Secrecy
It's Not Journalists' Job To Protect Government Secrets
With the controversy over the leaked White House group chat, mainstream media have been treating secrecy as a virtue and disclosure as a vice. That’s a dangerous game.
Justice Department Invokes State Secrets Privilege Over Deportation Flights
The move is an escalation of the White House's attempt to claim an unchallengeable and unreviewable amount of power.
The Conspiracy Jokers
A new book explores the legacy of the Report on Iron Mountain, while another probes the life of the novelist and essayist Robert Anton Wilson.
Will Trump and the New GOP Congress Get to the Bottom of COVID-19's Origin?
It's a good sign that the president is calling on critics of the federal government's lack of transparency to staff his administration.
What Can You Do While Waiting for a FOIA Response?
It often takes almost a year or more to get public records from the federal government. Here are some things you can do while you wait.
Trump's Alleged Defiance and Deceit Distinguish His Handling of Secrets From Biden's
Unlike Biden's conduct, Special Counsel Robert Hur notes, the document-related charges against Trump feature "serious aggravating facts."
HUD Refuses To Release Secretary Marcia Fudge's Email Address in Response to Reason FOIA Request
Cabinet officials often use pseudonymous email accounts, but declaring them secret from records requests is another matter altogether.
Mississippi Cops Buried a Missing Man. His Family Only Found Out When NBC News Revealed It.
An NBC investigation revealed how Jackson, Mississippi, police keep burying people in pauper's graves after failing to inform their families about their deaths.
The Legally Authorized Charges Against Donald Trump and Hunter Biden Don't Tell Us What Justice Requires
The nature of their conduct is a better indicator of the punishment they deserve.
Trump's Alleged Cover-Up of His Cover-Up Reinforces the Obstruction Charges Against Him
While it remains unclear how sensitive the documents he retained were, his attempts to conceal them are easier to prove.
The Federal Case Against Trump Is 'Very Strong,' His Former Attorney General Says
By taking records that did not belong to him and refusing to return them, William Barr says, Trump "provoked this whole problem himself."
The 'My Boxes' Theory Is All You Need To Explain Trump's Behavior
There's no deep mystery behind why Trump kept boxes of classified documents. He wanted them.
Trump's Federal Indictment Presents New Evidence of Deliberate Deceit and Obstruction
The former president's retention of classified documents looks willful and arguably endangered national security.
Trump Reportedly Viewed a Supposedly Declassified Document As a Secret He Was Not Allowed To Share
The recorded comments could be relevant to a charge that the former president willfully mishandled national defense information.
Trump Hopes His Own Delusions Will Protect Him From Criminal Charges
The former president says he did not solicit election fraud; he merely tried to correct a "rigged" election. And he says he did not illegally retain government records, because they were his property.
Judge Rules New York State Police Must Disclose Misconduct Records
It's been nearly three years since New York repealed its police secrecy law, and departments are still fighting to hide misconduct records.
Want Better Journalism and Less B.S.? Demand Stronger Public Record Laws.
Even if you despise the media, you should be rooting for better public record laws.
The Real Political Scandal Is That Too Many Documents Are Classified
Many Democrats and Republicans were outraged when Trump and Biden respectively were found with classified documents. But both sides are missing the point.
'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?
Yet Another Shady, Hypocritical Document Hoarder
Plus: The editors field a listener question on college admissions and affirmative action.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Researchers Call for 'Full and Unrestricted' Investigation Into COVID-19 Origins
A recent WHO investigation has left many questions unanswered.
Restrictions on Grand Jurors' Speech Upheld …
in a case stemming from the Darren Wilson prosecution.
The FBI Is Routinely Screwing Up FISA Warrants Targeting Americans
Carter Page was not an anomaly.
California Wants Transparency From Trump, but Won't Release State Police Records
Xavier Becerra conceals bad behavior by cops in his state, and even threatens journalists attempting to expose them.
A Law Intended to Protect Crime Victims Is Being Used to Shield the Identities of Police Officers
The vague wording of Marsy's Laws allows law enforcement to classify themselves as "victims" after shooting suspects.
British Group Fighting Secret Government Surveillance Subjected to Secret British Government Surveillance
U.K. government officials insisted they didn't collect and store communications data of Privacy International. Turns out they did.
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.
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.
Adam Parfrey, RIP
The Feral House publisher exposes American minds to wide variety of fascinating and often disturbing culture.
America's Secret Death Penalty Drugs
Governments have gone to great effort to keep the sources and methods of their death penalty regimes secret.
Everybody's Talking About 'The Memo' and Ignoring the Surveillance Debate
Partisan posturing drowns out important civil liberties concerns.
Dianne Feinstein Ignores GOP Lawmakers, Blames #ReleaseTheMemo on Russians and Social Media Instead
Any excuse to try to censor the internet
Are the Feds Using Backdoor Searches to Access Your Banking Data?
BuzzFeed reports federal agencies violating the rules to engage in warrantless domestic snooping of financial information.
N.C. Body Camera Law Used to Shield Greensboro Police from Accusations of Abuse
A year after law passed exempting footage from public records laws, the inevitable consequences.
Thanks, Obama! Trump Is Expanding Your Effort to Imprison Leakers!
Justice Department announces tripling of investigations.
Secret Government Watchlist Sweeps Up an American Family, and Now They're Suing
Lack of due process or transparency keeps father from knowing why it happened or how to fix it.
Do Americans Have a Right to Know If Their Government Is Incompetent?
A Senate report on Trump administration leaks overstates national security risks.
Chelsea Manning Showed Us the Consequences of War, and We Threw Her in Prison
Whistleblower who helped make WikiLeaks famous freed after seven years.
Government Is the Cause of—Not the Solution to—the Latest Hacking Outbreak
A failure of transparency and responsibility by multiple nations.
The Bipartisan Urge to Suppress Dissent
Conservatives at Berkeley and critics of the Trump administration both deserve freedom of speech.
CIA Head Pompeo Would Like to Decide What Counts as a Real Media Outlet
A war on WikiLeaks will ultimately threaten a free press.
Trump Team Was 'Incidentally' Snooped on Post-Election, Says GOP Intel Chair Devin Nunes
Meanwhile, guess which side is now assuming surveillance equals guilt?
