Tag Archives | Secrecy

End “State Secrets” Shield for Government Atrocities

American Conservative, November 16, 2021 Supreme Court Should End ‘State Secrets’ Shield “State Secrets” is often invoked to give federal agencies a free pass from justice, without having to explain why. by  James Bovard Will federal law enforcement agencies ever be forced to disclose their abuses of American citizens? The Supreme Court could answer that […]

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Stop Protecting Presidents from History

American Institute for Economic Research, November 15, 2021 Stop Protecting Presidents from History by James Bovard Former president Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit to block release of speech drafts, call logs, and handwritten notes regarding the January 6 Capitol Clash. Trump is seeking to prohibit the National Archives from delivering those records to a […]

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Why Government Cover-Ups Succeed

Colin Powell's Career: Govt. lying is not solely a result of depravity in politicians and bureaucrats. Instead, it is often the result of a systemic bias against admitting systemic failures. https://t.co/6F5aS1VgpZ — James Bovard (@JimBovard) October 18, 2021 Why Government Cover-Ups Succeed by James Bovard “It’s not necessary to censor the news, it’s sufficient to […]

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Heisting the Secret U.S. Tariff Code

American Institute for Economic Research, October 4, 2021 The Secret Tariff Code Heist James Bovard Nothing so diminishes democracy as secrecy,” as Attorney General Ramsey Clark warned in 1967. As a journalist, I have battled federal agencies for decades to try to discover the sordid details of how Americans’ rights and liberties are being shafted. […]

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Liberating the Secret U.S. Tariff Code

When I was researching The Fair Trade Fraud, I ran into a stone wall of secrecy surrounding the U.S. tariff code. There was no reason to treat the tariff on tobacco stems like confidential national security data. Here’s the story of how I solved those tariff code mysteries during a 1990 visit to the headquarters […]

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Federal Secrecy Protects the Crimes of Every President

Counterpunch, January 28, 2021 Federal Secrecy Protects the Crimes of Every President by James Bovard Ever since the 9/11 attacks, Republicans and Democrats have conspired to keep Americans increasingly ignorant of what the federal government does. The number of secret federal documents skyrocketed, and any information that was classified supposedly cannot be exposed without dooming […]

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FBI’s Newest Prerogative Shooting Subway Passengers

American Institute for Economic Research, December 21, 2020 FBI’s Newest Prerogative: Shooting Subway Passengers by James Bovard Was the torrent of media editorials and exposes denouncing police violence earlier this year all a sham? Thirty-six years ago, Bernie Goetz pulled a pistol and shot four youths who were shaking him down on the New York […]

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