Author Archive for: emptywheel
About emptywheel
Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties. She writes as emptywheel at her eponymous blog, publishes at outlets including Vice, Motherboard, the Nation, the Atlantic, Al Jazeera, and appears frequently on television and radio. She is the author of Anatomy of Deceit, a primer on the CIA leak investigation, and liveblogged the Scooter Libby trial.
Marcy has a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she researched the “feuilleton,” a short conversational newspaper form that has proven important in times of heightened censorship. Before and after her time in academics, Marcy provided documentation consulting for corporations in the auto, tech, and energy industries. She lives with her spouse in Grand Rapids, MI.
Entries by emptywheel
The Saudi Payments to Trump Are More Important than the Suspected Egyptian One
/96 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Foreign Influence/by emptywheelGiven Trump’s ongoing Saudi business deals, we literally do not know whether Trump would enter the White House as a business partner, an employee, or an unregistered foreign agent of the Saudi state. That makes questions about his Saudi ties more urgent than questions about the suspected $10 million payment from Egypt.
The Trump Hack Could Extend Far Beyond a Hack-and-Leak
/127 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection, Leak Investigations/by emptywheelThe question of how to approach this news that Iran hacked Trump’s campaign goes well beyond the question of whether to publish the documents allegedly stolen. In significant part because Trump refuses to firewall his political life from his criminal life, hacks by Iran could create real damage to the United States far beyond what they do to Trump’s campaign.
Trump’s Broken-Down Helicopter Was a Vehicle to Make Up Shit about Kamala Harris
/124 Comments/in 2024 Presidential Election/by emptywheelIt has taken two days and at least ten journalists to chase down Trump’s fabrications about a helicopter flight with Willie Brown on which he badmouthed Kamala Harris. But the stories have yet to focus on that part — that the failing helicopter was just a vehicle to tell more lies about the Vice President.