2025
A Holiday Break and a 2025 Preview
Exposing and opposing would-be American authoritarians, regardless of where they fall along the political spectrum, will continue to be at the heart of the Sentinel's mission in 2025 and beyond.
NSA
National Security Agency
2024 election
The PATRIOT Act Turns 23: Constitutional Subversion Begets Political Repression
In the hands of an authoritarian president, the PATRIOT Act could be wielded as an instrument of domestic terror and political repression at scale.
2024 election
Out Of Control Cops: Two Reports You May Have Missed
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice's Inspector General released two reports that, in the pre-Trump era, would've sparked outrage and at least public Congressional hearings.
2024 election
From "Police State Lite" to an American Gestapo: What a Trump Victory Might Bring
What makes the prospect of a Trump victory even more chilling is the kind of law enforcement and data collection tools that would be at Trump's disposal if he wins - tools he would be eager to use against his political opponents.
Al Qaeda
All But Memory Holed: How the 9/11 Commission Failed America
The most recent revelations in the 9/11 families' court action against the Saudi government provide the most powerful public evidence yet that at least some Saudi government officials in D.C. and Los Angeles played a direct role in facilitating the 9/11 attacks.
political repression
American Big Brother: A Century of Surveillance
Sometimes, it's helpful to look at a phenomenon over time to understand how pervasive it is in reality. That's especially true of surveillance-enabled political repression.
Al Qaeda
Memorial Day Birthday: No-Such-Agency Turns 65
One day before Memorial Day and with little fanfare, on May 29, 1959, President Eisenhower signed into law the National Security Agency Act. It's been spying on foreigners, and Americans, ever since. Thirty-three days after my 18th birthday, I raised my right hand and took an oath to
Congress
Radical FISA Expansion Clears Congress, Will Become Law
A more than year-long battle over America's most controversial and abused surveillance power ended in total victory for Surveillance State defenders. To reverse the damage, civil libertarians must build an electoral capacity to eject from Congress those who subvert the Bill of Rights.
News