By Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, Alex Mierjeski ProPublica In early July 2008, Samuel Alito stood on a riverbank in a remote corner of Alaska. The Supreme Court justice was on vacation at a luxury fishing lodge that charged more than $1,000 a day, and after catching a king salmon nearly the size of his leg, Alito posed for…
By Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski This story was originally published by ProPublica. Read Justice Clarence Thomas’ response at the end of this article. By IN LATE JUNE 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were…
By Allan Lengel The FBI is facing extremely challenging times, undertaking highly-sensitive investigations while dealing with intense and sometimes very harsh criticism from outside and within. We can think of no better No. 2 person than Paul Abbate to try to help steady the ship. Unflappable and low key, Abbate, with more than 26 years…
The writer, an FBI agent for 31 years, retired as resident agent in charge of the Ann Arbor office in 2006. The following is the first chapter in his book, “FBI Case Files Michigan: Tales of a G-Man,” published by The History Press. It’ll be released Feb. 21 and can be pre-ordered or found at local bookstores June…
By Allan Lengel Every year federal law enforcement agents and officers put their lives on the line. With that in mind, we can think of no better person to give the ticklethewire.com Fed of the Year Award for 2021 than Eugene Goodman, the veteran U.S. Capitol Police officer who faced an angry mob on his…
Jim Freeman is the former special agent in charge of the San Francisco Office. Terry D. Turchie is the former assistant special agent in charge, UNABOMB Task Force. Donald Max Noel is a former supervisory special agent on the UNABOMB Task Force. The book is published by the History Publishing Company. It’s available on Amazon,…
By Allan Lengel These have been extraordinary times for people working for the Justice Department. Standing for what’s right in the Trump era has often come with consequences. Geoffrey S. Berman, the ex-U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, knows that as well as anyone. Berman oversaw the office when it was investigating…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com DEA agent Joe Piersante has been named ticklethewire.com’ Fed of The Year for 2019. Piersante, who retired this month in Detroit, took a different path in his career, and showed remarkable resolve. He joined the Detroit Police force and then the DEA in 1997. He spent the next decade in Arizona…
