Justin Elliott Posts

A bill supported by Democrats and Republicans would make permanent a program that bars the IRS from ever developing its own online tax filing service.

The investment firm that the two Trump attorneys worked for, Columbus Nova, calls it a “coincidence.”

“This is a recipe for sabotaging the census,” said one. The administration’s stated reason for the controversial move: protecting civil rights.

In one case, an official working on energy regulation recently lobbied for oil and coal companies — but the White House won’t say whether he received an ethics waiver.

A government investigation found that Jim Renne was a key player in a scandal in which staff were targeted on the basis of sexual orientation.

Donald Trump suggested during the campaign that he would ban lobbyists from his administration. Now they’re working at the very agencies they sought to influence.

Trump's watered-down ethics rules also let a lobbyist help run an agency he lobbied.

The girl, whose parents are U.S. citizens, was barred from boarding a plane yesterday and is now in limbo in Djibouti.

The American Red Cross has failed to answer a congressman’s questions about deep cuts the charity has made to staff and local offices. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking member of the House homeland security committee, sent the charity a long list of questions after ProPublica recently revealed the cuts and detailed how they have eroded the Red Cross’ ability to respond to even modest disasters.

Rep. Bennie Thompson said it is “critical” for the Red Cross to act quickly in response to problems reported by ProPublica. A key congressman who sits on a committee that oversees the American Red Cross is pressing the group’s chief executive for information about how layoffs and other cuts have affected its ability to respond to disasters

Federal legislation is being unveiled today that would force the American Red Cross to do something that it has repeatedly resisted: open its books and operations to outside scrutiny.

American Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern has long portrayed her organization as a beacon of openness, once declaring “we made a commitment that we want to lead the effort in transparency.” But when the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, opened an inquiry last year into the Red Cross’ disaster work, McGovern tried to get it killed behind the scenes.

American Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern has long portrayed her organization as a beacon of openness, once declaring “we made a commitment that we want to lead the effort in transparency.” But when the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, opened an inquiry last year into the Red Cross’ disaster work, McGovern tried to get it killed behind the scenes.

Previously undisclosed emails by a mortgage industry lobbyist doubling as a consultant for then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo show the lobbyist played a self-described “critical role” in one of Cuomo’s signature financial crisis investigations.

New York's Governor, Andrew Cuomo, has brought on a banking industry lobbyist as his chief policer of the banks that brought on the subprime crisis that tanked the nation's economy. Methinks he might go a little light on his banking buddies.

Just how badly does the American Red Cross want to keep secret how it raised and spent over $300 million after Hurricane Sandy?

Adopting a tactic that has been used by officials ranging from Sarah Palin to staffers of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, aides to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are sending emails from private accounts to conduct official business. The tactic appears to be another item in the toolbox of an administration that, despite Cuomo's early vows of unprecedented transparency, has become known for an obsession with secrecy.

The National Security Agency should not undermine encryption standards that are designed to protect the privacy of communications, the panel of experts appointed by President Obama to review NSA surveillance recommended in a report released today.

PR firm Ketchum has been shilling for the Russian government for years, placing fluff pieces in numerous outlets including CNBC and The Huffington Post.

Among the snooping revelations of recent weeks, there have been tantalizing bits of evidence that the NSA is tapping fiber-optic cables that carry nearly all international phone and Internet data. The idea that the NSA is sweeping up vast data streams via cables and other infrastructure — often described as the “backbone of the Internet” — is not new. How do they do it? And what exactly are they doing?