[2] McGovern's post-retirement work includes commenting for RT and Sputnik News, which are funded and controlled by the Russian government, and other outlets on intelligence and foreign policy issues.

According to the group's press release, McGovern served symbolic "war crimes indictments" on the Bush White House from a "people's tribunal."

On October 9, 2013, McGovern, along with three former winners, presented the Sam Adams Award for integrity in intelligence to Edward Snowden in a Moscow ceremony.

[17] In September 2015, McGovern and 27 other members of VIPS steering group wrote a letter to President Barack Obama lambasting Rebuttal: The CIA Responds to the Senate Intelligence Committee's Study of Its Detention and Interrogation, a then-recently published book that challenged the report of the United States Senate Intelligence Committee on the CIA's use of torture.

[citation needed] In December 2015, McGovern participated in Russian state media outlet RT's tenth anniversary celebration, alongside then-retired director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn and frequent Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, hosted by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

[24] In 2014, McGovern was arrested by the New York City police department at a private event where former CIA director and retired Army General David Petraeus was giving a speech.

[28][29] In a 2003 interview with the UK's Independent newspaper, McGovern said that Lyndon B. Johnson seized on the Gulf of Tonkin incident as a "spur-of-the-moment thing" rather than as part of a calculated drive to war.

[9] A Catholic from birth,[30] McGovern was highly critical of Pope John Paul II conservative stance on women's rights in church.

He participated in Cursillo, and was district president of Bread for the City, but by standing during mass for several weeks he protested against the teaching on sex roles and sexual ethics which to him seemed oppressive.

[31] McGovern sharply criticised the 2003 invasion of Iraq and its justification by the Bush administration, which he described as a "very calculated, 18-month, orchestrated, incredibly cynical campaign of lies that we've seen to justify a war".

[9] McGovern testified at a Democratic National Headquarters forum in 2005 that had been convened by Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) of the House Judiciary Committee on the Downing Street memo.

[34][non-primary source needed] When asked the same year whether Julian Assange was a journalist, he replied to the CNN reporter: "Yeah, actually, with all due respect, I think you should be following his example.

"[35][non-primary source needed] In 2010, he co-wrote an open letter of support for WikiLeaks and Assange, with Coleen Rowley, Lawrence Wilkerson, Craig Murray and others.

With William Binney, McGovern released a VIPS report in support of his theory, which was taken up by The Nation and other outlets[41] and promoted by Russian state media.