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Government secrecy

Joe and Jill Biden

Government secrecy

'There's Nothing There,' Biden Said the Day Before the FBI Found More Classified Documents in His House

If Trump's handling of government secrets was "totally irresponsible," how should we describe Biden's conduct?

Jacob Sullum | 1.23.2023 2:45 PM

President Biden thumbs up

Affirmative Action

Yet Another Shady, Hypocritical Document Hoarder

Plus: The editors field a listener question on college admissions and affirmative action.

Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and Peter Suderman | 1.17.2023 5:10 PM

Reality Winner in federal custody in 2018

Government secrecy

With Classified Documents, the Real Divide Is Between the Powerful and the Rest of Us

It's not Trump vs. Biden: High officials play fast and loose with government secrets, but only regular people face harsh penalties.

J.D. Tuccille | 1.16.2023 7:00 AM

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks

Joe Biden

Biden Looks Careless, Shady, and Hypocritical After the Revelations About His Handling of Classified Material

Prosecuting Trump for keeping government records at Mar-a-Lago now seems doomed for political as well as legal reasons.

Jacob Sullum | 1.13.2023 3:20 PM

Joe Biden steps off of Air Force One

Joe Biden

Like Trump, Biden Had a Private Stash of Secret Documents, but It Was Much Less Impressive

In both cases, proving criminal intent would be a tall order.

Jacob Sullum | 1.10.2023 5:55 PM

topicspodcast

Podcasts

Review: Why Does the CIA Need a Podcast?

The director worries that the public doesn't trust his spy agency.

Joe Lancaster | 12.30.2022 6:30 AM

Secret source under government surveillance

Congress

A New Federal Press Shield Bill Falters Just Before the Finish Line in Congress

A law to protect people engaged in journalism from having to reveal sources gets blocked by Sen. Tom Cotton.

Scott Shackford | 12.23.2022 8:00 AM

Fired officer Matthew Luckhurst

Police

Cop Fired for Offering a Homeless Man a Shit Sandwich Rehired by Nearby Town

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.

Joe Lancaster | 12.15.2022 2:40 PM

Body camera footage and mugshot of Kevin Mahan

Police

Florida Officer Shoots and Kills Man Mid-Sentence for Refusing To Drop an Axe

Now the officer is trying to keep his identity secret under a state law intended to protect crime victims.

Scott Shackford | 12.13.2022 11:55 AM

Assange protest poster

Whistleblowers

Proposed Bill Would Protect Journalists Like Julian Assange From Espionage Charges

A senator and two congressmen team up to help protect whistleblowers from vindictive prosecution.

Scott Shackford | 8.1.2022 2:05 PM

Tamir Rice

Police Abuse

Cop Who Killed Tamir Rice Briefly Hired by Small Pennsylvania Town

After community outrage and the mayor saying he wasn't told about Timothy Loehmann's policing background, the officer withdrew his application.

Scott Shackford | 7.7.2022 2:00 PM

Locked up newspaper

Marsy's Law

Florida Officials Use a Victim's Rights Law To Stop a Newspaper from Printing Deputies' Names

They shot and killed a man they were trying to evict. Doesn’t the public have the right to know who they are?

Scott Shackford | 6.15.2022 1:45 PM

Government Spending

The Feds Spent $22 Million Researching Invisibility Cloaks, UFOs, and a Tunnel Through the Moon

However wonderful it is to imagine a world in which these things are possible, the government shouldn’t be shelling out millions to entertain speculation.

Fiona Harrigan | 4.20.2022 4:35 PM

borderpatrol_1161x653

Border patrol

Why Does Border Patrol Need the Ability To Delete Messages?

A lawsuit attempts to find out how federal agents are implementing Wickr, a communications service that has an auto-erase function.

Scott Shackford | 4.4.2022 2:15 PM

CIA_1161x653

Surveillance

New Report Highlights an Old Problem—the CIA Is Still Snooping on Americans

In a program separate from the ones disclosed by Edward Snowden, we see more mass secret domestic data collection.

Scott Shackford | 2.11.2022 11:55 AM

dronestrike_1161x653

Drones

Released Video Footage Shows Disastrous U.S. Drone Strike That Killed Kabul Family

Surveillance clearly shows children nearby as strike was called on man mistaken for a terrorist.

Scott Shackford | 1.19.2022 5:10 PM

dronestrike_1161x653

Drones

Will America's Military Reckon with the Reckless Murders Perpetuated by Its Drone Wars?

A new, heavily investigated report shows a Pentagon uninterested in correcting its deadly errors.

Scott Shackford | 12.20.2021 2:30 PM

jamescomey_1161x653

FBI

Don't Worship an FBI That Took the Steele Dossier Seriously

Why trust an agency that conceals information from judges but prosecutes us for lying to it?

Scott Shackford | 11.17.2021 3:20 PM

covphotos179183

Executive Power

A Federal Judge Denied Trump's Claims of Permanent Executive Privilege

In denying the former president's claims of executive privilege, a federal judge sets a blueprint which should apply to sitting presidents as well.

Joe Lancaster | 11.17.2021 9:45 AM

snowdenprotesters_1161x653

Surveillance

Supreme Court Rebuffs Attempt To Open Up Access to Classified FISA Court Reports

Do Americans have a right to know the extent that the government surveils them?

Scott Shackford | 11.1.2021 1:35 PM

FBIFISA_1161x653

FISA

The FBI's Secret FISA Court Surveillance Applications Are Chock Full of Screw-Ups

More than 400 problems were found with 29 warrant requests, twice the number previously revealed.

Scott Shackford | 10.1.2021 1:15 PM

ferguson-sniper

9/11

Federal Grants Brought the Equipment of the War on Terror Home to American Police Departments

Twenty years after 9/11, weaponry and surveillance gear originally developed for the military have become commonplace in police departments around the country.

C.J. Ciaramella | 9.9.2021 3:49 PM

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Drones

Daniel Hale Revealed America's Drone Assassinations to the Public. He's Been Sentenced to 45 Months in Prison.

Federal espionage laws are used once again to punish a whistleblower.

Scott Shackford | 7.28.2021 1:00 PM

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Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo Reportedly Secured Special Treatment for Family Members and VIPs During Early Days of Pandemic

He should've focused on containing nursing home COVID spread, not getting VIP treatment for penthouse-dwelling Manhattanites (and his own family members).

Liz Wolfe | 3.25.2021 11:05 AM

cuomo

Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo's Other Victims

How New York's governor botched early-pandemic guidance to residential care facilities for intellectually disabled adults

Liz Wolfe | 3.12.2021 12:40 PM

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Russia Probe

The Michael Flynn Unmasking Fight Is Another Chance for More Transparency About Secret Government Surveillance

People insisted the wiretapping of Carter Page was perfectly normal. That turned out to be wrong.

Scott Shackford | 5.15.2020 3:15 PM

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Edward Snowden

The Feds Get Permission To Seize Edward Snowden's Book Profits

A judge rules whistleblower’s failure to subject Permanent Record to pre-publication review violates non-disclosure agreement.

Scott Shackford | 12.18.2019 12:50 PM

sydney_1161x653

Journalism

Australian Police Raided a Newsroom and a Journalist's Home for Reporting on Government Secrets

The police conducted two searches in two days to track down who is leaking things leaders don’t want the public to know.

Scott Shackford | 6.5.2019 12:55 PM

Julian-Assange-Newscom-cropped

Julian Assange

The Assange Exception to the First Amendment

Freedom of the press is not limited to "legitimate journalists."

Jacob Sullum | 4.17.2019 12:01 AM

Large image on homepages

TSA

Air Marshals Secretly Followed an Artsy Virginia Mom on Flights to Make Sure She Wasn't Going to Destroy America

More details emerge on TSA's secret, suspicionless surveillance of certain American travelers.

Scott Shackford | 8.20.2018 2:30 PM

Large image on homepages

Los Angeles Sheriff's Department

L.A. Deputy Faked Evidence—but Was Still Used as a Witness in Criminal Cases for Years

Thanks to California's union-backed secrecy laws, prosecutors and defenders alike don't know about police misconduct.

Scott Shackford | 8.10.2018 1:50 PM

Large image on homepages

Civil Liberties

The Right to Know Might Get You Sued

C.J. Ciaramella | 1.1.2018 12:00 PM

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