Latest news with #TheIntercept
The Intercept
6 hours ago
- Business
- The Intercept
The Intercept Sues for Records About Arizona's Financial Surveillance Dragnet
The Intercept filed a public records lawsuit on Monday for documents about a financial surveillance program run by the Arizona attorney general's office for more than a decade. For the past year, the attorney general's office has denied multiple requests for records about its relationship with the Transaction Record Analysis Center, or TRAC, a nonprofit organization that runs a massive database containing details about millions of wire transfers sent through Western Union and other companies. The database, which is fueled by administrative subpoenas issued by the Arizona attorney general's office, offers an intimate glimpse into the financial lives of millions of immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. Over the years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has played an outsized role in TRAC, not just as a top user of the wire transfer data but also as another data pipeline, via subpoenas that alarmed civil liberties watchdogs. 'The public has the right to know about mass government surveillance of its citizens,' said Heather E. Murray, associate director of Cornell Law School's First Amendment Clinic, which is representing The Intercept in the lawsuit, in an emailed statement. 'Because TRAC is indisputably performing a core governmental function, the records that The Intercept seeks must be released by the AGO and TRAC to fulfill their transparency obligations under the Arizona Public Records Law.' Ben Rundall, a partner at Zwillinger Wulkan in Phoenix, is also representing The Intercept in the case, which was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court. 'This completely defies the spirit and purpose of the [Arizona public records law].' In response to The Intercept's records request last year, TRAC claimed it is not subject to public records disclosure requirements because of its nonprofit structure. But TRAC was established by the attorney general's office in 2014, and records show close coordination over the years between agency officials and TRAC staff — who sometimes used official government email addresses. For years, one TRAC staff member even helped draft the administrative subpoenas, which she sent to the attorney general's office for official signature before they were served on Western Union and the other money transfer businesses. The attorney general's office previously released hundreds of documents about TRAC's structure and operations to the American Civil Liberties Union. But under Attorney General Kris Mayes, the office now claims it has no obligation to release similar materials because they are in TRAC's possession. 'Stated directly, the AGO and TRAC are engaging in gamesmanship to avoid providing records about their public functions,' reads The Intercept's court filing. 'When a request is made to the AGO, it claims TRAC has the record. When a request is made to TRAC, it claims the AGO has the record. This completely defies the spirit and purpose of the [Arizona public records law].' The attorney general's office also previously disclosed to the ACLU more than 100 copies of subpoenas the agency has sent under the state's racketeering law to more than two dozen companies since 2014. But in response to The Intercept's request, the agency said releasing any more subpoenas would violate the racketeering law itself. 'We are correcting the previous administration's error and following the law,' wrote Richie Taylor, communications director for Mayes's office, in an email last year. An ACLU attorney, Nate Freed Wessler, previously called the agency's argument about disclosing the subpoenas 'wrong and borderline frivolous.' The racketeering law 'has nothing to do with the AGO's responsibility to disclose records,' The Intercept argues in its filing. 'Withholding these records does not comport with any exception to public access provided in Arizona law.'
Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Glenn Greenwald says he feels ‘no regret' after private video leaked, blames political targeting
Intimate videos of journalist Glenn Greenwald were leaked online Friday, quickly sparking widespread reaction across social media. In a statement posted on X, Greenwald confirmed he appears in the footage and said it was released 'without my knowledge or consent,' calling the leak 'maliciously political. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now ' 'As for the content of the videos: I have no embarrassment or regret about them,' the 58-year-old journalist wrote. 'The videos depict consenting adults engaged in intimate actions in their private lives. They all display fully consensual behavior, harming nobody.' He added: 'Obviously it can be uncomfortable and unpleasant when your private behavior is made public against your will — that's why the behavior is private in the first place — but the only wrongdoing here is the criminal and malicious publication of the videos in an attempt to malign perceived political enemies and advance a political agenda.' Greenwald began his career as a litigation attorney before gaining recognition for his writing on national security issues following the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. He rose to international prominence in 2013 with reports for The Guardian based on classified documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The coverage earned a Pulitzer Prize in 2014. That same year, he co-founded The Intercept with journalist Jeremy Scahill and filmmaker Laura Poitras. Greenwald resigned from the publication in 2020, citing efforts to suppress his reporting critical of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden. He now writes on Substack, where he has more than 324,000 subscribers. Greenwald's husband, Brazilian congressman David Miranda, died in 2023 at age 37 due to complications from a gastrointestinal infection. The couple adopted two sons from Maceió, Brazil, in 2018.
International Business Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- International Business Times
Glenn Greenwald: Pulitzer-Winning Journalist's Sex Tapes Go Viral on Social Media as He Blames 'Political Enemies' Behind Scandal
Journalist Glenn Greenwald has spoken out against his "political enemies" after sex tapes involving him were shared on social media. In a post on X Friday morning, Greenwald said the footage was shared on Thursday night without his "knowledge or consent." He claimed the videos were leaked as part of an effort by "political enemies" to push a specific agenda. Greenwald, who won the coveted Pulitzer Prize and is also a lawyer, said: "Last night's videos were released online depicting behavior in my private life. Some were distorted and others were not." They were published without my knowledge or consent and its publication was therefore criminal," the 58-year-old journalist added. In the Center of Sex Scandal He continued, "Though we do not yet know exactly who is responsible, we are close to knowing, and the motive was a maliciously political one. As for the content of the videos: I have no embarrassment or regret about them. The videos depict consenting adults engaged in intimate actions in their private lives. They all display fully consensual behavior, harming nobody. "Obviously it can be uncomfortable and unpleasant when your private behavior is made public against your will – that's why the behavior is private in the first place – but the only wrongdoing here is the criminal and malicious publication of the videos in an attempt to malign perceived political enemies and advance a political agenda. "Others are, of course, free to form their own judgments, as some are prone to do about others' private lives. "It won't change my work. I will continue to call out the many prongs of my journalism, and pursue the causes important to me, exactly as before." Glenn Greenwald, who is openly gay, co-founded The Intercept and wrote for the outlet until he stepped down in 2020. He was married to David Miranda, a Brazilian politician who died in 2023. Together, they are parents to two sons. Support for Journalist Since the release of his statement, Greenwald's post has received an outpouring of supportive comments. "You have my unwavering support! Don't stop telling the truth. I'm sorry this is happening to you, I won't be watching anything depicting your private life which was released without your permission," wrote one person. "I hope others will choose to do the same. This could happen to any of us speaking truth to power. "We must stand together. Thank you for decades of integrity, hard work and personal risk to uncover and expose truth." Another person wrote, "Keep up the good work, Glenn, this attempt to get at you is ridiculous and everyone with half a brain can see through it!" Greenwald won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on government surveillance programs using information leaked by Edward Snowden. He parted ways with The Intercept after accusing the publication's editors of trying to suppress an article he wrote that was critical of Joe Biden. In a sharply worded Substack essay, Greenwald condemned what he described as a culture of "repression, censorship, and ideological homogeneity" both at the outlet and across mainstream media.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Is the Trump Administration Lying About His Birthday Parade?
President Trump's 250 year anniversary of America military parade (which, by complete coincidence, falls on his birthday) will most likely cost more than the exorbitant $45 million it's already budgeted for. The June 14th parade will feature 6,700 soldiers, 50 in-air helicopters, 34 horses, and 28 massive 70-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks, the latter of which may very well cause serious damage to DC city streets, resulting in the parade cost easily eclipsing $45 million. 'If military tanks were used, they should be accompanied with many millions of dollars to repair the roads,' D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said back in April. The Trump administration has stated that the federal government will add protections to the roads and pay for damages, adding yet another taxpayer expense to this lavish day. 'As a prevention measure to ensure there are no damages to the roads, one-inch-thick steel plates, varying in size from 4 feet by 8 feet and 8 feet by 20 feet will be placed on the roads at any pivot point and all new rubber tracks will be placed on vehicles,' Army spokesperson Heather J. Hagan told The Intercept. Cleanup and higher police presence costs have also yet to be calculated. This is a $45 million display of narcissism and militarism from President Trump, and you're paying for it. 'This administration does not have a credible history of telling the truth about anything. And so, when they estimate $45 million, you know that's a low-ball figure,' Representative Steve Cohen told The Intercept. 'The egotist-in-chief wants taxpayers to foot the bill for a military parade on his birthday. This would be an unprecedented waste of money to please this self-absorbed con man.'
The Intercept
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Intercept
PBS Station Wipes Drag and Trans Content After DOGE Outcry
The New York-area PBS station WNET has scrubbed its archives of at least three educational TV episodes that discuss transgender identity and drag expression, The Intercept has learned, as Congress and the Trump administration target public broadcasters with attempts to strip their funding. The station's educational program 'Let's Learn' became an object of ire for the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency this spring over the 2021 episode 'The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish,' in which the drag queen and children's author Lil Miss Hot Mess sings about drag performance to the tune of 'The Wheels on the Bus.' The subcommittee's chair, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., opened the 'Anti-American Airwaves' hearing in March by claiming that 'PBS News is not just left-leaning, but it actively uses taxpayer funds to push some of the most radical, left positions like featuring a drag queen on the show' and calling Lil Miss Hot Mess a 'child predator' and a 'monster.' Far from defending the programming, PBS CEO Paula Kerger distanced the broadcaster from the show. 'The drag queen was actually not on any of our kids' shows,' she said, claiming the episode made it to the PBS website by mistake and had already been removed. PBS followed up with a letter that said it had 'removed all remaining references to the Episode' online on March 26, 2025. But it wasn't just PBS: The New York member station that produces 'Let's Learn' — which had stood by the episode under scrutiny in previous years — then quietly removed the episode across its platforms, according to an Intercept analysis. WNET also erased two other episodes about a children's book featuring a a transgender protagonist, the analysis shows. WNET did not respond to requests for comment. A PBS spokesperson reiterated Kerger's claim that the episode was uploaded by mistake and said its removal was unrelated to the current political climate, but did not respond to questions about why over 250 other 'Let's Learn' episodes are still available for viewing on the official PBS website. Public broadcasting was an object of U.S. conservative wrath for decades before the Trump administration. But as the current government has intensified its attacks, PBS has engaged in other recent examples of self-censorship. PBS removed a scene in which Art Spiegelman discusses an anti-Trump cartoon from a documentary about the artist, and it pulled a gaming documentary with transgender themes from planned syndication — then relisted it after The Atlantic asked about the deletion. But the erasure of WNET's programming on drag and transgender culture shows the effects reaching a local level, where the station that produced the episodes elected to take them down — despite previously having defended them. After premiering in the spring of 2021, 'The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish' quickly garnered social media outrage and news coverage. Following the first round of backlash, WNET added a disclaimer on its YouTube channel and the 'Let's Learn' website, noting that the series is 'not funded or distributed by PBS.' But at the time, WNET defended the episode, telling Fox News that Let's Learn 'strives to incorporate themes that explore diversity and promote inclusivity, which are relevant to education and society. Drag is a performance art that can inspire creative thinking and the questioning of stereotypes.' The outrage didn't go away: Two years later, Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt explicitly mentioned the episode when he vetoed a bill to extend funding for his state's PBS station. Despite all the attention, WNET continued to make the episode available — until this year. An Intercept analysis showed that following the DOGE hearing, WNET quietly removed all mentions of the episode across its platforms. The original episode page now displays a generic error message, reading 'Oops! The page you are looking for was not found.' 'The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish' no longer appears in a list of episode titles, and the video is listed as private on the WNET Education YouTube channel. WNET also instructed search engines not to list the episode's old webpage. Aside from removing 'The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish,' WNET has additionally removed at least two more 'Let's Learn' episodes, The Intercept has found. In the November 2020 episode 'Max and the Talent Show,' author Kyle Lukoff reads his book of the same name. The story concerns a white transgender boy named Max who helps his Black male friend Steven prepare for a talent show and 'find the perfect gown, shoes, cape, and tiara,' according to the School Library Journal. The journal calls the book 'an excellent choice as an early reader with an LGBTQIA+ theme.' WNET removed that episode and another, called 'Brain and Same Both Have Long 'A.'' That hourlong episode also features 'Max and the Talent Show,' which students read in order to 'practice sounds with the long 'a.'' Although it has been erased from PBS and WNET platforms, 'The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish' can still be viewed via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
