Newsletter
Sunshine Week (or Why "State Secrets" Suck)
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was intended to make the federal government more transparent. Its author would be appalled at how courts have eviscerated it. Congress should fix it.
Patrick G Eddington
Past: CIA analyst, House senior policy advisor, USAR officer. Present: Think tank guy, dog dad. Always: Author, writer, researcher, Bill of Rights defender, 21st century Anti-Federalist.
Newsletter
Ballot Disqualification: Another SCOTUS Credibility Hit
All nine agreed states can't enforce a federal constitutional provision governing ballot access, but three accused the majority of insulating past and future insurrectionists from disqualification
Newsletter
Congress at 235
Conceived as the voice and protector of the people, it has instead too frequently been an instrument of repression
Newsletter
Biden and Surveillance: Hypocrisy and End‐Runs
In which the Administration bans China from buying your data but not the FBI, and how it links to the FISA reauthorization fight.
Newsletter
Governmental Institutional Racism: A National Security Threat
House and Senate GOP efforts to revive a racist Trump era program targeting people of Chinese heritage are morally repugnant and endanger our national security
Newsletter
Government Surveillance Transparency: Preliminary Injunction Edition
Sometimes, you just gotta sue to fight the Feds
Newsletter
Book Reivew: "The MAGA Diaries" by Tina Nguyen
A misleadingly titled book saves the best political and historical insights for the footnotes
Newsletter
FISA Update: Legislative Implosion
Speaker Johnson pulls his "compromise" FISA bill in the face of intense opposition on and off the Hill
Newsletter
Powerplay: FISA Sham Reform Bill Released
House national security hawks have, for now, outmaneuvered FISA reformers....but the fight is not over and the secret session is off for now
Newsletter
Your Rights at Risk: Beware the secret Congressional FISA shell game
As early as Wednesday, Congress could take up in secret a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform bill that may be long on surveillance and short on protecting your rights
Newsletter
Ballot Disqualification: The Stakes
History, text, and precedent all weigh towards Trump's disqualification
Newsletter
Civil War 2.0: Scenario 2: A Trump Victory
If Trump escapes ballot disqualification, conviction, & secures the presidency, a wave of domestic repression unseen since the worst days of the Cold War may ensue. But his tenure might also be short.