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[audio https://www.peterbcollins.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Leopold.mp3]Jason Leopold, an independent investigative reporter who freelances for al Jazeera and Vice, updates us on the Senate report about CIA rendition, torture and detention and the news that CIA Director Brennan’s fiery comments in March, denying that CIA improperly spied on Senate staffers, were false.Click here for free audiobook download from Audible, and earn $15 for the PBC Podcast!
Leopold is actively reporting on many important stories right now. Our interview was delayed a couple of hours after news broke of CIA Director Brennan’s apology to Senate Intel chair Dianne Feinstein for his inaccurate denials and countercharges against Senate staffers, so that he could report on it for Vice. Leopold explains that the CIA Inspector General found that CIA personnel had monitored hard drives and computers used in the “review” of past CIA practices, in violation of several laws. We discuss the recent reports that key managers of the torture programs–including ex-Director George Tenet, have been invited by Brennan to help redact and sanitize the Senate’s report, which is expected to be partially released soon. We talk about other aspects that have surfaced, including the use of Britain’s Indian Ocean base at Diego Garcia as a black site, and the pre-fab spin of the State Department that’s being rehearsed. Leopold, who has produced the most comprehensive reports on Abu Zubaydeh, comments on the European court ruling that ordered Poland to pay damages to Zubaydeh because he was held and tortured in Poland by American operatives. And he talks about his latest FOIA effort to force former NSA chief Keith Alexander to disclose his finances, as he is already making big bucks as a consultant.
We refer to his recent story about an unusual State Department whistleblower, John Tye; and about the letter to federal Judge Gladys Kessler from a hunger striker at Guantanamo.