 18, 2019•20 min
Jimmy Dore pushes back on impeachment/Ukrainegate, Hillary Clinton’s smear of Tulsi Gabbard as a Russian asset, the DNC’s 2020 gift-wrapping for Trump, and more. Guest: Jimmy Dore, comedian and host of The Jimmy Dore Show. https://jimmydorecomedy.com/ Pushback with Aaron Maté Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Pushback on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pushbackshow Aaron Maté on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aaronjmate Pushback on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lu7MGQ...
Nov 17, 2019•27 min
A whistleblower from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is accusing top officials of tampering with evidence collected at the scene of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Douma in April 2018. The official, a senior scientist who collected samples at the scene, is the second with the OPCW's Douma team to allege that evidence was suppressed. His testimony raises new doubts about the claim that the Syrian government carried out a chemical attack in ...
Nov 17, 2019•34 min
A ceasefire has been reached in Gaza after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes that killed 34 Palestinians, including eight members of one family. Ali Abunimah of The Electronic Intifada discusses Israel's latest bombings, which come after more than one year of weekly, deadly Israeli attacks on non-violent Palestinian demonstrators. "The message we're getting from people in Gaza is that 'we're going to continue protesting because we have no choice -- what else can we do, stay home and die?'", A...
Nov 14, 2019•17 min
As the House opens impeachment hearings for President Trump, Professor Stephen F. Cohen warns that the US military assistance at the heart of Ukrainegate escalates the US-Russia Cold War. Guest: Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton University, contributing editor at The Nation, and author of "War with Russia: From Putin & Ukraine to Trump & Russiagate." Pushback with Aaron Maté Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aa...
Nov 13, 2019•26 min
