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Attorney Carl Mayer Talks About Chris Hedges’ Suit Against Obama; Journalist Jason Leopold Exposes FBI “Blackballing” of FOIA Requests

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Preview

Attorney Carl J. Mayer talks about the suit he filed against President Obama for journalist/activist Chris Hedges; Truthout investigative reporter Jason Leopold has proof that the FBI “blackballs” some FOIA requests.  Mayer, who also represents PBC in a class action suit challenging the illegal domestic wiretapping, returns to talk about his new suit that calls the “Homeland Battlefield Act” embedded in the NDAA that Obama signed 12/31/11 unconstitutional.  The plaintiff is Chris Hedges, former Mideast bureau chief for the New York Times; he has been a strong supporter of the Occupy movement and provides some of its intellectual affirmation.  Mayer calls the NDAA “the most cynical act” of the Obama term, deploring Obama’s signing statement and various efforts to confuse and mislead us about the true impact of the bill.  Mayer details the potential for Hedges, who has been in contact with groups tagged as terrorists, to be held indefinitely without charge in military custody, renditioned to another country, or sent to Guantanamo.  This is a very important case, and Mayer may seek an injunction to prevent the new law from taking effect in March.

At 41:19, Leopold joins us to describe how he learned of the FBI’s secret “blackballing” policies–he filed a FOIA request for FBI documents on the Occupy movement, and was contacted by history professor Trevor Griffey, who had been sent an FBI powerpoint file that details the secret policy–which appears to violate the FOIA law.  Read the article here.