Outside the Beltway

In a new interview, Edward Snowden explains his motives for absconding from the country with NSA secrets.

Does a determination that NSA data collection practices are likely unconstitutional mean that Edward Snowden’s actions were, in some sense, justified?

The Justice Department is reportedly not planning to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in connection with the Bradley Manning case.

Another conflict between the Obama Administration and a news media that is frustrated about the extent they are being controlled by being refused access.

So much for the most transparent Administration in history.

Score one for Team Bush?

Prism ain’t got nothin’ on the Hemisphere Project.

Persuasion is sometimes an important part of being president.

Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn is the latest conservative to endorse the foolish idea of a Constitutional Convention.

Bradley Manning will be spending a long time at Leavenworth.

My latest for The National Interest, “Clapper’s Bodyguard of Lies,” has posted.

TheTransportation Security Administration is expanding its purview to train stations and sporting events.

One of the nation’s papers of record is changing owners for the first time in 80 years.

Conservatives are doing what the criticized JournoList for doing—even though JournoList didn’t.

A Federal Judge wasn’t very pleased when Administration lawyers told her that she doesn’t have jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit over the President’s drone policy.

Until the presiding Judge in the case rules otherwise, the identities of the members of the jury in the Zimmerman is secret. Should that be the case?

Don’t blame “secret courts” for the government’s expanded spying on American citizens and allies.

Does David Gregory consider Glenn Greenwald to be a reporter deserving of protection, or “just a blogger” who may be a potential criminal?

Outrage over leaks like those that Edward Snowden makes doesn’t exist when its politicians doing the leaking.

One Congressman thinks it would be a good idea to treat journalists as criminals.

Contrary to President Obama’s assertion today, the NSA’s operations don’t have proper legislative or judicial oversight.

At what point do science and magic converge? And what are the potential costs?

Apparently, it’s not just reporters whose phone logs the Obama administration is tracking.

Republicans should reject the calls to call for a Special Prosecutor to investigate the unfolding scandals in Washington.

The Obama Administration’s aggressive pursuit of leaks is threatening freedom of the press.

Senior DOJ officials from the previous three administrations back the Obama DOJ’s controversial subpoenaing of AP conversations.

After many attempts to manufacture grand scandals out of very little, Republicans may finally have a legitimate outrage on their hands.

A starting point for two important stories.

A new report confirms that the United States did engage in torture in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

President Lyndon Johnson considered flying to the 1968 convention and offering himself up for re-nomination.

Rand Paul’s questions about the nation’s drone war were only the beginning.

The Obama Administration has given us a peek at its legal arguments for targeted killings and they are troubling to say the least.

Conservatives complaining about biased coverage from the liberal media should instead look in the mirror.

My first piece for the New York Daily News, “A Drone Strike on Democracy,” has posted.

The scandal now surrounding David Petraeus should lead people to reassess his past record.

Mitt Romney is a deeply flawed candidate, but that doesn’t mean the President is any better.

Based on its recently passed platform, the Democratic Party has given up any pretense of putting civil liberties ahead of “national security.”

Charges that the Obama administration leaked classified information about the Osama bin Laden raid for political gain are bunk.

Some troubling, sad, and downright puzzling stories

Congress has found Eric Holder to be in contempt. I am not entirely sure what that accomplishes.