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President Donald Trump, Ukraine, The Bidens And Impeachment
The late critic of American politics Gore Vidal often referred to the United States as the United States of amnesia. Even though it was only five years ago in 2014 that the Obama-Biden administration spent $5 billion to help overthrow the democratically elected government of the Ukraine, this fact is omitted in the mainstream press’ coverage of the current Ukraingate impeachment inquiry that the Democratic Party is conducting in the House of Representatives.
The purpose of the American sponsored overthrow of Ukrainian government it is thought by some observers, was to open up the natural resources of the rich Ukraine to American economic interests and secondly to incorporate the Ukraine into the North American Treaty Organization, the military alliance headed by the USA, which sought to further surround Russia militarily on its western border.
After the overthrow, with Joe Biden as then Vice President, his son Hunter got a position on the Board of Directors of Berksema, the large Ukrainian national gas company. Although he knew nothing about the workings of the gas industry Hunter Biden was paid $600,000 a year.
This is the background to President Donald Trump‘s now famous call to the president of the Ukraine asking him to investigate the Bidens. It has been alleged by the Democrats, but not proven, that Trump withheld $400,000,000 American dollars to purchase American weapons until Ukrainian president Zelensky announced a corruption investigation.
Guest – Aaron Maté is a contributing editor at the nation magazine and has the new Internet show Pushback on The Gray Zone. He won the 2019 Izzy Award for achievement in independent media for his coverage of Russiagate.
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The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered A Black Panther
Around 7AM, 50 years ago on December 4, 1969, attorney Jeff Haas was in a police lockup in Chicago, interviewing the fiancée of Fred Hampton. She was telling him how the police pulled her from the room as Fred Hampton lay unconscious on their bed. She heard one officer say, “He’s still alive.” She then heard two shots. A second officer said, “He’s good and dead now.” She looks at Jeff and asked, “What can you do?”
The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police
Murdered a Black Panther is Haas’s personal account of how he and People’s Law Office partner Flint Taylor went after Hampton’s assassins, and ultimately prevailed over unlimited government resources and an FBI conspiracy. His book isn’t just a story of justice delivered, it also portrays Hampton in a new light as a dynamic community leader and an inspiration in the fight against injustice.
Guest – Jeff Haas is a longtime member of the National Lawyers Guild who has dedicated his career to working for justice. In 1969 he and three other lawyers set up the Peoples Law Office in Chicago, whose clients included the Black Panthers, SDS, and other political activists. Haas went on to handle cases involving prisoners’ rights, police torture, and the wrongfully accused. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife and children and continues to represent victims of police brutality.
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