Transparency
Department of Homeland Security
Markwayne Mullin's History of Condoning Murder and Resisting Transparency Makes Him Ill-Suited To Run DHS
The Oklahoma senator, nominated to replace Kristi Noem, is blasé about the use of deadly force.
Trump Wants To Cover Up Bad News About the Iran War
And Middle Eastern dictatorships are helping him do it.
Kristi Noem's Lies About DHS Shootings Don't Seem To Have Figured in Trump's Decision To Fire Her
The president himself portrayed Renée Good and Alex Pretti as would-be murderers, and he did not seem troubled by the homeland security secretary's slander of them.
Department of Homeland Security
In Senate Testimony on DHS Shootings, Kristi Noem Lies About Her Lies
The homeland security secretary blatantly misrepresented what she said about Alex Pretti on the day he was killed.
Department of Homeland Security
Prosecutors Admit the DHS Account of an ICE Shooting Was Based on Lies
The department's pattern of dishonesty supports a presumption of irregularity.
Report: The FBI Bent Its Own Rules To Spy on 1,100 'Sensitive' Targets
Opening investigations requires evidence, so the feds created “assessments.”
Bondi Bristles
Plus: the attorney general's self-inflicted wounds, religious revivals, and Congress votes to stop Trump's tariffs on Canada
Epstein Files: FBI Tracked Down Anonymous 4chan Conspiracy Theorist
The Department of Justice released subpoenas for personal information on two anonymous commenters claiming to have inside knowledge about Jeffrey Epstein's death.
Massie Accuses Bondi of 'Criminal Negligence' in Epstein Release
The Kentucky congressman tells Reason that Republicans and Democrats engaged in a “cover-up” of epic proportions that will haunt U.S. politics for years.
Judge Orders Video and Texts Unsealed in Case of Chicago Woman Shot 5 Times by Border Patrol
The Department of Homeland Security won't stop calling Marimar Martinez a "domestic terrorist," so she's getting the video of her shooting and text messages from the officer who shot her unsealed.
How Thousands of Randos Like Me Landed in the Epstein Files
To make sense of the Justice Department’s latest documents, you have to understand what they actually are.
The Minneapolis Shootings Underline the Advantages of Body Cameras, Which DHS Has Been Slow To Adopt
A pending appropriations bill could increase transparency and accountability by requiring DHS personnel to record encounters with the public.
DHS Retreats From the Claim That the Agents Who Killed Alex Pretti Faced a 'Violent Riot'
The department now describes the threat as "several civilians" who were "yelling and blowing whistles."
Border Patrol Agents Started the Scuffle That Led to Alex Pretti's Death
As with Renee Good, a calmer response could have avoided the lethal outcome.
DHS Again Promises a Thorough Investigation of a Fatal Shooting After Prejudging the Outcome
"The victims are the Border Patrol agents" who killed Alex Pretti, says one DHS official, who previously claimed Pretti wanted to "massacre law enforcement."
'We Are Not Investigating' the Shooting of Renee Good, the Deputy Attorney General Says
Todd Blanche joins other top administration officials in declaring that ICE agent Jonathan Ross was justified in killing Good. Most Americans disagree.
The FBI Thinks Renee Good's Anti-ICE Activism Is Relevant in Deciding Whether Killing Her Was Justified
It is hard to see how, since that question hinges on what happened the morning that an ICE agent shot her.
Hegseth Won't Let Us See a Video That Might Undermine Support for Trump's Bloodthirsty Anti-Drug Strategy
The defense secretary claims the video, which shows a second strike that killed two floundering survivors, would compromise "sources and methods."
Congress Votes To Open Up the Epstein Files
There probably is no “client list,” but the files could help answer some pressing questions—and open the door to more revelations.
Trump's Epstein Reversal
Plus: Mamdani copies de Blasio, Swiss delegation buys better tariffs from Trump, Xinjiang nuke testing, and more...
Oregon Woman Says ICE Broke Out Her Car Windows and Detained Her for Filming Them
The First Amendment protects filming the police, but Berenice Garcia-Hernandez says she was dragged out of her car and detained for nearly seven hours for snapping photos of ICE agents.
Florida Scrubs Arrests of U.S. Citizens From Immigration Enforcement Data
After the Miami New Times asked why nearly two dozen U.S. citizens showed up on a Florida immigration enforcement dashboard, those numbers disappeared.
This College Dropout Thinks His AI Startup Can Do What Elon Musk Couldn't: Expose Fraud
Alex Shieh, creator of Bloat@Brown, co-founded the Antifraud Company to investigate and publicize corporate fraud in critical government programs.
Civil Rights Group Sues ICE for Withholding Records of the Agency's Detention Expansion Plans in Virginia
Lawyers at America's largest civil liberties group say the agency’s lack of transparency violates federal disclosure requirements.
Advocates of MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Complain that 'the FDA Moved the Goalposts'
The agency's puzzling concerns about the Lykos Therapeutics drug application
Court Rules New York State Police Must Disclose Officer Names in Misconduct Records
The New York Civil Liberties Union and the New York State Police have been fighting for years over misconduct records that the state legislature made public in 2020.
'Alligator Alcatraz' Contracts Disappeared From a Florida State Database
A state official says the contracts contained "proprietary information," so they were scrubbed and replaced with bare-bones summaries.
Hundreds of 'Alligator Alcatraz' Detainees Don't Have Criminal Records
Trump said the prison camp would hold "some of the most vicious people on the planet," but a list obtained by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Tribune shows otherwise.
There's Probably No 'Smoking Gun' in the JFK or Epstein Cases. We Should Be Allowed To Look Anyway.
You don't need to uncover a vast conspiracy to find valuable revelations—and without transparency, you don't know what revelations might be there.
Watch a New Mexico Sheriff's Deputy Jovially Hurl a Baby Rabbit to Its Death As His Supervisors Laugh
Deputy Alejandro Gomez, who is accused of repeatedly harassing a colleague, faces one charge of extreme animal cruelty and four charges of aggravated assault on a police officer.
Arizona Just Created, Then Defunded, an Independent Watchdog for Its Troubled Prison System
Criminal justice reform advocates are still hopeful the office can secure outside funding and bring much-needed transparency to Arizona's prisons.
Marsha Blackburn Wants Secret Police
Sen. Blackburn introduced a bill this week that would make it a crime to publish the name of a federal law enforcement officer.
Belated Republican Objections to the One Big Beautiful Bill Glide Over Its Blatant Fiscal Irresponsibility
House members who discovered objectionable elements only after voting for the package nevertheless underline the unseemly haste of the legislative process.
DOGE's Newly Listed 'Regulatory Savings' for Businesses Have Nothing to Do With Cutting Federal Spending
DOGE says regulatory changes will save $29.4 billion, but that does not amount to a reduction in government outlays, the initiative's ostensible target.
Trump Deletes Database Containing Over 5,000 Police Misconduct Incidents
It's a reversal from his first term, when Trump himself ordered the creation of a database tracking excessive use of force.
Florida Lawmakers Don't Want You To Know When a Cop Shoots Someone
The Sunshine State is considering a bill that would expand protections for law enforcement officers who use deadly force or cause great bodily harm.
ICE Denies Reason Access to Immigration Court In Miami Detention Center
"It appears that access to this court was improperly denied," an attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says.
Will Jay Bhattacharya Get Gain-of-Function Research Under Control?
The past three administrations have tried and failed to implement binding regulations on risky research that likely caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
Elon Musk, Who Promised To Be 'Maximally Transparent,' Makes DOGE's Numbers Even Harder To Check
The cost-cutting initiative's calculation of "estimated savings" is mostly mysterious, and the parts we know about are riddled with errors.
DOGE Isn't Exempt From FOIA Requests, Judge Rules
The judge found that the agency's "unusual secrecy" and "substantial authority" make it subject to public record laws.
DOGE Goes Deep State
A smaller government with a more powerful set of unaccountable executive officials is unlikely to be much of a win for liberty.
So Much For RFK, Jr.'s Promise of 'Radical Transparency' at HHS
RFK, Jr.'s Health and Human Service has inexplicably cancelled two vaccine-related advisory meetings since he took the helm of the agency.
Trump Admin Argues DOGE Is Exempt From Records Requests in FOIA Lawsuit
Elon Musk promised "maximum transparency," but that apparently doesn't include Freedom of Information requests to DOGE.
