Allegra Chapman: Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be Watched Closely for Biased or Unjust Conduct

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Attorney General Sessions Must be Watched Closely for Biased Conduct

Posted Feb. 15, 2017

Interview with Allegra Chapman, director of voting and elections with Common Cause, conducted by Scott Harris

By a 52 to 47 vote on Feb. 8, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions was confirmed by his Senate colleagues to become the U.S. attorney general. His narrow victory underscored the bitter controversy surrounding Sessions and the many charges against him for racial bias in speech and action – as well as holding homophobic views. Many civil rights and social justice groups who had opposed his nomination expressed dismay that Sessions will now become the nation's top law enforcement official, despite his long history of opposing civil rights and voting rights legislation, as well as measures advocating equal treatment of all Americans regardless of their race, religion or sexual orientation.

The bitterness of the fight was in full view when Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky used an arcane Senate rule to silence Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, when she attempted to read into the record a 1986 letter from the late Coretta Scott King, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, who had written to the senators urging them to reject the nomination of Sessions for a federal judgeship at the time, which they did.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Allegra Chapman, director of voting and elections with the national group Common Cause. Here, she discusses her group's response to the Senate confirmation of Jeff Sessions, the areas of greatest concern – and plans to ensure as attorney general is held accountable for any conduct determined to be biased or unjust. [Rush transcript.]

ALLEGRA CHAPMAN: So what we're most concerned with is that Jeff Sessions would just not be enforcing the remainder of the Voting Rights Act as it exists today. So, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act exists today and it's a really strong tool in order to ensure that laws that states try to pass not be permitted to stay on the books if they are in fact discriminatory, if they have a discriminatory impact. For Obama's Department of Justice, we saw them really pursue a lot of litigation or get involved in some cases in which discrimination when it comes to voting, was on the block. We are concerned that Jeff Sessions, especially considering everything that he said about the Voting Rights Act, would either oppose those really strong briefs from some cases, or just fail to pursue these sorts of lawsuits altogether. And that has a real impact for people on the ground. Some of these discriminatory laws, like photo ID laws, can affect hundreds of thousands of people in each state. For example in Texas, a court found a photo ID law was going to prevent 600,000 people from voting. In Wisconsin, a photo ID law, one of the courts said, could have impacted around 300,000 people. So, these are the kinds of things. They're not just theoretical issues. I think they really have impact on the ground and can ultimately prevent people from really participating in our democracy. I think this is a time right now where we're really calling more on people to really show up, vote, to be a part of their community, to participate. And when we see folks within the government trying to curb that and prevent that from happening, that's a real problem. And it's also an illegal one.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Allegra, Donald Trump, during his election campaign and since he's been sworn into office, has often talked about what he claims are instances of massive voter fraud with millions of illegal aliens voting and other ancillary charges that are unsupported by fact. Many of us call that a lie. At any rate, Donald Trump is making these claims. Are you concerned that this narrative will feed into more draconian voter suppression laws across the country – and specifically in those states governed by Republican governors and legislatures.

ALLEGRA CHAPMAN: Yeah, you bet I'm concerned. Many of us are concerned. And I'm glad to hear you and other reporters and journalists call this out for what it is, it is in fact a lie. You know there's just no proof that any of this has happened. In fact, a number of studies have been conducted over the years with respect to election issues and whether or not illegal voting takes place. Both the Department of Justice under George W. Bush in addition to the Department of Justice under Obama, plus a handful of other experts have studied have the issue. They have looked at the details of elections; they have studied ballots. And they can confirm resoundingly that the kind of illegalities that this sort of widespread voter fraud simply does not exist.

And yet, Trump said to a number of other people who are either trying to push his agenda or who are working for him continues to sound off this message.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Are you optimistic at all that Jeff Session will be more careful about the appearance of bias toward racial minorities and the LGBTQ community because of the scrutiny he received in the Senate confirmation hearings?

ALLEGRA CHAPMAN: You know, I think that's really an excellent question. All I can say is, I hope so. Common Cause has really engaged our membership on this issue. They have been following Jeff Sessions. They have been looking into his history even though he is now head of the Department of Justice, despite our best efforts. You know, we've called on our citizenry to continue to sort of watch Sessions and make sure that he abides by promises that he made to uphold the law, to enforce the law for all. And so we do have a "Watch Sessions" campaign for our membership. And I think, really, that's what people can and should be doing now. The way that you hold power accountable, the way that you hold your representatives accountable, or even those who are appointed to executive agencies, is by being the eyes and ears. And if we see that Jeff Sessions is not abiding by what is required of him by the job description, then this is something that we need the media to continue to kind of expound on. Ultimately, at the end of the day, things change during elections. But, we do want to stay vigilant.

Learn more about voting and elections with Common Cause at CommonCause.org and their new "Sessions Watch" webpage.