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.
Trump Terrible 10 — Made in China Edition
Counting down 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 serious bigotry, disrespect for constitutional freedoms, know-nothing ignorance, and an endless
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Gorelick Steps Back, But Her Task Remains Troubling
Ten days before Donald Trump was inaugurated, Republic Report wrote about Jamie Gorelick, the Democratic power lawyer and long-time Bill and Hillary Clinton associate who, it had just been revealed, was advising Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump on ethics issues related to their joining the White House staff. We gave Gorelick’s decision to represent the
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Sad Little Boy Defense Won’t Help Trumps
Last night the New York Times posted a story that quoted unnamed “friends” of the Trump family floating a new defense for the June 9, 2016, meeting that Donald Trump Jr. set up with a man who promised “official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to
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Trump Team Disgracefulness Power Rankings – Family Edition
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 serious bigotry, disrespect for constitutional freedoms, know-nothing ignorance, and an endless capacity for lying, can really, really corrupt democracy. Hence, Trump Team Disgracefulness
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Trump Jr.’s Smoking Gun Email
Notified by the New York Times that it possessed his early June 2016 email chain with publicist Rob Goldstone, Donald Trump, Jr. released the exchange this morning. It’s absolutely damning. In the email to Trump Jr., Goldstone says that his client, Emin Agalarov, a Russian pop singer and the son of Aras Agalarov, a real
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DeVos Should Stop Stalling, Enforce Obama Rules to Protect Students From Fraud
This week, the Department of Education is holding hearings (Monday in DC, Wednesday in Dallas) at which members of the public can comment on Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s announcement that she will conduct a “Regulatory Reset” – a new round of rule-making proceedings to reconsider two college accountability rules issued by the Department in
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Trump Team Disgracefulness Power Rankings – Pro Wrestling Edition
To celebrate our nation, Republic Report planned to take an Independence Day break from Trump Team Disgracefulness Power Rankings, but by Sunday morning, when Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em POTUS tried to knock CNN’s block off, we were so deep into another week of Trump team disgracefulness that we had to punch through. Republic Report, which focuses on how money
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Trump Team Disgracefulness Power Rankings – Week 4
It hurts so bad, and you wish you could quit it. But you’re driving down the highway and it comes on the radio, or you’re at the newsstand to get gum and you see the headlines — you can’t get the disgracefulness of Donald Trump and his crew out of your face, or out of
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