Justin Elliot

Key Senate Staffer On Military Issues Got Big Payout From Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin has big business in Washington, with Defense Department contracts representing more than half of the company’s $46.5 billion in net sales last year. And now, Lockheed has a former top lobbyist in a key position on Capitol Hill overseeing the company. Former Lockheed vice president Ann Elise Sauer was hired by Sen. John […]

Justin Elliot
By Justin Elliot
Main entrance to Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE) in Bethesda. (Phtot by Coolcaesar via en.wikipedia)

Lockheed Martin has big business in Washington, with Defense Department contracts representing more than half of the company's $46.5 billion in net sales last year. And now, Lockheed has a former top lobbyist in a key position on Capitol Hill overseeing the company. Former Lockheed vice president Ann Elise Sauer was hired by Sen. John McCain in

Read Full Article

Fact-Check: How The NYPD Overstated Its Counterterrorism Record

The NYPD is regularly held up as one of the most sophisticated and significant counterterrorism operations in the country. As evidence of the NYPD’s excellence, the department, its allies and the media have repeatedly said the department has thwarted or helped thwart 14 terrorist plots against New York since Sept 11. In a glowing profile of Commissioner […]

Justin Elliot
By Justin Elliot
In this Dec. 29, 2011 file photo, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly speaks at a news conference with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in Brooklyn, N.Y. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams, File)

The NYPD is regularly held up as one of the most sophisticated and significant counterterrorism operations in the country. As evidence of the NYPD's excellence, the department, its allies and the media have repeatedly said the department has thwarted or helped thwart 14 terrorist plots against New York since Sept 11. In a glowing profile of

Read Full Article

Republicans Back Down On Effort To Defund Transparency Rule

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee today dropped an effort to defund a new Federal Communications Commission rule that will make political ad data available on the Internet. The FCC rule, which was OKed by the commission earlier this year and is expected to go into effect sometime this summer or fall, would require TV […]

Justin Elliot
By Justin Elliot
This June 7, 2011, file photo shows Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson waving to reporters as he arrived for Sands China's annual meeting in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee today dropped an effort to defund a new Federal Communications Commission rule that will make political ad data available on the Internet. The FCC rule, which was OKed by the commission earlier this year and is expected to go into effect sometime this summer or fall, would require TV stations to

Read Full Article

Obama Administration’s Drone Death Figures Don’t Add Up

Last month, a “senior administration official” said the number of civilians killed in drone strikes in Pakistan under President Obama is in the “single digits.” But last year “U.S. officials” said drones in Pakistan killed about 30 civilians in just a yearlong stretch under Obama. Both claims can’t be true. A centerpiece of President Obama’s […]

Justin Elliot
By Justin Elliot
Protesters burn an effigy of a US military drone during a rally at the US Embassy in Manila, Philippines Friday April 13, 2012. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Last month, a “senior administration official” said the number of civilians killed in drone strikes in Pakistan under President Obama is in the “single digits.” But last year “U.S. officials” said drones in Pakistan killed about 30 civilians in just a yearlong stretch under Obama. Both claims can’t be true. A centerpiece of President Obama’s

Read Full Article

Media Companies Make Yet Another Push To Defang Transparency Rule

A group of broadcasters are formally asking the Federal Communications Commission to soften a new rule requiring TV stations to put political ad data on the Internet. Washington attorneys for a group of twelve companies filed a petition for reconsideration of the rule, which was approved by the FCC in April and requires online disclosure […]

Justin Elliot
By Justin Elliot
News anchors discuss the news on the air. (Photo by Scott S.)

A group of broadcasters are formally asking the Federal Communications Commission to soften a new rule requiring TV stations to put political ad data on the Internet. Washington attorneys for a group of twelve companies filed a petition for reconsideration of the rule, which was approved by the FCC in April and requires online disclosure about

Read Full Article

Republicans Vote To Block Transparency On Political Ads

The opponents of a new rule to post political ad information online have opened up another front in a long-running fight, inserting language into an appropriations bill that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from implementing the transparency measure. The FCC voted in April to require television stations to put detailed data on political ad purchases online. […]

Justin Elliot
By Justin Elliot
This is a frame grab from a Rick Perry presidential campaign advertisement. Under a proposed FCC rule, media outlets would be required to detail political advertisements run by the company in an online database. (AP Photo/Perry Presidential Campaign)

The opponents of a new rule to post political ad information online have opened up another front in a long-running fight, inserting language into an appropriations bill that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from implementing the transparency measure. The FCC voted in April to require television stations to put detailed data on

Read Full Article

Dissecting Obama’s Standard On Drone Strike Death

In a lengthy front-page story last week exploring President Obama’s use of drone strikes in countries including Pakistan and Yemen, the New York Times reported that the president had “embraced a disputed method for counting civilian casualties that did little to box him in.” Citing “several administration officials,” the Times reported that this method “in effect counts […]

Justin Elliot
By Justin Elliot
In this Jan. 31, 2010 file photo, an unmanned U.S. Predator drone flies over Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan, on a moon-lit night. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

In a lengthy front-page story last week exploring President Obama's use of drone strikes in countries including Pakistan and Yemen, the New York Times reported that the president had "embraced a disputed method for counting civilian casualties that did little to box him in." Citing "several administration officials," the Times reported that this

Read Full Article