CovertAction Bulletin

Activist Interrupts The Summit of the Americas, “Luis Almagro you have Blood on Your Hands!”

Activist and journalist Walter Smolarek interrupted General Secretary of the OAS, Luis Almagro and confronted Almagro about his role in the coup in Bolivia. We interviewed Walter the day after the interruption at the People’s Summit for Democracy which took place from June 8th through 10th in Los Angeles.

The People’s Summit wasn’t just a protest of Biden’s so-called Summit of the Americas, which was happening at the same time also in Los Angeles, but also brought together artists, activists, journalists, and revolutionaries to uplift the voices of the people and imagine a world that puts people’s democracy first. Hosts Chris and Rachel discuss Rachel’s on the ground coverage of the People’s Summit and reflect on the significance of the event. We review together the powerful speeches made by activists like Cornel West and Oscar Lopez Rivera.

Eyewitness: LA’s Secret Police Spy Network With Mike Rothmiller

On this week’s episode, we speak with Mike Rothmiller, former LAPD officer with the infamous Office of Criminal Intelligence Division (OCID), a historian and a New York Times best-selling author of many different books including the LA Secret Police: Inside the LAPD’s Elite Spy Network and Bombshell: The Night Bobby Kennedy Killed Marilyn Monroe.

Based on his own experiences and years of research, Mike shares the history and criminal behavior of the OCID, which falsified arrests, spied on politicians and and stars and sometimes acted like private intelligence for the police chief and other powerful figures throughout the late 20th century. Released in 1992, LA Secret Police provides a wealth of information on the now-defunct division.

We also discuss his more recent book, Bombshell, where Mike used the OCID files as well as years of other research and interviews, to make the case that Bobby Kennedy was responsible for the death of Marilyn Monroe nearly 60 years ago.

International Solidarity Threatens Biden’s Summit of the Americas

On today’s episode, we are joined by Claudia de la Cruz of the People’s Forum in New York City to discuss developments around President Biden’s Summit of the Americas. Scheduled for June 6-10 in Los Angeles, the legitimacy of the gathering and the role of the U.S. in Central & South American is being severely threatened by announcements from Mexico, Bolivia, Honduras and Antigua and Barbuda that they will not attend if the governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are not invited. Claudia gives us a history of the Summit of the Americas, and discusses the People’s Summit for Democracy, a grassroots event happening at the same time in Los Angeles, where people from across the Americas will come together for three days of art, music, speakers, debates, workshops, panel discussions, performances and mobilizations to uplift the voices of the people. The U.S. government is going as far as refusing visas to a 23-person delegation from Cuban civil society, including artists and academics, preventing them from participating.

 

We also discuss the dissolution of the short-lived Disinformation Governance Board of the Department of Homeland Security, following up on our story from last week. And, as Biden threatens China over Taiwan, is it really a gaffe? We review a brief history of U.S.-China relations and the real threat a war would pose to humanity and the world. Finally, we expose the New York Times’ recent multi-part series on Haiti, which serves U.S. interests not fully ignoring the recent crimes of the Clintons and others against the country.

To sign the petition demanding the Biden administration approve the visas, go to https://www.change.org/p/let-them-in-stop-the-exclusion-of-cuban-artists-academics.

Whitewashing Neo-Nazis in Ukraine & Biden’s “Disinformation Governing Board”

Biden announced last month the assembly of a team within the Department of Homeland Security given the title Disinformation Governing Board. Supposedly this team will be working to combat Russian, Iranian, and Chinese “disinformation.” We dive deeper into the contradictory history of misinformation about Ukraine in 2014 spread by the executive director of the board, Nina Jankowicz.

We are then joined by Natalia Marques, writer with People’s Dispatch to discuss the horrific racist massacre in Buffalo NY. On Saturday, May 14, white supremacist Peyton Gendron drove 200 miles from his home in Conklin, NY, to open fire in the only supermarket in the Black neighborhood of East Buffalo. Gendrons killed 10 people, injuring three. We closely examine Gendron’s manifesto detailing the racist reasons why he committed this atrocity and dive into the long history of the racist “great replacement” theory.

How Did China Eradicate Extreme Poverty?

On today’s show, we bring you the second half of our interview with Tings Chak, Researcher and art director at Tricontinental: Institute of Social Research, and a member of the Dongsheng Collective. We focus on the Chinese government’s programs to eradicate extreme poverty in the country and further discuss her work on the study “Serve the People: The Eradication of Extreme Poverty in China” for Tricontinental.

We are also joined by Jane Cutter, editor of LiberationNews.org, to talk about the anti-war origins of Mother’s Day. Now a Hallmark Holiday, Mother’s Day began as a plea for peace in the face of the ravages of war. While motherhood is lionized, the reality in the U.S. for mothers today does not guarantee a chance at a healthy and supported life.

Julian Assange & the U.S. War on Whistleblowers with John Kiriakou

In this special episode of CovertAction Bulletin, we spent the entire hour with John Kiriakou. A former CIA analyst and field agent, Kiriakou became a whistleblower when he exposed the CIA’s torture program - and became the only person jailed for it. 

We discuss how the ongoing campaign against Julian Assange should inform us about how to view and support the work of other whistleblowers. While Assange remains in prison and under threat of extradition and trial in the US, the threat to journalists, publishers and activists continues to grow. We also talk about a brief history of prosecution of whistleblowers and those who speak against injustice starting with the Espionage Act.

Kiriakou also shares his own story and the stories of other whistleblowers including drone whistleblower Daniel Hale. 

On the Ground Report with Rania Khalek on the International Anti-Fascist Summit in Venezuela - and the Global South Perspective on Ukraine

On today’s show we dive into the big news that Elon Musk spent 44 billion dollars to buy twitter. He claims he will make the algorithms open source, but there’s obviously many doubts about that. What does this development mean for the platform?

We are joined by Rania Khalek, journalist and host of the show dispatches on BreakThrough News to discuss the release of Steven Donzinger after years of confinement in prison, halfway houses and on house arrest. Donzinger is a human rights attorney who was under house arrest for successfully suing Chevron on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadorian Amazonian Indigenous people. What does his case mean for environmental activists pushing back against big oil?

Rania then shares her experience at the recent 3-day meeting in Caracas gathering people across the globe in the fight back against Fascism. We dive into the various perspectives present at the conference on the Ukraine conflict and how the global south is responding to the shifting geopolitics of the moment.

On the Ground Report from Shanghai’s COVID Lockdown. What’s Really Happening?

Is western media coverage of the COVID lockdown in Shanghai completely accurate?

The corporate media has been non-stop talking about the “dystopian” lockdown in Shanghai claiming people are starving in mass. The question “at what cost” pops up in articles across the news cycle questioning China’s lockdown policies. The logistical challenges for Shanghai’s local government to manage a lockdown in response to a mass omicron spread have been significant, but is that the full story?

We are joined by Tings Chak Researcher and art director of Tricontinental: Institute of Social Research and member of Dongsheng collective who is currently on lockdown in Shanghai. Tings shares her perspective on what lockdown has been like, and gives us an overview of scope and achievements of China’s zero COVID policy strategy to this point.

To hear more from Tings, we discussed in-depth her report “Serve the People: The Eradication of Extreme Poverty” with Tricontinental in our patrons-only video special. We dive deeper into Xi Jinping’s focus on common prosperity and take an overall look at the gains made by the Chinese socialist project. Become a patron at patreon.com/CovertActionMagazine to get this exclusive!

We also discuss the recent article published by Ars Technica claiming that Google has recently changed it’s policies and have actively given higher resolution images of Russian military bases. While this claim was later corrected - this moment exposes the potential of how private aerial surveillance can be used by U.S. intelligence. We dive deeper into this, and into the long history of the CIA’s relationship with Google and the development of this kind of tech.

Finally, we talk about CNN’s clickbait article highlighting the dissatisfaction that Millennials and Generation Z are expressing with Joe Biden’s administration. While media pundits might be left wondering why young people feel this way, we review how recent history has set up this moment.

The Dark Money Attacking Reproductive Rights

The recent case of Liselle Herrera, a 26 year old woman charged with murder for performing a “self-induced abortion” made national news, bringing attention again to the human rights crisis happening in Texas around reproductive rights. What people don’t know is that this crisis is fueled by dark money, corruption, and deeper right-wing capitalist agendas for deregulation. How much money is changing hands and what does this mean for women's rights and LGBTQ rights?



We also talk about the unfolding tragedy in Sunset Park of a mass shooter on the subway. While details are still emerging at the time of recording, we discuss how politicians and the media have already begun using this tragedy to further fuel the militarization of the police. 


April 11 marks the 20th anniversary of the coup attempt of then-president Hugo Chavez in Venezuela that strengthened the resolve of the revolution. We dive into a reflection on the Venezuelan socialist project in the last 20 years, and the impact of sanctions on the nation.



In a shock to no one, the mainstream media had abysmal coverage of the Senate Budget Committee hearing on corporate greed called by Bernie Sanders. 2021 marked the highest record corporate profits reaching almost $3 trillion in U.S. history. We discuss corporate greed and the left's complicated relationship to Sanders as a figure.

US & NATO Block Peace in Ukraine

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday that weapons and other equipment, including anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, Humvees and Puma drones, are being sent to Ukraine and NATO allies at “an unprecedented pace.” At the UN Security Council, in the White House and at NATO briefings, the military officials, politicians and the press only seem to be able to discuss sending more weapons instead of finding a lasting, diplomatic solution to the crisis.

We also highlight two speakers from CovertAction’s April 1 webinar, “The First Casualty of War is Truth.” Chris de Ploeg and Gerald Horne shared knowledge about the history of the run-up to the crisis between NATO and Ukraine.

In addition, we mark the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and what role the US government may have played in his shooting, the missing 457 minutes of Trump’s call logs on January 6, 2021, and more.