Ep 124 The Kremlin Spy & Russiagate feat Aaron Maté

Guest: Aaron Maté. We talk about the latest Russiagate “bombshell” story that revealed the identity and Washington, DC area location of a Kremlin spy, Oleg Smolenkov, and claimed that he provided intelligence proving that Vladimir Putin ordered an election influence operation favoring Donald Trump. Also we discuss the machinations of former CIA DirectorJohn Brennan, the Barr and Durham investigation of the investigators and the political ramifications of Russiagate overall.  Aaron is the host of the Pushback With Aaron Maté show at the Grayzone and a contributing writer at The Nation.  FOLLOW Aaron on Twitter @aaronjmate, subscribe to his show Pushback with Aaron Maté at the Grayzone channel on YouTube and support him at Patreon. Around the Empire is listener supported, independent media. Pitch in at Patreon: patreon.com/aroundtheempire or paypal.me/aroundtheempirepod. Find all links at aroundtheempire.com.  SUBSCRIBE on YouTube. FOLLOW @aroundtheempire and @joanneleon. SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW on iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Google Play, Facebook or on your preferred podcast app. Recorded on September 15, 2019. Music by Fluorescent Grey. Reference Links: Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017, CNN, Jim Sciutto C.I.A. Informant Extracted From Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades, NYT, David Sanger Possible Russian spy for CIA now living in Washington area, NBC, Ken Dilanian CIA slams CNN's 'misguided' and 'simply false' reporting on alleged CIA spy's extraction from Kremlin, Fox News, Gregg Re Kremlin says reported U.S. spy in Russian president's office was fired years ago, Reuters Loud and Clear radio show 9/10/19