About: David Halperin
Twitter: @DaHalperin
Bio: David Halperin is the co-founder and editor of Republic Report. Halperin, a self-employed lawyer based in Washington DC, engages in public advocacy, investigative work, and legal representation on a wide range of issues, including higher education, climate change, democracy, corruption, open government, and national security. He also advises organizations and companies on strategy, policy, communications, and legal matters. He is of counsel to Public.Resource.org, a non-profit focused on making legal and government materials available for free to the public.
Halperin’s investigative and advocacy work on predatory for-profit colleges since 2010 has spurred reforms in policy and regulations, triggered law enforcement investigations, and led to the closure of numerous deceptive schools.
Halperin was from 2004 until 2012 the founding director of Campus Progress and senior vice president at the Center for American Progress. Before that, he was: senior policy advisor for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign; founding executive director of the American Constitution Society; White House speechwriter and special assistant for national security affairs to President Clinton; co-founder of the Internet company Progressive Networks (now called RealNetworks); counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee; law clerk to U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell (D.D.C.); research assistant to Robert S. McNamara; and research analyst at the Arms Control Association.
Halperin has represented clients in the U.S. Supreme Court and various state and federal courts. Among many other efforts, Halperin helped represent Greenpeace in an unprecedented 2004 Miami criminal jury trial over protest activity, resulting in a directed verdict of acquittal; aided climate groups facing investigation by the House Science Committee during 2015-16; and represented Public Resource in landmark copyright litigation from 2012 to 2024 over efforts to make federal regulations publicly available online without charge.
Halperin writes at Republic Report, and his articles also have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, Politico, Slate, Foreign Policy, and other outlets. In recent years he has testified before the House Oversight Committee and at several federal agencies, and he has spoken at major conferences and events across the country. Halperin has served since 2007 on the board of directors of Public Citizen.
Halperin graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School.
Fla. Rep. Hastings Tied To FastTrain, For-Profit College Raided by FBI
The FBI raided campuses of Florida-based FastTrain College on Wednesday. The for-profit school has multiple ties to Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL), who has been a fervent backer of for-profit education companies. This industry has lobbied Congress fiercely in recent years to avoid accountability for waste, fraud, and abuse at the expense of students and
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VIDEO: Industry Groups Insist On Charging You $1,195 To Read A Public Law
Today, private organizations charge U.S. citizens hundreds of dollars simply to read a copy of standards they issue, standards that regulate things like gas pipeline safety, crane usage, and toy manufacturing — even though citizens are required to obey those standards, because the federal government has incorporated them into regulations. This adds up to tens
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5 Reasons Mitt Romney Would Be The First Corporation Elected President
“Corporations are people, my friend,” Mitt Romney enthusiastically exclaimed last fall at the Iowa State Fair. Romney was referencing legal principles that give business corporations many of the rights possessed by actual human beings. But Romney is more than the exponent of this idea, he is its embodiment. If Romney wins in November, it will
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Michelle Rhee Says She’ll Tell For-Profit Colleges To Clean Up Their Act
Michelle Rhee writes in the Huffington Post that “some have questioned” why she would speak at the upcoming annual meeting of the largest trade group of for-profit colleges, APSCU, and she offers an answer. I first raised this question 10 days ago, so I want to evaluate Rhee’s response. First of all, Rhee, the former chancellor
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A Good Day: Obama Stands With Troops Instead of Wealthy Predatory Colleges
At Fort Stewart, Georgia, today, President Obama signed an executive order aiming to protect U.S. troops, veterans, and their families from the predatory abuses of some for-profit colleges. It remains to be seen if this new directive will do enough to guide our service members into programs that actually help them build careers — and away
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President Obama To Issue Order Protecting Service Members and Veterans From Abuses By For-Profit Colleges
Today, at Fort Stewart, Georgia, President Obama will sign an executive order to help active duty military members, veterans, and their families get the information they need to select college programs paid for with federal aid. The order also strengthens oversight and accountability for schools that offer these educational programs. Schools will be required to give
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Exclusive: Washington Post’s Kaplan and Other For-Profit Colleges Joined ALEC, Controversial Special Interest Lobby
Republic Report has learned that the Washington Post Company’s Kaplan for-profit college division, was, last year, a member of the controversial business advocacy group the American Legislative Exchange Council. Other major for-profit education companies also joined ALEC. Republic Report has obtained a July 2011 document showing Kaplan Higher Education and other for-profits as members of
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Scams and Frauds (Plus George W. Bush and Michelle Rhee) At Upcoming Subprime College Conference in Vegas
Republic Report previously reported that former President George W. Bush will be speaking at the annual meeting of APSCU, the leading association of for-profit colleges, on June 22 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. For-profit colleges get $32 billion in student aid from your tax dollars every year, but many are marked by deceptive
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