Patrick G. Eddington | The Libertarian Institute

The Curious Case Of Ex-NSA Inspector General George Ellard

by Patrick G. Eddington | Aug 4, 2017 | Featured Articles, Justice

On August 3, The American Conservative ran a lengthy piece of mine dealing with the whistleblower protection nightmare that is the Department of Defense. One of the subjects of that piece is now former NSA IG George Ellard, and because I had even more on his case than I could fit into the TAC piece, I wanted to share the rest of what I know–and don’t know–about the allegations against Ellard, the final disposition of the case, why the Obama administration’s whistleblower retaliation “fix” is itself broken, and what might be done to actually provide meaningful protections for would-be...

GAO Weighs In On “Countering Violent Extremism”

by Patrick G. Eddington | Apr 19, 2017 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

The ongoing controversy and litigation over the Trump administration’s “Muslim ban” has reignited a debate that has raged since the 9/11 attacks: Who commits more domestic terrorism–violent Salafists or traditional “right wing” extremists? According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, it’s the latter and by a very wide margin. From p. 4 of GAO’s report: Of the 85 violent extremist incidents that resulted in death since September 12, 2001, far right wing violent extremist groups were responsible for 62 (73 percent) while radical Islamist violent extremists were responsible for...

In the Trump Administration, Islamophobia Is Truly a Family Affair

by Patrick G. Eddington | Feb 3, 2017 | Featured Articles, Justice

With the arrival of Sebastian Gorka at the White House, another Islamophobe has joined Team Trump. But first, some background on the significance of this latest personnel move. As The Intercept noted in November, his wife, Katharine Gorka, a political commentator with well-established anti-Muslim views, would be joining the Trump administration’s “DHS landing team”—the group responsible for vetting future Department of Homeland Security appointees. Like her husband, Gorka is a contributing writer at Breitbart, the far right media outlet previously run by Stephen Bannon. In her writings,...

Memo to Congress: On Alleged Russian Hacking, Put up or Shut Up

by Patrick G. Eddington | Jan 24, 2017 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Around Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House hangs one question above all others: was the United States attacked by a foreign power, in this case, the Russian Federation? The allegation is that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed the Russian hacking and influence operation to target the 2016 American presidential election for the benefit of now-Commander-in-Chief Donald J. Trump. That’s what the CIA, NSA, and FBI want us all to believe, based on the joint report they issued on Jan. 6. But as I have noted elsewhere, that report contained exactly zero declassified intelligence to...

Political Violence and Domestic Surveillance: Has The Fuse Been Lit?

by Patrick G. Eddington | Nov 16, 2016 | Featured Articles, Justice

Ben Schreckinger at POLITICO has a story out today that every American concerned about the current political climate in our country should read. With the lede of “Trump Protesters Plan to Build ‘Tea Party’ of the Left,” Schreckinger quotes several progressive activists, including former Occupy Wall Street veteran Micah White. It’s worth quoting White in full, because his comments will absolutely draw the attention of officials at the FBI and DHS: "American activists are finally starting to understand that protest is broken. The people cannot attain sovereignty over their governments by...