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.
Donald Trump’s Two Not Concession Speeches
Editor’s note: After I drafted this, Donald Trump delivered remarks more vile and pathetic than any parody I could ever muster. But I’m posting this anyway for absolutely no reason. Maybe just catharsis, to be rid of this guy. The Washington Post has since reported, “Trump is unlikely to ever concede in the traditional sense,
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USA May Fire Trump, But It’s Also Told Biden: Drain the Swamp
Biden’s coalition was ideologically diverse, from Bernie Sanders to Cindy McCain, but if he wants to vanquish Trumpism and build back better, his administration would need fewer elite lobbyists — and more people who look like they could fix a car. American voters have spoken, and when the votes are counted they may have rejected
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Trump Lawyer Suing Over Georgia Votes Is Tied To Extremists & Controversies
Donald Trump’s desperate assault on the 2020 election includes new lawsuits in multiple states. The key lawyer for the Trump campaign’s lawsuit contesting votes in Georgia is Stefan Passantino, a former Trump administration White House lawyer. The Georgia case seems tiny — contesting at most 53 votes out of the 5 million cast in the
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Here Are The Trump Election Lawsuit Filings
Pennsylvania Donald J. Trump for President v. Boockvar Complaint, 11-04-20, Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania In re: Canvassing Observation Order denying motion, 11-03-20, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County Notice of Appeal to Commonwealth Court, 11-04-20, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar Motion Of Donald J. Trump For President,
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DeVos Department Has Ended Federal Aid to Troubled For-Profit College Chain
Betsy DeVos’s four-year effort to do the bidding of predatory for-profit colleges and trash rules to hold them accountable has had mixed results. Some awful schools seem to be thriving, while others have continued to collapse under the weight of their own bad behavior. The next casualty may be an East Coast operation — including
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The Feds Shut Down These Scam Colleges, But DeVos Won’t Help Ex-Students
In recent months, we’ve highlighted on this site some for-profit and career colleges whose predatory abuses against students should disqualify them from eligibility for federal student grants and loans, yet the Donald Trump-Betsy DeVos education department keeps sending them millions of our tax dollars each month; Ashford University, Florida Career College, American Intercontinental/Colorado Tech, and
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For-Profit College Lobby Stacks Post-Election Convo with Democrats
Each year, the for-profit college lobby group CECU holds a November “CEO Summit,” a gathering where top industry executives take stock and address the challenges ahead. Notably, at the 2016 summit, the big speaker was former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who was both a close associate of CECU CEO Steve Gunderson, and an early supporter
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Accreditor Says Court Ruling Raises New Doubts About Carl Barney Schools
In August a Colorado state judge issued a blockbuster ruling that found systematic consumer protection abuses against students by the Center for Excellence in Higher Education (CEHE), operator of career training schools including CollegeAmerica and Independence University. Now, based on that decision, CEHE’s accreditor, which already had placed the schools on probation, is demanding new
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