Is Sen. Richard Burr Investigating Trump’s Russia Ties—or Helping to Cover Them Up?
Tim Bower Richard Burr was contrite. It was late February 2017, and the Washington Post had just exposed the North Carolina Republican and chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee for running damage control for the Trump administration over its mounting Russia scandal. Along with Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), his counterpart on the House Intelligence Committee,…
The Courts Won’t End Gerrymandering. Eric Holder Has a Plan to Fix It Without Them.
On a frigid March morning, Eric Holder strode into a brick union hall on the west side of Milwaukee, across from a credit union and an auto body shop. The Merrill Park neighborhood was once the center of the city’s Irish political machine, filled with stately Victorian houses—including the childhood home of Spencer Tracy—but it…
A Researcher Found a Bunch of Voting Machine Passwords Online
Kelly Owen/Zuma Press A little more than a week ago the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that it was going to forensically analyze computer equipment associated with part of the 2016 elections in North Carolina in association with questions about Russian hacking. The news prompted an information security researcher to announce last week that he’d…
North Carolina’s 9th District Still Doesn’t Have a Congressman. The Guy Behind the “Bathroom Bill” Wants the Job.
In his ads, Dan Bishop wants everyone to remember what the “Right Dan” stands for.A still from Dan Bishop’s campaign ad / YouTube Voters in North Carolina’s 9th District may be a bit exhausted by their democratic duty. They’ve been voting to decide the 2018 midterm election—if you include primaries—for more than a year. The…
Can a Prosecutor Ever Truly Be Progressive? Ferguson May Be the Ultimate Test Case.
Credit: Mother Jones; Jeff Roberson/AP On the night Wesley Bell unseated longtime St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch, Kayla Reed celebrated a progressive electoral victory and a personal promise fulfilled. Reed has been protesting and organizing in the St. Louis area ever since Darren Wilson, a white cop, shot Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, in…
Everyone in the World Wants to Fix Facebook. Here’s Why No One Can.
Abaca Press / AP While the US holds congressional hearings to listen to tech giants explain they want to do better, other countries are passing and promising new laws that aim to take action against the virulent spread of disinformation, violence, and hate speech. Last week, British Prime Minister Theresa May unrolled a proposal that outlines…