Mickey welcomes independent journalist Kevin Gosztola of Shadowproof.com to discuss the importance of whistleblowers for journalists and why they need to be protected not prosecuted. Kevin shares updates regarding Julian Assange’s case, Reality Winner, and Daniel Hale, who was recently sentenced to 45 months in prison for revealing the alarming number of innocent civilians being killed by drone strikes abroad.
Then, former congressional candidate Shahid Buttar and Gloria Berry, member of SF Democratic County Central Committee, join the program to discuss fallout from Buttar’s historic run against House speaker Nancy Pelosi, including what they claim have been false or misleading accusations and orchestrated retaliation against him– including by some of his former supporters, the Democratic Party machine, and the media– that have more to do with his progressive politics and his challenging the the powers that be than alleged claims of personal misconduct (which have been refuted and he has denied). The guests also discuss the importance of whistleblowers coming forward to expose the truth, not only in this case, but their importance nationally.
Kevin Gosztola is a writer and publisher for Shadowproof.com. He curates a subscription newsletter, “The Dissenter,” and hosts “The Dissenter Weekly.” Both cover whistleblower stories extensively. He also co-hosts the “Unauthorized Disclosure” weekly podcast with journalist Rania Khalek and contributed a chapter to the book, In Defense Of Julian Assange from OR Books.
Shahid Buttar is a civil-rights lawyer, and has worked at the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (now part of Defending Rights and Dissent) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In the 2020 election, he challenged long-time incumbent Nancy Pelosi for her seat in California’s 12th District (San Francisco), picking up some 80,000 votes. Gloria Berry is a Navy veteran, the founder of a womens’ mentoring organization, and is a member of the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee. She’s documented some key details of Buttar’s case in her article, “White Supremacy in San Francisco: How racism plays out still doesn’t seem to be understood.“