Did Russia Steal DNC Emails? No Proof, According to New Transcripts

Published: May 8, 2020, 10 p.m.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Aaron Maté, a journalist with The Grayzone and The Nation, and host of the podcast Pushback with Aaron Maté.

After a long delay, the House Intelligence Committee just released 57 transcripts of interviews that the committee conducted in the Russiagate probe. These include interviews with former DNI head James Clapper, Crowdstrike CEO Shawn Henry, and more.

The Justice Department yesterday dropped all charges against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Flynn had agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of making a false statement, but his new attorneys found that the FBI had plotted against Flynn before interviewing him in a way that many Americans believe amounted to entrapment. President Trump had been under some pressure to pardon Flynn. Now that’s not necessary. Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books--“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” joins the show.

Until last week, Dr. Rick Bright was the deputy assistant secretary of Health and Human Services for preparedness and response and Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Today he’s a whistleblower. Bright says he was demoted after he pushed back on the Trump Administration’s efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by people with White House connections. Bright has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging gross mismanagement at HHS and abuse of authority. Brian and John speak with Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist, whose work is at www.rall.com.

It’s Friday! So it’s time for the week’s worst and most misleading headlines. Brian and John speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his site Left I on the News and on twitter @leftiblog, and Sputnik producer Nicole Roussell.

Friday is Loud & Clear’s weekly hour-long segment The Week in Review, about the week in politics, policy, and international affairs. Today they focus on the premature reopening of much of the country in the midst of the pandemic, charges being dropped against Michael Flynn, newly released documents related to the Russiagate conspiracy theory, the ongoing explosion in unemployment, escalating US hostility towards China, and more. Brian and John speak with Sputnik News analysts and producers Walter Smolarek and Nicole Roussell.