Ray McGovern

Interview this morning covered what Putin and top aide Ushakov said earlier today about the upcoming summit, prospects for Ukraine, and how Ukraine must take a back seat to efforts to improve US-Russian relations.

Kremlin Readout Begins With Its Paramount Priority: Putin & Witkoff focused on Ukraine. “Once again, it was noted that Russia-US relations could be placed on a totally different, mutually beneficial footing, in stark contrast to relations in recent years.”

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/77725

BREAKING: Trump’s chest-thumping re upcoming summits w/Putin & later w/Zelensky is a climb-down from Trump’s Friday deadline for cockamamie sanctions. European leaders informed but excluded. Intel truth-teller on Ukraine: what’s a Deputy NIO? A case study.

MUST CLICK ON BOTH OF THESE LINKS: Patrick Lawrence had Russiagate figured out at the very start: https://salon.com/2016/07/25/shades_of_the_cold_war_how_the_dnc_fabricated_a_russian_hacker_conspiracy_to_deflect_blame_for_its_email_scandal/. Today, 9 yrs later, he documents the “regime of falsehoods and subterfuge” by Obama, Brennan, Comey, Clapper, et al. in 2016 and ff. https://consortiumnews.com/2025/08/04/patrick-lawrence-how-to-read-the-durham-appendix/

Discussed the Appendix https://consortiumnews.com/2025/08/01/ray-mcgovern-the-deep-states-burst-appendix/ that burst on July 30, when Sen. Grassley released classified Appendix of Durham’s long but toothless report. Appendix has chapter and verse on Clinton’s effort to tie Trump to Putin before the 2016 election.

Roger Waters summons the spirits of women martyrs – Rachel Corrie, Sheeren Abu Akleh, Sophie Scholl, Anne Frank – to penetrate perpetrators’ penthouses and help “Open Their Eyes”. Take heart, still with us are Medea Benjamin, Coleen Rowley, Ann Wright.

Aaron Matee gives hope for future of journalism. I was up previous night writing https://consortiumnews.com/2025/08/01/ray-mcgovern-the-deep-states-burst-appendix/, but reassurance came, in spades, when Aaron joined Garland & me. You may wish to begin w/min 27 to 30; if you watch the rest, you too will encouraged.

Clapper was hawking his memoir Hard Truths in Intelligence. In book he admits he found Iraqi WMD that “wasn’t really there.” (Transcript at https://raymcgovern.com/2019/01/06/transcript-when-clapper-was-asked-real-questions/ ) I charged him with doing likewise finding Russian hacking of DNC “that wasn’t really there”
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/08/02/clappers-claptrap/

Sen. Grassley showed some cojones in releasing the Appendix to John Durham’s anemic report on intelligence abuses in 2016. Turns out it was “Ambassador” Julianne Smith who persuaded Clinton to lie and blame Putin for “hacking” those embarrassing DNC emails
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/08/01/ray-mcgovern-the-deep-states-burst-appendix/