In response to charges that he illegally interfered with the 2020 election and improperly retained presidential records, Trump insisted that he was entitled to do whatever he wanted based on preposterous claims.
FOIA has no teeth and bureaucrats abuse its exemptions. Just redact and release every federal workers' emails instead.
The decision agreed with Trump that Special Counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed, which could have positive downstream effects for the rest of us, as well.
Plus: A listener asks if there are any libertarian solutions to rising obesity rates.
DeSantis' chief of staff used a personal phone to coordinate migrant flights to Martha's Vineyard. Now DeSantis' lawyers say those phone logs should be secret.
Sen. Rand Paul explains why FOIA litigation shouldn’t have been necessary to find this out.
At yesterday's congressional hearing, the former NIAID director played word games and shifted blame in an effort to dismiss credible claims that his agency funded work that caused the pandemic.
Julian Assange and Priscilla Villarreal were both arrested for publishing information that government officials wanted to conceal.
It took the Air Force four years to release redacted records of its quest to create spiffy new uniforms for the newest branch of the military.
During a congressional hearing, the former special counsel caught flak from Democrats outraged by his legally mitigating but politically damaging portrayal of the president.
An AP survey found that most states have no mechanism to appeal denials of records requests, outside of filing a lawsuit.
His lawyers assert presidential immunity and discretion, criticize an "unconstitutionally vague" statute, and question the special counsel's legal status.
The WikiLeaks founder already has spent as much time in a London prison as DOJ lawyers say he is likely to serve if convicted in the U.S.
Unlike Biden's conduct, Special Counsel Robert Hur notes, the document-related charges against Trump feature "serious aggravating facts."
Cabinet officials often use pseudonymous email accounts, but declaring them secret from records requests is another matter altogether.
The former president suggests he was not obliged to obey a subpoena seeking classified records.
The nature of their conduct is a better indicator of the punishment they deserve.
Plus: A listener question concerning drug decriminalization and social well-being
While it remains unclear how sensitive the documents he retained were, his attempts to conceal them are easier to prove.
Plus: Moralism is ruining cultural criticism, Biden administration mandates bigger plane bathrooms, and more...
Massachusetts reformed its notoriously bad public records laws in 2020, but reporters are still fighting to get the police misconduct files they're legally entitled to.
By taking records that did not belong to him and refusing to return them, William Barr says, Trump "provoked this whole problem himself."
There's no deep mystery behind why Trump kept boxes of classified documents. He wanted them.
The former president's retention of classified documents looks willful and arguably endangered national security.
Plus: A rundown of recent nonsensical proposals for constitutional amendments
Government officials have neither the right nor the credibility to stand in the way.
The feds allege the former president was keeping classified documents on America's nuclear program and defense capabilities in his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The recorded comments could be relevant to a charge that the former president willfully mishandled national defense information.
Despite some headway in protecting privacy, the surveillance state hasn’t gone away.
Never underestimate officials’ ability to turn embarrassing moments into awful opportunities.
It's been nearly three years since New York repealed its police secrecy law, and departments are still fighting to hide misconduct records.
Even if you despise the media, you should be rooting for better public record laws.
Many Democrats and Republicans were outraged when Trump and Biden respectively were found with classified documents. But both sides are missing the point.
If Trump's handling of government secrets was "totally irresponsible," how should we describe Biden's conduct?
Plus: The editors field a listener question on college admissions and affirmative action.
It's not Trump vs. Biden: High officials play fast and loose with government secrets, but only regular people face harsh penalties.
Prosecuting Trump for keeping government records at Mar-a-Lago now seems doomed for political as well as legal reasons.
In both cases, proving criminal intent would be a tall order.
The director worries that the public doesn't trust his spy agency.
A law to protect people engaged in journalism from having to reveal sources gets blocked by Sen. Tom Cotton.
San Antonio's city manager said the case illustrated how hard it is to fire employees, but it also shows how hard it is for them to stay fired.
Now the officer is trying to keep his identity secret under a state law intended to protect crime victims.
A senator and two congressmen team up to help protect whistleblowers from vindictive prosecution.
After community outrage and the mayor saying he wasn't told about Timothy Loehmann's policing background, the officer withdrew his application.
They shot and killed a man they were trying to evict. Doesn’t the public have the right to know who they are?
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