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.
Troubles Compound for Predatory CollegeAmerica Chain
In August 2016, the Obama administration delivered a powerful blow to the CollegeAmerica/ Stevens-Henager chain of career colleges. The chain, previously a for-profit company, sold itself in 2012 to a small non-profit organization called the Center for Excellence in Higher Education and sought Department of Education approval to be freed of the federal rules that apply
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Durbin, Brown Warn Purdue’s Daniels on Deal with “Shameful” For-Profit Kaplan
In a strongly-worded letter sent late Thursday to Purdue University president Mitch Daniels, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) warn that Purdue’s pending deal to combine with for-profit Kaplan University poses major risks for Purdue’s students and reputation. The Senators assert that Kaplan has a “shameful record” as a “predatory” school. Daniels is the
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Trump Terrible 10: Pro Sports Nuclear War Edition
Since mid-2017, Republic Report‘s “Trump Terrible 10” has ranked the week’s 10 most disgraceful figures in the Trump administration. Republic Report, which focuses on how money corrupts democracy, has met its abusive dream mate with the kleptocratic administration of President Donald J. Trump. Trump and his lieutenants personify how money and greed, mixed with disrespect for constitutional values, know-nothing ignorance,
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DeVos Says Defrauded Students Are After “Free Money”
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has blatantly abandoned federal protections for students and taxpayers in swiftly enacting the agenda of the predatory for-profit college industry, added insult to injury on Friday, declaring that under the rules adopted by the Obama Administration, “all one had to do was raise his or her hands to be entitled
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Trump Terrible 10: Rocket Man Golf Strike BLT Steak Edition
Since mid-2017, Republic Report‘s “Trump Terrible 10” has ranked the week’s 10 most disgraceful figures in the Trump administration. Republic Report, which focuses on how money corrupts democracy, has met its abusive dream mate with the kleptocratic administration of President Donald J. Trump. Trump and his lieutenants personify how money and greed, mixed with disrespect for constitutional values, know-nothing ignorance,
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Trump Terrible 10: ESPN European Honeymoon Idiot Edition
Since mid-2017, Republic Report‘s “Trump Terrible 10” has ranked the week’s 10 most disgraceful figures in the Trump administration. Republic Report, which focuses on how money corrupts democracy, has met its abusive dream mate with the kleptocratic administration of President Donald J. Trump. Trump and his lieutenants personify how money and greed, mixed with disrespect for constitutional values, know-nothing ignorance,
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Trump Terrible 10: Apocalypse Now Edition
Unprecedented violent storms are attacking our shores. North Korea’s got nukes. Russia hacked our election. And malevolent, corrupt, incompetent Donald Trump is the President of the United States. It looks like the end of the world might look. But for better or worse, the world hasn’t ended yet. So, hey, let’s start the countdown. Since
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DeVos Embrace of Predatory For-Profit Colleges Is Breathtaking
Betsy DeVos, whose interest in education prior to the Trump administration seemed mostly focused on K-12 schools, has made her mark as Secretary of Education instead with a remarkably blatant embrace of the worst demands of the for-profit college industry. The reputation of that industry, which at its peak a few years ago had 10
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