Greg Palast's Blog, page 26

The darkness is falling on Afghanistan, and we are responsible

Just Peace's Heather Gray and Ernest Dunkley talk to Palast about his article, “My Own Forever War: Afghanistan and 9-11”. The trio also discuss the culpability of the United States for the current situation in Afghanistan and what we should do to help the people of this troubled nation who now find themselves living under Taliban rule. ... READ MORE

Roger Waters: Hey, Judge, Leave Donziger Alone

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame attended the trial and persecution of Steven Donziger, the human rights lawyer who defended the Cofan indigenous people of the Amazon against Chevron Oil. Waters actually sat through several days of the trials, horrified at the... READ MORE

Ali Alexander subpoenaed by CongressExposed as instigator behind illegal Jan 6 march on Capitol

Today, Congress finally subpoenaed Ali Alexander, whom our investigation exposed as the instigator of the illegal January 6 march on the capitol. We had, on January 8 also disclosed that the Georgia Republican Party had officially sponsored Alexander despite his threats of violence if Trump were not declared re-elected. The Select Committee to Investigative the January 6th Attack filed... READ MORE

Human rights lawyer sentenced to prison despite UN order to release him immediately

Human rights lawyer Steven Donziger has been sentenced to prison for 6 months, despite an order to release him by the United Nations Human Rights Commission judicial panel. The prosecution for Contempt of Court is Donziger's punishment for winning a $9 billion judgment against Chevron for destroying the Amazon with oil sludge — and literally killing Cofan indigenous people, Donziger’s clients ... READ MORE

Chevron: A Smoking Gun and a Cover Up

In 2011, an Ecuadorian court ordered Chevron to pay $9.5 billion for the poisoning of indigenous lands. The courts found that Chevron’s Texaco operation had illegally dumped 16 billion gallons of deadly oil waste.The smoking gun? This confidential document, in which the Chairman of Chevron Oil’s Texaco division personally orders that incriminating evidence of oil sludge dumping in Ecuador be “removed…and destroyed.” ... READ MORE

Steven Donziger sentenced to six months in prison

[Oct 1, 2021: New York] Human rights lawyer Steven Donziger was sentenced to six months in prison today for contempt of court. For the first time in US history in such a case, he was prosecuted not by the US Justice Department, but by a private attorney who worked for Chevron. He received the maximum sentence for... READ MORE

Steven Donziger: Why I SmilePalast interviews human rights lawyer ahead of sentencing

On the eve of his sentencing, human rights lawyer, Steven Donziger, who fought Chevron oil and its destruction of the indigenous lands of the Amazon spoke to me about why, despite being destroyed by the oil company, he is... READ MORE

Fact Injection: Donziger v. Chevron

This is the first time in history that a private corporation has criminally prosecuted a U.S. citizen. In an unprecedented move, a judge asked Chevron's lawyers to prosecute Donziger for criminal contempt — after the Department of Justice had refused to do so. No jury would convict Donziger, so the judge refused him a jury trial and found him guilty. On October 1 this judge is going to sentence Donziger. He could get six months in jail—on top of the two years he's already served under house arrest—so I want you to... READ MORE

The Cheese Smelled Funny So We Threw It in the JungleVultures' Picnic: Chapter 5

I ended up out here in the rain forest half by accident. I had some confidential papers from the World Bank I intended to give to Ecuador’s President. But, going through the documents, it was clear that there was no way to understand Ecuador, which had just rejoined OPEC, without first following the oil. And following the oil meant going into the oil fields in the jungle and grilling the Natives about their claims of illnesses and deaths ... READ MORE

Few Show Up For “Justice” at Rally in Support of Jan 6 Rioters

[Sept 18, 2021: Washington, D.C.] It was a spectacular fizzle.  While Washington’s Capitol Police had prepared for a massive, potentially violent gathering of supporters of the imprisoned January 6 rioters, only a few dozen showed up—outnumbered five to one by... READ MORE