Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
If you appreciate Parallax Views and the work of J.G. Michael please consider supporting the show through Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/parallaxviews
On this edition of Parallax Views, in late January 2021 it was reported by such legacy media outlets as Reuters, The New York Times, and The Washington Post that Enrique Tarrio, a leader of the far-right Proud Boys, had acted as an informant for both local and federal law enforcement from 2012-2014. Tarrio was arrested in Washington, D.C. on January 4th, just two days prior to the now infamous January 6th storming of the Capitol carried about by pro-Trump elements like QAnon and "Stop the Steal", on a destruction of property charge. This, however, was not the Cuban-American Proud Boy leader's first arrest and, indeed, Tarrio has prior arrest and convictions to his name dating back to 2004. Based on transcripts from a 2015 federal court hearing obtained by the new agency Reuters, journalist Aram Roston reported:
"In the Miami hearing, a federal prosecutor, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and Tarrio’s own lawyer described his undercover work and said he had helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling."
Tarrio has denied acting as an informant for law enforcement. But, given the evidence, it would appear that Tarrio's denials contradict the reality. Although his cooperation with federal law enforcement predates the January 6th Capitol siege, does Tarrio's work as an informant raise questions about how the FBI operates its confidential sources? Ret. FBI Special Agent Coleen Rowley, most known for her whistleblowing in relation to 9/11 intelligence failures culminating in her testifying before the Senate and 9/11 Commission and appearing on the cover of TIME magazine, joins us to discuss what she refers to as "problematic issues of operating confidential sources" in light of these revelations about Enrique Tarrio as outlined in her recent op-ed "Curiouser and Curiouser: The Proud Boys’ Leader as a ‘Prolific’ Law Enforcement Confidential Source".
In this conversation we discuss a number of issues related to the broader problem of how confidential sources are used in the FBI including:
- J. Edgard Hoover, COINTELPRO, and the FBI targeting of feminist and civil rights groups; the fall-out the FBI faced over the Church Committee investigation into these matters; Rowley's insight into these matters as someone who began working for the FBI around the time of the Church Committee fallout
- The infamous case of Whitey Bulger, the Irish-American Boston organized crime boss who also acted as an informant for federal law enforcement
- The motivations of confidential sources; the "Good Citizen" category; the problem of confidential sources that don't fit the "Good Citizen" category (which Coleen argues is most cases)
- The story of Lindley DeVecchio, Coleen's former boss, who acted as the handler for mob informants; DeVecchio was responsible for Colombo crime family capo Gregory Scarpa
- The Department of Justice Inspector General 2005 study and 2019 audit that reveal the problems of how informants are operated by federal law enforcement; the incentives for informants and problems that arise from that
- Investigative journalist Trevor Aaronson's "The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Maufactured War on Terrorism" and how federal agencies benefit from these post-911/War on Terror operations involving confidential sources
- Is there adequate control or oversight with regards to the use of these confidential sources and informants by the FBI?
- The possibility for reform
- And much, much more!
The Future of Israelis & Palestinians Are Intertwined: Peter Beinart on His Belief in a Single Democratic State, Gaza, and More
Diplomacy, Israel/Palestine, and the Action Biden Must Take on Gaza w/ Amb. Patrick Theros
The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War w/ Jeff Sharlet
Israel, Democracy, Israeli Public Opinion Polling/Surveys, and the Confederal Approach to Israel/Palestine w/ Dahlia Scheindlin
What History Says About How the Gaza War Will End w/ Ian Lustick
RFK Jr.'s Former Foreign Policy Advisor James R. Webb on Gaza, Risks of Regional War, Israel/Palestine, and U.S. Foreign Policy
The Sordid Saga of Jeffrey Epstein Revisited w/ Nick Bryant, the Reporter Who Published Epstein’s Little Black Book
Dimes Square Demons w/ Matthew Gasda
The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance (On Zionism, Israel, Anti-Zionism, Jewish Identity, and More) w/ Shaul Magid
The Curious Case of the Attack on Jerusalem’s Armenian Community (+ Discussion of the Occupation, the Two-State Solution, One-State Reality, and More) w/ Daniel Seidemann
The No-State Solution: A Jewish Manifesto w/ Prof. Daniel Boyarin
The Gaza War, Israel & the 1948 Expulsion of Palestinians, the Suppression of the Tantura Massacre, and More w/ Ilan Pappe
The Transformation of the Israel-Palestine Conflict and the Erosion of the Two-State Paradigm w/ Amb. Karim Haggag
The Israeli Bombardment of Gaza and Genocide w/ Raz Segal
Israel/Palestine from a DSA Perspective w/ Yaseen Al-Sheikh/Further Thoughts on Gaza w/ Filmmaker and Activist Frank Barat
Israel’s Bombing of Gaza, Henry Kissinger’s Booger-gate Moment, Alexander Cockburn Vs. the Israel Lobby Revisited, & Sen. Bob Menendez Skullduggery w/ Ken Silverstein
Israel’s Failed Bombing Campaign in Gaza and the Logic of Terrorism w/ Prof. Robert A. Pape
Networked Tribal Warfare, Israel, and the Gaza War w/ John Robb
Two Perspectives on Henry Kissinger w/ Michael Desch and Tim Shorrock
The ADL’s Forgotten Spy Ring Scandal and the South African Apartheid Regime w/ Mark Ames
Join Podbean Ads Marketplace and connect with engaged listeners.
Advertise Today
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Greece Travel Secrets Podcast
That Park Life: a Disney World Podcast
Ghostlore of Hawaii: Paranormal Paradise
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL