James Ridgeway, DC bureau chief for Mother Jones magazine, discusses his new article, “In Search of John Doe No. 2: The Story the Feds Never Told About the Oklahoma City Bombing;” the ordeal of Utah attorney Jesse Trentadue and his brother Kenneth, who was tortured and murdered by government agents in his Oklahoma prison cell in a case of mistaken identity – they thought he was Richard Guthrie (likely one of the many neo-Nazi “John Does” involved in the Oklahoma City bombing), the Treasury and Justice Department informants inside the plot, complicity by the media and Congress in the cover-up, the DoJ’s prosecution of their own best witness in order to obstruct justice in the McVeigh and Nichols trials, and the possible role of former German army officer Andreas Strassmeir.
James Ridgeway is Mother Jones’ Washington bureau chief. A longtime Washington correspondent for the Village Voice, Ridgeway helped launch the modern muckraking era when he revealed that General Motors had hired private eyes to spy on a then-obscure consumer advocate named Ralph Nader. The expose prompted hearings on Capitol Hill (in which G.M. President James Roche was eventually forced to apologize to Nader) and made Nader’s book, “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a bestseller.
Ridgeway has written 16 books, including 2005’s “The Five Unanswered Questions About 9/11.” His broad-based national reporting has appeared in publications ranging from Harper’s to The Economist and the New York Times Magazine. He is known for his writing on the American right wing, from the mainstream conservative movement to the far right. He has also reported many international stories, including the coup in Haiti and the democratic revolution in Eastern Europe. Ridgeway co-directed “Blood in the Face,” a companion film to his book by the same name, as well as “Feed,” a documentary on the 1992 presidential campaign. Recently he launched Ridgewayng.com, a web site for short news videos.
See Also: Jesse Trentadue and Mother Jones’ document stash.
The Secret Life of Bill Clinton by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Scott’s Complete OKC soundbite file.
Scott’s 4 interviews of recently deceased investigative reporter J.D. Cash here.)