Out of Control! Theresa May Calls for Europe-wide Witch Hunt vs. Russia

Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of ThePolemicist.net, and Alexander Mercouris, the editor in chief of The Duran.
British Prime Minister Theresa May will ask all European Union member countries to expel Russian diplomats in the wake of the poisoning of a Russian double agent in the UK. So far, no other country has agreed to do that, absent any evidence that Russia was involved in the poisoning. Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in an interview with Deutsche Welle that the UK laboratory Porton Down has samples of Novichok, rather than the nerve agent being solely in the hands of Russia.
Today, the weekly series “Criminal Injustice” continues, where the hosts discuss the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Today’s segment focuses on private prisons and prison profit. Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, and Paul Wright, the founder and executive eirector of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News, join the show.
Congressional leaders finalized details of the federal budget last night, and a vote could be scheduled as early as today. The agreement does nothing to help Dreamers, those undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children. Meanwhile, President Trump announced that the US will impose new tariffs on China worth $60 billion, raising further fears of a trade war. Brian and John speak with Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter and a columnist for CounterPunch, and Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek.
John Dowd, the head of President Trump’s legal team, resigned abruptly this morning, saying that the president was increasingly ignoring his advice. Specifically, Dowd recommended that Trump not agree to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller. Is this the beginning of a major strategy shift towards the Mueller investigation? Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the soon to be released book “The Plot to Attack Iran,” joins the show.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that he is “really sorry” that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm with ties to Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, accessed information from 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge, and may have kept the information even after Facebook insisted they delete it. Zuckerberg now faces a Congressional inquiry, as well as a lot of angry Facebook users. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins Brian and John.
Demonstrations and strikes paralyzed France today as labor unions organized dozens of marches across the country. Transportation, schools, and public services were all impacted. Strikers were answering the call of seven French unions to reject President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies. Gilbert Mercier, Editor in Chief of News Junkie Post and the author of “The Orwellian Empire,” joins the show.
Tuesday’s primary election in Illinois saw a greatly rejuvenated Democratic Party. But it also highlighted potential challenges for the left. Meanwhile, former presidential candidate and senator Bernie Sanders hosted an inequality town hall. Brian and John speak with Jacqueline and Abdus Luqman, co-editor-in-chiefs of Luqman Nation.