Uncover the shadows of history and the fractures of modern power on the DeProgram show with political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou. Tune in as Ted and John dissect today's bombshell disclosures.
- CIA Cover-Up in JFK Assassination Probe: Former CIA historian, Thomas L. Pearcy, steps forward as a whistleblower for the first time, exposing a secret 50-page inspector general's report from 1978 in which the CIA brags about misleading Congress about Lee Harvey Oswald's Mexico City activities before Kennedy's slaying. Pearcy, now a professor at Slippery Rock University, stumbled upon the document in a secure CIA safe room in 2009 while researching Latin American policy; it details how officers handed over "sanitized" duplicates of files to House Select Committee chief counsel Robert Blakey, deleting key evidence and prompting a CIA memo mocking Blakey's "incurious" review after just 20-30 minutes per volume. As the 62nd anniversary of the stunning assassination approaches Saturday, Trump's pledge to release all JFK records under the 1992 Act comes under scrutiny, with the CIA claiming commitment to transparency despite withholding photos, films, and admissions of monitoring Oswald via agent George Joannides—fueling calls from experts like Jefferson Morley for immediate declassification of this blueprint for lying to the public.
- Ambassador Huckabee's Secret Meeting with Spy Pollard: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee hosts Jonathan J. Pollard, the convicted Cold War spy who served 30 years for leaking classified intel to Israel, in a clandestine July gathering at the Jerusalem Embassy that blindsides the White House and CIA. Pollard, 71 and now eyeing a right-wing Knesset run while pushing Gaza annexation, describes the off-schedule encounter as "friendly," marking his first U.S. government-hosted meeting since 2015 parole; Huckabee, courting Israel's right wing, thanks Pollard for past advocacy without detailing discussions that touch on Trump's Saudi arms deals. Critics like ex-Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer decry the breach of protocol, questioning rehabilitation of a traitor who embraces "Israel first" over America, especially after Huckabee's prior hosting of sanctioned far-right ministers—exposing deepening rifts in U.S.-Israel diplomacy.
- Trump-Mamdani Oval Office Showdown: Trump confirms a Friday sit-down in the Oval Office with New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist who surged from Queens lawmaker to victory on an affordability platform backed by over a million voters. After months of Trump's "communist" smears, deportation threats, and vows to slash federal funds, this customary-yet-charged meeting shifts toward shared rhetoric on economic security and public safety, following Republican election setbacks in key states. Mamdani, a naturalized Ugandan-American, pledges to "Trump-proof" the city while collaborating where it benefits New Yorkers, testing detente amid Trump's recent pivot to affordability as the "Party of Affordability!"—highlighting clashing visions for urban America.