Boris Johnson’s Great Brexit Miscalculation

Published: Sept. 5, 2019, 10 p.m.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Alexander Mercouris, the editor-in-chief of The Duran.

Yesterday we told you that British politics were in a state of chaos. That hasn’t changed. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s own brother this morning resigned both from parliament and from the Conservative Party and Johnson again was defeated in a procedural vote last night. It appears that there will be new elections, but nobody knows when. And it also appears that, in the event of those new elections, not much will change.

A federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia ruled yesterday that the federal terrorism watchlist violates the civil rights of those people listed on it. Judge Anthony Trenga said that the standard for inclusion on the list was unconstitutionally vague and he struck it down. Trenga is the same judge that has jailed whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter, a columnist for CounterPunch, and founder of ThisCantBeHappening.net, who recently learned that he was on a watchlist, joins the show.

Iranian President Hasan Rouhani said in a televised address yesterday that Iran would no longer restrict its development of centrifuges for uranium enrichment, a major move away from the Iran nuclear deal, which the US withdrew from last year. Rouhani added, however, that the decision was “peaceful and reversible” if other signatories to the deal make firm commitments to provide economic relief to Iran. Meanwhile, the State Department announced a $15 million reward for anybody who can hack into and disable the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps computer system, which the State Department called the IRGC’s “oil for terror” network. Brian and John speak with Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the book “The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil.”

Prominent Washington attorney Greg Craig was acquitted yesterday on a charge of making a false statement to federal investigators examining Craig’s work through his law firm for the Ukranian government. The investigation came out of the Muller probe and focused on Craig’s interaction with the New York Times. The verdict is a setback for the Justice Department’s aggressive new policy on unregistered work for foreign governments. Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books--“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” joins the show.

The Federal Reserve is planning to cut interest rates as much as one quarter of one percent in the next two weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Fed believes that it must act to counter an economic slowdown caused in part by the trade war with China. Meanwhile, trade negotiations between China and the US will resume in October in Washington. Steve Keen, the author of “Debunking Economics” and the world’s first crowdfunded economist whose work is at patreon.com/ProfSteveKeen, joins Brian and John.

Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, join the show.

A regular Thursday segment deals with the ongoing militarization of space. As the US continues to withdraw from international arms treaties, will the weaponization and militarization of space bring the world closer to catastrophe? Brian and John speak with Prof. Karl Grossman, a full professor of journalism at the State University of New York, College at Old Westbury and the host of a nationally aired television program focused on environmental, energy, and space issues, and with Bruce Gagnon, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.