RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week
April 16 to April 22 Featured Investigation The Obama administration's abuses of surveillance power did not start with the targeting of the Trump campaign, writes former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy, a National Review columnist. The targets included journalists, opponents of the Iran nuclear deal, and likely even Dennis Kucinich, the liberal ex-congressman. Kucinich believes that he was spied on over his Libya war opposition and that his communications were leaked to the press. McCarthy relies in part on the work of Sharyl Attkisson, the former CBS News investigative reporter. Now an independent journalist, she presents a timeline of Obama-era surveillance of whistleblowers, journalists and other American citizens, cross-referencing them with Russia surveillance allegations. The timeline begins in April 2009, when someone leaks the unmasked name of Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harmon, who had been recorded speaking with pro-Israel lobbyists under investigation for espionage. Read the full articles here, here and here. Other Noteworthy Articles and Series More Than 400 Convicted of Terrorism in U.S. Released Since 9/11 - The Intercept
Over the last 15 years, the U.S. government has quietly released more than 400 people convicted on terrorism-related charges, according to an analysis of federal terrorism prosecutions. Some were deported, but many could be your neighbors. Were they fully rehabilitated? A more likely explanation is that many of them weren't particularly dangerous in the first place, bit players in what might be called national-security theater. Trump Can Profit From Condos, With Buyers Kept Secret - USA Today
President Trump's companies own more than 400 luxury condos, penthouses and home lots coast to coast and anyone can buy them without the public knowing who they are, a USA Today investigation has found. And unlike developments where Trump licenses his name to a separate developer for a flat fee, profits from these individual properties ultimately enrich the President personally. 25 Million Google Books, but Good Luck Trying to Read Any - The Atlantic
Google's effort to digitize every book in the world began in 2002 and ultimately scanned more than 25 million volumes. But good luck trying to read them. Here's how copyright struggles resulted in a modern-day library of Alexandria for the enlightenment of virtually no one. Can an Ocean Tract Be a 'National Monument'? Fishermen Fight Back - Watchdog.org
President Obama last year unilaterally designated nearly 5,000 square miles of ocean off Cape Cod as a "national monument," placing off limits vast stocks of fish vital to the livelihoods of generations. A coalition of fishing organizations is suing. "We're losing opportunity as we speak," one fisherman said. "It could easily be millions of dollars just this winter."
To Protect Climate Money, Obama Stashed It Where It's Hard to Find - Bloomberg
President Trump will find the job of reining in spending on climate initiatives made harder by an Obama-era policy of dispersing billions of dollars in programs across dozens of agencies -- in part so they couldn't easily be cut. There is no single list of those programs or their cost.
FCC Accused of Keeping 'Obamaphone' Fraud Probe Quiet - Free Beacon
Regulators were instructed not to disclose a massive fraud investigation into subsidized cellphones, dubbed Obamaphones by critics, until a day after a vote to expand the program, says one of the regulators, Ajit Pai, a Republican and now chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Did George Washington Take ‘Emoluments'? - Wall Street Journal
Donald Trump is not the first president to have business dealings with foreigners, a law professor writes. That was actually George Washington. His nephew George Augustine Washington managed the President's business matters while Washington remained very involved. Thomas Jefferson did much the same while in office.
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