About this episode
The episode discusses the need for new laws to protect elections from political lies, featuring insights from former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissman.
US presidents have always told lies. Richard Nixon famously lied to Congress over his knowledge of the Watergate scandal while Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives after declaring that he did not have “sexual relations” with Monica Lewinsky. How much does the American public care about politicians lying and could a new law stop it from happening? In today’s Americast, Justin and Sarah speak to a former federal prosecutor who wants to hold politicians accountable if their lies damage democracy. Andrew Weissman played a major role in former FBI director Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and now believes the US should bring in laws to protect elections from lies. HOSTS: • Sarah Smith, North America Editor • Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter GET IN TOUCH: • Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB • Send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 9480 • Email Americast@bbc.co.uk • Or use #Americast This episode was made by George Dabby with Tom Gillett, Grace Reeve and Oscar Pearson. The technical producer was Rohan Madison. The series producer is George Dabby. The senior news…
People in this episode
Hosts: Sarah Smith, Justin Webb
Guest: Andrew Weissman
Topics covered
- election laws
- political accountability
- politicians lying
- democracy
- US politics
Keywords
- elections
- politicians
- lies
- accountability
- democracy
- law
- US politics
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: FBI, BBC, BBC News
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