From government eavesdropping on private citizens to revelatory details about Russian interference in the 2016 election to Washington’s draconian efforts to track and punish whistleblowers and journalists, surveillance and spying have been recurring themes this year. Influence-peddling has been rampant, with Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies cozying up to the Trump administration in exchange for insider information, freedom to silence dissidents, and crucial assistance for their brutal war in Yemen. The U.S. government, meanwhile, has been up to its old tricks, honoring war criminals and promoting a notorious overseer of torture to lead the CIA, while pursuing Muslims at home and harming civilians in distant conflict zones.
My Life as a New York Times Reporter in the Shadow of the War on Terror
By James Risen
The NSA’s Hidden Spy Hubs in Eight U.S. Cities
By Ryan Gallagher, Henrik Moltke
What Mueller’s Latest Indictment Reveals About Russian and U.S. Spycraft
By Micah Lee
Saudi Crown Prince Boasted That Jared Kushner Was “in His Pocket”
By Alex Emmons, Ryan Grim, Clayton Swisher
Saudi Arabia Planned to Invade Qatar Last Summer. Rex Tillerson’s Efforts to Stop It May Have Cost Him His Job.
By Alex Emmons
U.S.-Backed Saudi Airstrike on Family With Nine Children Shows “Clear Violations” of the Laws of War
By Iona Craig, Shuaib Almosawa
Dear Saudi Crown Prince Supporters: Your Hero May Allow Women to Drive, but He’s Also a War Criminal
By Mehdi Hasan
With Medal of Honor, SEAL Team 6 Rewards a Culture of War Crimes
By Matthew Cole
Video: A Brief History of U.S. Intervention in Iraq Over the Past Half-Century
By Jeremy Scahill
Camp America Comes Home: Debi Cornwall’s Photos Capture the Eerie Aftermath of Guantánamo.
By Siddhartha Mitter
U.S. Navy Reserve Doctor on Gina Haspel Torture Victim: “One of the Most Severely Traumatized Individuals I Have Ever Seen”
By Jeremy Scahill
Reality Winner Has Been in Jail for a Year. Her Prosecution Is Unfair and Unprecedented.
By Peter Maass
A 4-Year-Old Girl Was the Sole Survivor of a U.S. Drone Strike in Afghanistan. Then She Disappeared.
By May Jeong
Noor Salman, Widow of Pulse Killer Omar Mateen, Is Found Not Guilty of All Charges
By Glenn Greenwald
“I Refused to Secretly Spy” — How an Iranian-American Turned Down the FBI and Wound Up With a Prison Sentence
By Johnny Dwyer
Before Snowden, an NSA Spy Tried to Incite Change From the Inside. He Called Himself the “Curmudgeon” of Signals Intelligence.
By Peter Maass
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
Contact the author:
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