Pushback with Aaron Mate

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...

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...

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 test...

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 go...

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 & R...

Max Blumenthal explains how the US-backed proxy war in Syria helped create the al-Qaeda safe haven where US forces killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; and how Trump, despite announcing a withdrawal, is continuing the proxy war by keeping US troops to steal Syria's oil. Guest: Max Blumenthal, Editor of The Grayzone and author of “The Management of Savagery.” Support Pushback at Patreon: https:...

Physician, mental health expert, and best-selling author Dr. Gabor Maté, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, offers a personal and historical perspective on anti-Semitism, Zionism, and Israel-Palestine. Guest: Dr. Gabor Maté, mental health expert and best-selling author. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Pushback on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pushbackshow Aaron Maté on...

The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal speaks out on his arrest months after reporting on Venezuelan opposition violence at the DC embassy. Blumenthal was seized from his home by a group of officers and held for two days in cells and cages. His arrest warrant labels him as "armed and dangerous." Blumenthal says the charges are false and a retaliation against The Grayzone's journalism on the US-backed...

Amid outrage over Turkey’s atrocities against Kurdish civilians northern Syria, Max Blumenthal discusses how some of the Syrian militias committing the crimes are composed of the same "moderate rebels" that the US, Turkey, and Gulf states armed, trained, and supported during the multi-year Syria proxy war. Guest: Max Blumenthal, Editor of The Grayzone and author of "The Management of Savagery." Su...

Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein responds to Hillary Clinton calling her a "Russian asset" and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard a potential Russian dupe. Clinton and centrist Democrats, Stein says, are following a "well-worn script" of trying to undermine progressive candidates that challenge party elites' militarist and corporatist policies. Guest: Dr. Jill Stein, former Green Party preside...

Hillary Clinton has smeared Tulsi Gabbard and Jill Stein as Russian assets, and almost no Democratic politicians are pushing back. Max Blumenthal says that Clinton's comments reflect a continued effort by Democratic neo-liberals to deflect responsibility for their loss to Trump in 2016; marginalize voices like Gabbard and Stein's who challenge their pro-war, corporatist agenda; and preview their p...

The CIA has been caught spying on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Undercover Global SL, a Spanish security firm, recorded Assange during his stay in Ecuador's London embassy, where he lived under asylum, and then handed over its footage to the CIA. "That firm was contracted by Ecuador to protect the embassy, to protect [Assange], to protect us from [his] persecutors," says former Ecuadorian dipl...

A new Senate Intelligence Committee report accuses the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian troll farm, of using "social media to conduct an information warfare campaign" against the United States. This comes one week after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on the IRA and its funder, Yevgeny Prigozhin. What is the IRA, and are the claims of a Russian influence campaign against the U.S. well-foun...

There is growing evidence that President Donald Trump briefly froze U.S. military assistance to Ukraine for political goals. Max Blumenthal explores how the Ukrainegate scandal overlooks the dangers of those weapons sales to Ukraine and the corrupt interests behind it. Under Trump, U.S. military assistance has prolonged a bloody proxy war with Russia, killing thousands in Ukraine and enabling far-...

As Donald Trump appears caught attempting a quid pro quo, Max Blumenthal argues that the Ukrainegate scandal also highlights a web of corruption and meddling inside Ukraine implicating other prominent US figures and institutions. [Part II of this interview will be published on Tuesday, October 8.] Guest: Max Blumenthal, Editor of The Grayzone and author of "The Management of Savagery." Support Pus...

The outcome of the Israeli election remains in flux, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempts to form a coalition government. Diana Buttu, an attorney and former legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority, says that whatever the outcome, Netanyahu and rival Benny Gantz are "virtually identical" when it comes to maintaining the occupation of millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza S...

Aaron Maté speaks with Ben Norton about how a far-right US soldier arrested by the FBI for plotting domestic bomb attacks sought to join Ukraine’s neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which was directly armed and advised by the American government. Guest: Ben Norton, Assistant Editor of The Grayzone. Read Ben's article: https://thegrayzone.com/2019/09/23/bomb-extremist-us-soldier-fbi-ukrainian-nazi-azov/

Stephen F. Cohen argues that cracks are emerging within the NATO-led consensus that has pushed Moscow from the West. Guest: Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies at New York University and Princeton University, contributing editor at The Nation, and author of several "War with Russia: From Putin & Ukraine to Trump & Russiagate." Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.co...

The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal discusses his reporting trip to Damascus in the aftermath of Syria's proxy war. He interviewed residents who were caught between Western and Gulf-backed extremist insurgents and the Syrian government’s war to retake territory, and who now struggle to recover under a US-led economic blockade. "They want to attack and intimidate people from the West who want to have cul...

The Trump administration is sending US troops to Saudi Arabia as it continues to threaten Iran. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell, says the US-Saudi relationship is "not based on strategic interest so much as it is based on money, money, and money -- going into the coffers of some people in the national security elite, and into the coffers of some politicians who cling...

The Trump administration continues to threaten Iran after blaming it, without evidence, for the recent bombing of Saudi oil facilities. Instead of beating the war drums, Trita Parsi argues that President Trump has an easy path to resolve the standoff: rejoin the Iran nuclear deal that he abandoned and negotiate additional issues with Tehran. Guest: Trita Parsi, Executive Vice President of the Quin...

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been ordered to remain behind bars until hearings over a US extradition effort begin next year. Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of Wikileaks, says that UK authorities are holding Assange in worse conditions than accused terrorists and 'making it impossible' for him to prepare his case. Guest: Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of Wikileaks. Support Pushbac...

Lawrence Wilkerson, who served alongside John Bolton in the Bush administration, discusses the reasons for Bolton’s firing; Bolton's legacy as a war hawk who promoted regime change and undermined global arms control; the anti-interventionist views of a potential successor, Douglas Macgregor; and the lasting influence of neocons inside the national security state. Guest: Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, fo...

The outing of a CIA informant inside of the Kremlin raises new questions about the Russia investigation and the intelligence officials behind it. The informant, identified as Oleg Smolenkov, disappeared from Russia in June 2017 and turned up in the US living under his own name, in a luxury home in the Washington, DC suburbs. Former CIA analyst John Kiriakou says that all of this points to Smolenko...

Ex-CIA analyst John Kiriakou discusses why he accurately predicted John Bolton’s ouster as National Security Adviser; who might replace him; and the Democratic leadership’s anemic response. Guest: John Kiriakou, former CIA analyst who was imprisoned after blowing the whistle on the agency’s torture program. Support Pushback at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaronmate Pushback on Twitter: https:/...