Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org, I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the

news. We'll begin with the explosive revelations in a documentary just aired on ZDF, the German

public television network that features a former FBI counterintelligence special agent

Jonathan Boomer who worked against Russian espionage penetration of Silicon Valley out of the Russian consulate

in San Francisco, which has been a key Soviet and Russian spying hub going back to World

War II and the Manhattan Project.

We'll investigate the allegations made by Jonathan Boomer that the Russians recruited Elon Musk,

whose drug-fueled libertine lifestyle,

was an invitation for blackmail.

We'll also assess the extent to which Trump's FBI, led by the delusional ideologue and

Trump worshipping Cash Patel and his deputy, the loony right-wing blogger Dan Bongino,

are trying to shut Boomer down and discredit him,

while Boomer has sought protection from the pressure to silence him

by running as a candidate for Congress in Arizona's 6th District.

Joining us is the lawyer for Jonathan Boomer, Scott Horton,

a former lecturer at Columbia Law School, and a contributing editor at

Harper's In Legal Affairs and National Security.

He serves on the American branch of the International Law Association and has represented a variety

of journalists and whistleblowers.

Then we'll look into the dangerous mismatch between our Constitution and today's nationalized partisan politics,

which has driven the U.S. two-party system away from competing for votes in the center,

leading to the increase in extremism and animosity in American politics.

...