There has been voluminous reporting on President Trump's misstatements and missteps -- but the past few weeks I've been looking into what I think is one of the biggest stories of his first year as president: The Media. There's been a cascade of mistaken and false reporting from his first day in office. That's when […]
Record U.S. tax money spent in Afghanistan: Record waste, fraud and abuse?
We've spent more of our tax money trying to help rebuild Afghanistan than we've spent on any other single country in history: $120 billion and counting. Unfortunately, that includes billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse according to Inspector General John Sopko, an Obama appointee. And now he's facing a new obstacle in tracking […]
What is "infrastructure" & how much will improving it cost?
[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]ou're about to begin hearing a lot about our "infrastructure" and the need to update it. Sunday on Full Measure, we'll explain what all the talk is about and examine ways to pay the costly bill when we're already so far in debt. President Trump proposed expanding unique public-private partnerships that would put private money […]
DOJ "Coordinated" Fast & Furious Freedom of Info requests from me, others
The following is a news analysis and commentary [dropcap]F[/dropcap]reedom of Information (FOI) law was supposed to make it easier for all of us to get our hands on public documents that we own; documents that government too often tries to keep secret. But as I’ve written about and testified to many times, including before House […]
Newsgate 2016 & Beyond
Note: This story was updated with additional information on Dec. 30, 2017 The following is a news media analysis and commentary[hr] Regardless of who is your chosen – or least favorite – presidential candidate, independent minds should be concerned about the latest revelations in the news media’s unseemly relationships with government and political actors. While there […]
Investigating the Investigators at DOJ and FBI
Why do heads seem to be rolling—or at least tilting—at the Department of Justice and FBI?[hr] [quote]Eight high ranking Department of Justice and FBI officials have been removed, reassigned or are rumored to be leaving. They include the top FBI agents who worked on two of the agency’s most high-profile investigations in the past two […]
Politico's Hezbollah Article (the abridged version)
The following is a news analysis [dropcap]P[/dropcap]olitico recently published a lengthy investigative report by Josh Meyer about the terrorist group Hezbollah, its criminal fundraising activities in the U.S., and alleged Obama administration efforts to slow or block law enforcement actions against Hezbollah. For those who don't have time to read the entire article, here's a summary: Upshot: The […]
Is govt. unaware of its own surveillance abuses?
I caught my breath when I heard FBI Director Christopher Wray testify to Congress that there’s been no abuse of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the law under which our intelligence communities electronically spy on possible terrorists and sometimes capture private communications of innocent U.S. citizens. It was an incredible claim. […]
