CovertAction Bulletin

Whistleblowers And Activists Speak: What Can We Expect from Intelligence Agencies Under Trump?

On January 13th, CovertAction Magazine held a webinar featuring whistleblowers and activists who formerly have served in various U.S intelligence agencies to discuss their perspectives on what to expect from those agencies and beyond under Donald Trump. On today’s show, we bring you part of the webinar, which featured John Kiriakou, Coleen Rowley, Ray McGovern and Larry Johnson, and was moderated by Jeremy Kuzmarov.

To watch the full panel, including Kuzmarov’s introduction, Johnson’s presentation and the Q&A we couldn’t fit on an episode, visit CovertAction Magazine on YouTube.

The Media’s Real Agenda On The Alleged ISIS Attack

Early on New Year’s Day, a truck drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, resulting in dozens of injuries and at least 14 deaths. The alleged attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed in a shootout with police. Immediately, the media and government seized on supposed and self-described connections with ISIS with no critical thought towards what they’re calling a terrorist attack.

On this episode, we interrogate who benefits from this framing, what else is behind this story and how it’s being used by the system to prop up the war drive as well as Islamophobia and anti-immigrant hate in the context of the Biden-Trump transition and beyond. We’re joined for the conversation by Syed, a human rights activist and local organizer with Al-Awda in Houston.

Deny, Delay, Depose: The Tragedy of Health Insurance in the U.S.

When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed on December 4th in New York, the casings of the bullets used to kill him had “deny”, “delay” and “depose” written on them. These so-called “three Ds” of the insurance industry describe how companies go out of their way to get out of paying claims.

Even before a suspect was identified and arrested, popular sentiment was broadly with the shooter. The health insurance industry in the United States is so hated that people sympathized with the motives they ascribed to the shooter. Defying the traditional left-right political poles, the real division came through: working-class people all over the political spectrum who have experience with the health insurance industry could at least understand why someone would commit this act.

To look more at what the shooting tells us about society, we’re joined today by Jacquie Luqman, host of Darker than Blue on WPFW radio.

South Korea Fights Back Martial Law

Calls for the resignation of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have rung out from civil society and beyond after Yoon declared martial law on December 3rd. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) called for strikes until Yoon steps down, and groups under and beyond that organization are heeding the call.

Yoon’s brief and apparently sudden declaration of martial law caused many to protest outside of the National Assembly chanting “Abolish Martial Law! Down with Dictatorship!” The members of that body who were able to get into the building without being blocked by troops voted unanimously against the decree, with the chair declaring it to be “invalid” after their vote.

Yoon claimed that the measure was necessary “as an act of national resolve against the anti-state forces” and that he would target “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces.” Now, an arrest warrant has been filed against the former Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, alleging that he collaborated with Yoon and intended to cause an insurrection.

To talk about this still-developing story and help us understand the history, Yoon’s relationship with the U.S., what these events mean for popular movements in South Korea and the prospects for Korean reunification, we’re joined by Jia Hong, a member of Nodutdol. Learn more about Nodutdol’s US Out of Korea campaign here.

Syria: A History of Proxy Wars & US Imperialism

At the end of November, groups aligned with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) or the “Levant Liberation Committee” and previously known as the Al-Nusra Front, launched significant attacks on the Syrian government in the Idlib and Aleppo regions, taking part of the city of Aleppo. The Syrian Arab Army has mobilized to push back against HTS.

The offensive of course comes within days of the ceasefire in Lebanon that we discussed in our last episode, but also after more than a decade of US-backed insurgent groups attempting to overthrow the Syrian government. Syria has long been a target of attempted coups, assassination attempts, regime change operations, sanctions and war. This legacy and the current Western-backed attempts to overthrow the Syrian government show us why there is a critical need for anti-imperialist politics in the anti-war movement in the United States.

To dive into this history and what's happening today, we’re joined by Taylor Gol, an anti-war organizer who is originally from Türkiye.

What does the Lebanon ceasefire mean?

On Tuesday afternoon, the Israeli security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the cabinet and then with a pre-recorded video addressed the Israeli public, expressing his support for the deal. But in the leadup to the security cabinet vote, and while Netanyahu was making his case in support of the deal, Israel has been engaging in some of its heaviest bombardment of southern Lebanon since mid-September. On Monday the 26th, attacks killed 55 people and injured 160 in Lebanon. And on Tuesday, the IDF launched an intense blitz of 20 bombings in just 2 minutes, then later in the day bombed an apartment building in Hamra, a commercial area of Beirut.

Over 3,800 people have been killed in Lebanon and nearly 16,000 wounded by the IDF since October 7, 2023.

In making his public case for the ceasefire, which is a much-needed development to give reprieve to the people of Southern Lebanon, Netanyahu gave three reasons: First, to “focus on the Iranian threat.” Second, to “give our forces a breather and replenish stocks,” referring to the IDF. And third, to “separate the fronts” in the war.

To make sense of these breaking developments and put them into an appropriate historical context, we’re joined by Richard Becker. He’s an anti-imperialist activist and organizer and the author of Palestine, Israel and the US Empire, which you can find at 1804 Books.

Movement Repression and the HR 9495 Bill

Shortly after we recorded our last episode and mentioned the bill, the House of Representatives tried and failed to vote on HR 9495, the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act” bill. House Republicans tried to suspend the rules and push a vote through, and got 52 Democrats to vote with them, but weren’t able to get the ⅔ majority they needed under House procedural rules.

But HR 9495, also called the “nonprofit killer” bill, isn’t dead yet. If passed, it would allow the Trump administration to revoke an organization’s nonprofit status by simply saying the organization is connected to or supports terrorism. It’s another weapon the US government would have to attempt to crush dissent, targeting organizations standing up against the genocide in Gaza and many more. Civil society, activist, nonprofit and legal organizations from the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund to the National Council of Nonprofits, CAIR, ACLU and beyond have called for the bill to be rejected.

To understand where this bill comes from and what its impact would be, we’re joined today by Wassim Kanaan, a grass-roots-oriented advocate, focusing on direct advocacy and working with the community on high impact projects.

Wassim currently serves as the Chair-person for the New Jersey Chapter of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

Struggle Continues Under Trump

Within days of winning the election, Donald Trump is already making announcements about who will - and won’t - be in his cabinet and influencing his administration. On today’s show, we’re going to take a look at what a second Trump term is going to look like. From Elon Musk being on calls with Trump and Zelenskyy to RFK having influence over health policy and beyond, workers in the US and around the world will be under attack on many fronts.

We’re joined later in the show by Walter Smolarek, producer of The Socialist Program, to talk about Trump’s foreign policy and in particular what his election means for the genocide in Gaza, conflict with China, and the war in Ukraine.

Activists Take on Elections: No Votes for Genocide

We’re just days out from the US presidential elections. With many polls putting Trump and Harris within just a few points of each other, it’s easy to get caught up in the fear and uncertainty of the race as we continue to see horror after horror unfolding in Gaza and Lebanon as well as critical domestic crises like housing and infrastructure going unaddressed.

On this show, we’re focusing on the work of activists looking past the mainstream. They’ve been in the streets, they’ve pushed local resolutions, called for ceasefires and weapons embargoes, they’ve voted Uncommitted and called to abandon Biden and Harris and any candidate who won’t speak out against genocide. We talk with some organizers who have been building peoples’ movements for power and solidarity about how they view the elections, what they’ve been doing in the lead-up, and most importantly, we’ll hear what they’ll be doing on November 6 after all the ballots have been counted. 

We’re joined by Dr. Hassan Abdel Salam - co-founder of Abandon Biden, which is now Abandon Harris.

Later in the show, we discuss the No Votes for Genocide campaign with Francesca Maria, an organizer with the CT Palestine Solidarity Coalition and co-chair of Connecticut DSA.

U.S. Blockade Threatens Cuba’s Electric Grid

The devastation of Hurricane Oscar, which hit Cuba on October 18th, has significantly worsened the deep crisis of the island’s electric grid. The US government and its media lackeys are trying to blame the socialist government for supposed mismanagement of the country’s power system, but the reality is that the biggest contributor to the situation is the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

On October 22nd, The People’s Forum published an open letter in the New York Times calling on President Biden to overturn the Trump administration’s anti-Cuba policies. Biden has 90 days left in his term to restore the Obama-era reforms and steps towards normalization that are desperately needed.

We talk more about the history of the criminal blockade and its impact on Cuba.