Espionage
Daily Comment
The Case Against Trump Is Strong, but There Are Problems Ahead
It gives Trump a compelling reason to persevere in his campaign, and to sow doubt about the criminal process.
Q. & A.
The Legal Dynamics of Trump’s Second Indictment
The case, which concerns the former President’s handling of classified documents, raises complicated questions about intent and national security.
Our Columnists
How Putin Criminalized Journalism in Russia
The case of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter being held in Moscow on espionage charges, is only the most recent example of the Kremlin’s crackdown on reporters.
The Political Scene Podcast
A Historic Earthquake in Turkey, and the Saga of a Spy Balloon
Ben Taub unravels two of the biggest stories in the news this week: a humanitarian crisis in a war zone, and an espionage mystery.
Page-Turner
What Lies Do to a Life
In “A History of Lying,” the novelist Juan Jacinto Muñoz-Rengel argues that lies are inescapable. But being in the periphery of a real man who couldn’t stop lying casts light on the ways that’s not quite true.
Daily Comment
Will the New Special Counsel Bring Donald Trump to Justice?
The task for Merrick Garland—and now Jack Smith—is to ignore political considerations and resolve the investigations as speedily and equitably as possible.
Daily Shouts
The Power of Positive Declassifying
Poof! Just like that, what was secret is now not secret, all through the power of your beautiful, enormous, manifesting mind.
News Desk
An Uncertain Future for a Chinese Scientist Accused of Espionage
The China Initiative is over, but the trial of Franklin Tao shows that the D.O.J. project’s chilling effects persist.
The Political Scene Podcast
How Do We Know When Someone Is a Spy?
The China Initiative was a government program intended to combat Chinese espionage. Yet it found distinguishing spies from others to be complex work.
A Reporter at Large
Have Chinese Spies Infiltrated American Campuses?
The U.S. government arrested Chinese professors, implying that they were foreign agents. The professors say that they’ve been caught up in a xenophobic panic.
News Desk
Why Scientists Become Spies
Access to information only goes so far to explain the curious link between secrets and those who tell them.
Comment
The Spyware Threat to Journalists
In this gathering age of digital autocracy, it is hard to avoid the impression that the dictators are winning.
News Desk
Vienna Is the New Havana Syndrome Hot Spot
Roughly two dozen possible new cases have been reported by U.S. spies and diplomats in the Austrian capital, more than in any other city except Havana itself.
Daily Comment
After the SolarWinds Hack, We Have No Idea What Cyber Dangers We Face
The prospect of mutually assured destruction has worked so far in the nuclear realm, but there are no rules of engagement in cyberspace.
Our Columnists
Biden Faces More Aggressive Rivals and a Fraying World Order
Spymasters and generals worry that a “self-absorbed, gridlocked” America will be more vulnerable.
A Reporter at Large
A Tycoon’s Deep-State Conspiracy Dive
Patrick Byrne, the former head of Overstock, had always been outspoken. Did an affair with a Russian agent push him too far?
Archive
Sunday Reading: Whodunnits and Other Mysteries
From The New Yorker’s archive: stories about secrets and unsolved crimes.
Books
Why Private Eyes Are Everywhere Now
Private investigators have been touted as an antidote to corruption and a force for transparency. But they’ve also become another weapon in the hands of corporate interests.
A Reporter at Large
The Man Who Refused to Spy
The F.B.I. tried to recruit an Iranian scientist as an informant. When he balked, the payback was brutal.