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.
For-Profit College Lobbyist Desperately Sought Face Time With DeVos
Over three years, the for-profit college industry has gotten almost everything it has wanted from the Trump administration — the cancellation of Obama-era regulations aimed at holding poorly-performing and deceptive colleges accountable, a dramatic scaling-down of enforcement efforts to crack down on fraud and abuse, the deep-freeze or rejection of thousands of claims by ripped-off
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Oil Execs Threaten Sanders, Biden, and Warren In the Most Arrogant Way Possible
In a full-page advertisement in the New York Times today, the CEOs of about 50 oil and gas companies attack Democratic contenders Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren for criticizing executives from their industry. “Sen. Bernie Sanders,” their ad proclaims, “calls oil and natural gas executives criminal. Vice Pres. Joe Biden wants us in
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FBI Raids For-Profit College Owned By Tennessee State Senator
The FBI executed a search warrant Friday at The Healthcare Institute, a Memphis for-profit college owned by Tennessee state senator Katrina Robinson (D), according to numerous media reports. The FBI also searched Robinson’s home. Witnesses saw FBI agents removing file cabinets, boxes, and computers from the school. Students told TV channel FOX13 that agents asked
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This Is A National Emergency
This is a national emergency. The constitutional republic established in 1789, and the rule of law, is under attack by the President of the United States. This President was impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of office, pressuring Ukraine to help him cheat in 2020 election, and obstruction of Congress. Before that, the
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Introducing Perdoceo: Under DeVos, Predatory Practices Pay
On January 2, Career Education Corporation (CEC) changed its name to Perdoceo, thus becoming the latest big for-profit college business to shed a name associated with predatory misconduct and switch to a pharmaceutical name. (Previous examples: Zovio, Adtalem.) Today, on a quarterly investor call, Perdoceo CEO Todd Nelson bragged of increased company revenues. Trump education
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Student Advocates Again Challenge DeVos in Court For Trashing Obama-Era Rules
Trump education secretary Betsy DeVos has trashed two key rules that the Department of Education, during the Obama administration, painstakingly developed to discourage for-profit colleges from deceiving and abusing their own students. With a new lawsuit filed today, advocates for students are now in court fighting to cancel both of the DeVos anti-rules and keep
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McCabe Cleared: Justice 10, Trump 0
The U.S. Justice Department today declared that it would not pursue criminal charges against former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. The decision continues a remarkable streak since Trump’s inauguration three years ago: No matter how blatantly Trump has sought, behind the scenes and in his public attacks, to use the Justice Department to prosecute his
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Scam America: We All Attend Trump University Now
The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it had reached a settlement with the New Jersey-based operators of a website called LendEDU, which falsely claimed to offer “unbiased” advice about student loans, personal loans, and credit cards. In fact, LendEDU gave higher ratings to companies that paid for the placement. LendEDU also touted positive reviews
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