1970 Poses as a volunteer for a Democratic Senate candidate in Illinois and circulates a letter to homeless people, advertising “free food, beer, girls and a good time for all” at the candidate’s campaign event. 1974–77 The Washington Post reports Rove taught Nixon- style “dirty tricks” to College Republicans. Rove is investigated and cleared by the […]

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In our May 15, 2012 issue, National Security Agency executive turned whistleblower Thomas Drake described the agency failures that led to 9/11. In part two of Barbara Koeppel’s interview with Drake, the ex-spy reveals the agency’s corrupt practices. Let’s talk about the corruption. What kinds of numbers were involved? Billions. I have prima facie knowledge […]

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Thomas Drake’s revelations about National Security Agency’s contracts with SAIC — the (mostly) defense contractor Science Applications International Corporation — read like a how-to on purging the public purse. But there is more in SAIC’s four-decade history. This past March, New York City fined SAIC half a billion dollars for what a prosecutor described as […]

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Redefining Terrorism—Long before right-wing opportunists began using the building of an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan to inflame public passions, federal law-enforcement was focused on a less conspicuous address. The “prayer house” on 1257 Siskiyou Blvd. in Ashland, Oregon, was owned by the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation of Oregon, a Muslim charity that in 2001 was […]

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Channeling Ike—Robert Gates’s May 8 address at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas, got passing attention from the media when he delivered it. Two months later, the speech has taken on a life of its own, in particular at the Pentagon, where it is read as a warning about out-of-control budgets, a dysfunctional appropriations process, […]

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