Background Briefing: March 4, 2019
The Vatican's Secret WWII Archives to Be Opened We begin with the announcement by the Vatican today that it would open its secret World War Two archives on the papacy of Pope Pius XII who has been accused of keeping silent about the genocide of the Jews by the...
Background Briefing: March 3, 2019
Deutsche Bank's Shady Relationship with Donald Trump We begin with the many mentions of Deutsche Bank in Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee last week and investigate Trump’s ties to the only major bank willing to lend him money after...
Background Briefing: February 28, 2019
Nuclear Powers India and Pakistan Go to the Brink with Nobody Minding the Store in Washington We begin with tensions between two nuclear powers India and Pakistan following an escalation in response to a suicide bombing that killed over 40 Indian troops in...
Background Briefing: February 27, 2019
Michael Cohen's Explosive Public Testimony Today We begin with the public testimony today by President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen before the House Oversight Committee in which Cohen expressed his contrition and shame for having been blindly...
Background Briefing: February 26, 2019
Trump Might Just Pull off a Big Deal in Hanoi We begin with the outline of a tentative deal between the U.S. and North Korea which might emerge from the talks underway in Hanoi between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un and speak with William Arkin, one of America’s...
Background Briefing: February 25, 2019
Hawks Running Trump's Venezuelan Policy Could Spark Civil War We begin with the dangerous Trump strategy of weaponizing humanitarian aid to Venezuela in support of the opposition to turn the Venezuelan military against the Maduro government. With no signs that...
Background Briefing: February 24, 2019
How Trump's Labor Secretary Got Trump's Friend Off Child Sex Abuse and Trafficking Charges We begin with the latest member of the team of grifters who make up Trump’s cabinet to have their seedy background exposed, this time its Alexander Acosta, the Secretary...
Background Briefing: February 21, 2019
Trump's Accomplices in Overturning Libel Laws We begin with President Trump’s escalation of his war on the press he calls “the enemy of the people”, a description he tweeted out on Wednesday in caps attacking The New York Times. Today he attacked the Washington...
Background Briefing: February 20, 2019
Breaking Stories on the Mueller Probe and Trump's Efforts to Thwart It We begin with news that the new Attorney General William Barr is preparing to release the Mueller report as early as next week but may hold back the results of the two-year-long...
Background Briefing: February 19, 2019
Trump Conflates Chaos in Venezuela with Socialism in America We begin with President Trump’s campaign rally in Miami on Presidents Day at which he fired up Latino voters with his attacks on Venezuela’s Maduro, conflating Maduro’s disastrous impoverishment of an...