Top Secret America

Big Brother Is Watching You Drive

July 17, 2013, 3:46 pm ET · by Sarah Childress

Law enforcement agencies nationwide increasingly rely on automatic license-plate readers to track and store information on American drivers, a new report found, in the latest revelation on how the government gathers data on its citizens.

Is “Top Secret America” Making Us Safer? Live Chat Wed. 2 pm ET

April 30, 2013, 9:50 pm ET · by Nathan Tobey

Join us for a live chat about “Top Secret America: 9/11 to the Boston Bombings” with Washington Post reporter Dana Priest, FRONTLINE producer Mike Wiser and Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen.

The Boston Bombers: Who Knew What When

April 30, 2013, 9:40 pm ET · by Sarah Childress

The FBI and the CIA had been tipped off about one of the bombers two years ago. Could the attacks have been prevented?

The Magazine that “Inspired” the Boston Bombers

April 30, 2013, 9:39 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

As investigators uncover details about what motivated the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, an early report suggests the two brothers learned their violent tactics online from an English-language Al Qaeda propaganda magazine.

“Top Secret America” After the Boston Bombings

April 26, 2013, 12:50 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Americans are asking why the country’s intelligence agencies failed to prevent the devastating attack.

Six Reasons the “Dark Side” Still Exists Under Obama

April 22, 2013, 4:23 pm ET · by Sarah Childress

Obama banned torture, but hasn’t taken steps to keep it from happening again, according to a recently released report.

Senate Report: Massive Post-9/11 Surveillance Apparatus A “Waste”

October 3, 2012, 6:08 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

Today a Senate committee published the searing results of a two-year investigation concluding that fusion centers have “not produced useful intelligence to support Federal counterterrorism efforts” and have “too often wasted money and stepped on Americans’ civil liberties.”

“Top Secret America” Price Tag at Record High

July 5, 2012, 1:24 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

It cost at least $11.36 billion to guard America’s secrets last year, according to a new report.

Docs Reveal FBI Used Muslim Outreach As Guise to Collect Intel

March 28, 2012, 5:28 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

For at least four years, federal agents used Muslim community outreach meetings at mosques in Northern California as a guise to collect intelligence and catalog the identities, personal information, religious views and travel of religious leaders and congregants, FBI documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union revealed yesterday.

New Counterterrorism Guidelines Allow U.S. to Hold Americans’ Data Longer

March 23, 2012, 1:40 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

Signed yesterday, the new rules will allow the government to hold data on U.S. citizens who are not suspected of terrorist activity for 10 times longer than before.

NYPD Eyed Shia Muslims Based on Religion

February 3, 2012, 2:21 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

News that the NYPD recommended increasing the surveillance of thousands of Shiite Muslims and their mosques, based solely on religion, is the latest report in the AP’s ongoing investigation into the department’s controversial intelligence unit and its questionable tactics.

FBI Criticized for Collecting Racial and Ethnic Data

October 21, 2011, 2:03 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

Arab-Americans in Michigan, African-Americans in Georgia and “broad swaths” of Latino-Americans communities across multiple states are some of the groups … Continue reading →

NYPD Secretly Monitored City’s Muslim “Partners”

October 5, 2011, 6:43 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

“Imams like [Sheik Reda] Shata — men who embrace American freedom and condemn the radicals they feel have tainted their … Continue reading →

New Details of FBI Terrorism Watch List Revealed

September 28, 2011, 1:58 pm ET · by Sarah Moughty

According to documents obtained by The New York Times, the FBI’s terrorism “watch” list contains 420,000 names. About 8,000 of … Continue reading →

FBI Training Materials: Mainstream Muslims Are Violent, Radical

September 15, 2011, 2:20 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

As part of her investigation into Top Secret America back in December, Dana Priest reported that some of the trainers hired by local … Continue reading →

The Essential 9/11 Bibliography

September 9, 2011, 3:18 pm ET · by Sarah Moughty

Our staff has been reminiscing on some of the best pieces of reporting and investigative journalism that came out in … Continue reading →

How JSOC Became a Force of “Networked Ninjas”

September 9, 2011, 12:52 pm ET · by Sarah Moughty

Spencer Ackerman has a new piece today in Wired that offers a fascinating look at how Gen. Stanley McChrystal built … Continue reading →

Mall of America Shoppers Find Themselves Ensnared in the War on Terror

September 8, 2011, 2:34 pm ET · by Azmat Khan

Don’t let your elderly father forget his phone at a food court at the Mall of America. This was a … Continue reading →

Has the Balance Tipped?

September 7, 2011, 3:30 pm ET · by Philip Bennett

FRONTLINE Managing Editor Philip Bennett reflects on this week’s film.

Live Chat with “Top Secret America” Reporter Dana Priest and Producer Michael Kirk

September 6, 2011, 10:54 pm ET

Read a full transcript of the conversation.

John Rizzo: The Lawyer Who Approved CIA’s Most Controversial Programs

September 6, 2011, 4:54 pm ET

In this rare interview, John Rizzo, described as “the most influential career lawyer in CIA history” describes his role in many of the “unprecedented” actions the CIA undertook after 9/11, including the “enhanced interrogation program” that critics described as torture and the CIA’s secret prison system.

Fran Townsend: “In a Post-9/11 World We Weren’t Going to Be So Prissy”

September 6, 2011, 4:54 pm ET

“We were going to do what we needed to do to get the information we needed to protect the American people,” says former homeland security adviser Fran Townsend. But now she questions what kind of return we’re getting on the investment we’ve made in homeland security over the last 10 years.