US Attorney General William Barr told the House Judiciary Committee that he would not show up for a scheduled hearing Thursday about special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Also on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Barr of committing a crime by lying to Congress about Mueller's report and Mueller's issues with how Barr has characterized the special counsel's findings. How far are Democrats willing to take this? Are they overplaying their hand?
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza wrote on Twitter Thursday that the US government must "comply with its obligations as signatories to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations" and act to protect Caracas' former embassy building in Washington, DC. "We require the US Department of State to comply with its obligations as signatories to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and to protect the building of the former Venezuelan embassy in Washington, as our government protects its facilities in Caracas," Arreaza wrote on Twitter. We went live to the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC, for an update on the protests. What's going on right now?
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange won't surrender to a US extradition request. Assange refused to surrender during a hearing in London Thursday. It's the first of several hearings where he'll fight extradition for his alleged role in the release of hundreds of thousands of classified US government documents. The Justice Department calls it one of the largest compromises of classified information in US history. Assange is being held behind bars after he was arrested at Ecuador's London embassy last month for skipping bail.
GUESTS:
Daniel Lazare — Journalist and author of three books: "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America's Undeclared War."
Jim Kavanagh — Political analyst and commentator and editor of The Polemicist.
Walter Smolarek — Producer for Radio Sputnik's Loud and Clear.
We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com