{"id":21272,"date":"2025-01-20T08:26:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=21272"},"modified":"2025-01-24T16:20:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T21:20:41","slug":"for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"prose max-w-none prose-headings:text-misesBlueDark first:prose-p:mt-0 first:prose-ol:mt-0 first:prose-ul:mt-0 first:prose-h2:mt-0 first:prose-h3:mt-0 first:prose-figure:mt-0 prose-th:font-bold prose-figure:my-1 prose-img:my-1 hover:prose-a:no-underline article-body prose-ul:mt-0 prose-ul:inline-block prose-ol:mt-0 prose-ol:inline-block prose-p:mt-0\" data-component-id=\"mises:atom-body-copy\" data-once=\"atomBodyCopy\">\n<div>\n<h1 class=\"text-4xl font-crimson text-misesGreyDark [text-wrap:balance] md:text-5xl lg:text-6xl mb-4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/mises-wire\/inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-chance\">For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance<\/a><\/h1>\n<p>by James Bovard, January 20, 2025<a href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-7180\" src=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute-150x75.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute-150x75.jpg 150w, https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Federal agencies classify trillions of pages of documents each year\u2014enough secrets to fill 20 million filing cabinets. Washington politicians and federal agencies routinely blindfold American citizens on the most important and most reckless decisions the government takes.<\/strong> As President Joe Biden told Special Counsel Robert Hur in late 2022, \u201cWe over-classify everything&#8230;. And 99.9% of it has <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/12\/opinion\/dems-turn-biden-documents-hearing-into-3-stooges-theater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">nothing to<\/a> do with anything I couldn\u2019t pick up and read out loud to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The change in presidential administrations is the ideal chance for sweeping disclosures of pseudo-secrets that will provide a booster shot for American democracy.<\/p>\n<p>President-elect Donald Trump should follow the precedent set by President Barack Obama. In 2009, Obama speedily released many of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/justice-department-releases-bush-administration-national-security-memos?redirect=cpredirect\/38891\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">secret George W. Bush administration legal memos<\/a> that asserted that a president could declare martial law in the US and ignore the Fourth Amendment and other constitutional safeguards. Those disclosures helped portray Obama as a champion of civil liberties, regardless of his novel prerogative that presidents were entitled to assassinate American citizens who were designated as terrorist suspects. Unfortunately, Trump in his first term failed to open the files to disclose Obama\u2019s biggest unconstitutional power grabs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Federal secrecy is perhaps the most important bulwark of the Censorship Industrial Complex. Americans deserve to know how many blindfolds were slapped on Americans in recent years.<\/strong> The Supreme Court took a dive on the censorship issue last year by claiming that the victims did not have legal standing. It would be relatively simple to \u201ccorrect\u201d that decision by disclosing a torrent of cases of \u201cCensors Gone Wild.\u201d How many more <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/08\/27\/business\/facebook-posts-censored-at-biden-admins-demand-include-covid-19-memes-satire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">humorous memes<\/a> did the White House or federal agencies demand be suppressed? How many more internal emails or texts reveal White House appointees hellbent on muzzling critics regardless of the First Amendment?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Americans deserve to know whether federal agencies secretly targeted them as terrorist suspect<\/strong>s. A year ago, the House Judiciary Committee revealed that, according to federal agencies, anything you purchase can be used against you. And if you didn\u2019t want to be categorized as a \u201clone wolf\u201d potential terrorist, you never should have bought that <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/01\/19\/news\/bidens-big-brother-teams-are-now-watching-what-you-buy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bass Pro hat<\/a>\u2014one of the bizarre warning signs. If you bought a gun or ammo since 2021, federal bureaucrats may have automatically classified you as a \u201cpotential active shooter.\u201d The shocking details of that surveillance scheme need to be exposed as quickly as possible. At the same time, the feds cast absurdly broad nets of suspicion on average Americans, potentially incriminating details of Biden family dealings with China, Romania, Ukraine, and other nations were kept secret. DC is one paradox after another.<\/p>\n<p>The Founding Fathers recognized the perils of foreign entanglement but federal secrecy has shrouded the vast majority of details of recent US government blundering abroad. As I noted in an April 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/mises-wire\/endangering-washingtons-divine-right-deceive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mises piece<\/a>, practically the only candor regarding the Russia-Ukraine war occurred when secret documents leaked out revealing that the Ukrainian military was in far worse shape than the Biden administration claimed. The White House, State Department, and Pentagon were adamant that American citizens had no right to know how their tax dollars were being squandered in East Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Since those leaks in early 2023, the US government apparently pulled plenty of strings and may have paid plenty of money to deter a ceasefire in that war. White House and State Department officials <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/09\/us\/politics\/biden-putin-tucker-carlson-peace.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bluntly opposed<\/a> any <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/3905251-ahead-of-xi-putin-meeting-in-moscow-white-house-rejects-cease-fire-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cessation in<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/news.antiwar.com\/2023\/03\/19\/white-house-says-it-opposes-a-ceasefire-in-ukraine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hostilities in<\/a> Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Opening files in the White House, Pentagon, State Department, and CIA could answer vital questions: Why was the US government seemingly doing everything possible to perpetuate the bloodbath? What steps, if any, did the White House take to prevent effective anti-fraud protections in the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid sent to Ukraine? Did Biden policymakers help perpetuate the Russia-Ukraine war to make Biden look tough or the world savior of democracy?<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon Papers, leaked in 1971 by Daniel Ellsberg, helped vaccinate Americans against blindly trusting any president seeking to con them into a foreign conflict. Unfortunately, that vaccination faded as decades passed. Opening files on the US intervention in Ukraine could make it far more difficult for future presidents to drag the US into a foreign conflict. As <strong>WikiLeaks\u2019s Julian Assange observed: \u201cIf wars can be started by lies, they can be stopped by truth.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>President Trump must make opening the files a top priority because otherwise damn little sunlight will disinfect Washington<\/strong>. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has largely collapsed. Shortly before Trump\u2019s first term, the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform bluntly admitted: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/FINAL-FOIA-Report-January-2016.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FOIA is broken<\/a>.\u201d Federal agencies have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/blog\/foia-backlogs-hinder-government-transparency-and-accountability\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">backlog of hundreds of thousands<\/a> of FOIA requests they haven\u2019t answered and responses sometimes take years. Never forget that the Food and Drug Administration claimed it would need 75 years to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/05\/29\/opinion\/faucis-foia-follies-show-faux-transparency-in-washington\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disclose the Pfizer<\/a> application for its covid vaccine that the FDA approved in 108 days. Unfortunately, such idiocy is practically Standard Operating Procedure inside the Beltway. Prior to the 2016 election, the State Department declared that it would require 75 years to comply with its FOIA request for emails from the top aides of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (at a time when Hillary was running for president). Perhaps the only thing more absurd is the pretexts offered for refusing to disclose documents. The Drug Enforcement Administration denied a FOIA request by someone seeking \u201cinformation about his own kidnappers\u2026 because he did not have a signed waiver from the men who had held him hostage,\u201d the Washington Examiner reported.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A boot from the Trump White House will open far more filing cabinets than endless appeals to FOIA denials.<\/strong> The new president can reap the gratitude of millions of Americans for speedily shedding light on the biggest covid controversies. Why did the Centers for Disease Control in 2021 delay divulging the failure of covid vaccines to prevent infections and transmission? Are there other details waiting to be unearthed about how federal agencies bankrolled the reckless gain-of-function that escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and killed seven million people around the globe?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sweeping disclosures of federal secrets and outrages are one of the best ways to break the dominance of Washington insid<\/strong>ers. In a 2002 decision condemning the Bush administration\u2019s mass secret arrests after 9\/11, a federal appeals court declared, \u201cWhen government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people. Selective information is misinformation.\u201d Washington\u2019s pervasive secrecy vests vast power in any official who chooses to selectively leak documents to spin public perceptions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>President Trump\u2019s first administration was crippled by leaks<\/strong>\u2014including former FBI chief James Comey\u2019s personal memos that were delivered to the <em>New York Times<\/em>, leading to the unjustified appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller who roiled American politics for two years. Trump\u2019s first impeachment was spurred by the 2019 leak of his phone call transcript with the Ukrainian president. Sweeping disclosures of unjustified secrets will undercut federal officials who might seek to undermine the new president with misleading selective leaks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Secrecy is not a technical glitch in administrative regimes. The whole point of secrecy is to prevent citizens from controlling the government. To expect bureaucracies to \u201ccorrect\u201d excessive secrecy is like expecting kings to abdicate their thrones. There is no reason for citizens to trust secretive federal programs more than Washington trusts American citizens.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Pervasive secrecy defines democracy: people merely select their Supreme Deceivers. If trillions of pages of new secrets a year is not a perversion of democracy, why not simply keep secret everything that the government does?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Attorney General Ramsey Clark warned in 1967: \u201cNothing so diminishes democracy as secrecy.\u201d Yet Americans are still told that they are governing themselves because they are permitted to vote for presidents who appoint bureaucrats who drop an Iron Curtain around federal machinations.<\/p>\n<p>In his Farewell Address on Wednesday evening, President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/15\/us\/politics\/full-transcript-of-president-bidens-farewell-address.html?smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Biden warned<\/a>: \u201cAmericans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power.\u201d During the pandemic, the biggest misinformation of them all was Biden\u2019s promise that anyone who got the covid vaccine would never be infected with covid. Biden also declared, \u201cThe truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.\u201d <strong>Secrecy and lying are two sides of the same political coin. If Biden is worried about \u201clies told for power,\u201d then he should not have perpetuated the secrecy regime that is an entitlement program for Washington liars.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Even libertarians and pro-freedom zealots who oppose Trump should support exposing all the recent abuses committed by Washington politicians and bureaucrats. S<strong>hocking Americans by exposing federal crimes could provide an anti-Leviathan vaccination. That could be effective regardless of whether the Food and Drug Administration ever approves that vax.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance by James Bovard, January 20, 2025 Federal agencies classify trillions of pages of documents each year\u2014enough secrets to fill 20 million filing cabinets. Washington politicians and federal agencies routinely blindfold American citizens on the most important and most reckless decisions the government takes. As [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2124,3257,27,55,708,1107],"class_list":["post-21272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-biden","tag-classified","tag-lying","tag-secrecy","tag-trump","tag-ukraine"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trump should open the federal files to expose Biden crimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trump should open the federal files to expose Biden crimes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-20T13:26:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-24T21:20:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-20T13:26:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-24T21:20:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1463,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/Logo-Mises-Institute-150x75.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Biden\",\"classified\",\"Lying\",\"Secrecy\",\"Trump\",\"Ukraine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/\",\"name\":\"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/Logo-Mises-Institute-150x75.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-20T13:26:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-24T21:20:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"description\":\"Trump should open the federal files to expose Biden crimes\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/Logo-Mises-Institute.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/06\\\/Logo-Mises-Institute.jpg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":100},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/20\\\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance - James Bovard","description":"Trump should open the federal files to expose Biden crimes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance - James Bovard","og_description":"Trump should open the federal files to expose Biden crimes","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2025-01-20T13:26:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-24T21:20:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":100,"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance","datePublished":"2025-01-20T13:26:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-24T21:20:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/"},"wordCount":1463,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute-150x75.jpg","keywords":["Biden","classified","Lying","Secrecy","Trump","Ukraine"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/","name":"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute-150x75.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-20T13:26:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-24T21:20:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"description":"Trump should open the federal files to expose Biden crimes","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Logo-Mises-Institute.jpg","width":200,"height":100},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/20\/for-inauguration-day-open-federal-files-and-give-truth-a-chance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For Inauguration Day, Open Federal Files and Give Truth a Chance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism &amp; Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21272"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21298,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21272\/revisions\/21298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}