Blog Profile / Open Channel

Moore officials: Federal grants to help build 'safe rooms' delayed by red tape

Officials in the Oklahoma City suburb ravaged by deadly tornadoes Monday complained in February that $2 million in federal grants to pay for “safe rooms” in 800 homes had been delayed by a shortage of funding and FEMA requirements that were a “constantly moving …

DOJ's secret subpoena of AP phone records broader than initially revealed

The Justice Department’s secret subpoena for AP phone records included the seizure of records for five reporters' cellphones and three home phones as well as two fax lines, a lawyer for the news organization tells NBC News.

Records of users of federally subsidized phone service exposed

Federally subsidized phone service for the poor provides a crucial lifeline for many low-income Americans, but providers of the service appear to have put tens of thousands of users at risk of identity theft, according to a report published Monday. More than 170,000 records from …

Fracking boom triggers water battle in North Dakota

WATFORD CITY, N.D. -- In towns across North Dakota, the wellhead of the North American energy boom, the locals have taken to quoting the adage: "Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting."

Audit of Witness Protection Program finds gaps in tracking suspected terrorists

A Justice Department audit report faults the federal government for gaps in tracking people with terrorism connections who were added to the Witness Protection Program. Originally designed to protect people who testified against organized crime figures by giving them new n …

Power tool industry resists table saw technology that could save digits

Table saws are the tool of choice for millions of construction workers and do-it-yourselfers, which explains why they maim so many people in the U.S. – more than 67,000 a year, according to government estimates. That number might be much lower, if saw manufacturers adopted …

Lax state rules provide cover for sponsors of attack ads

While much criticism has been lobbed at the federal system for failing to adequately identify who is spending money to influence campaigns, 35 states have independent spending disclosure laws that are less stringent than federal election law. In fact, in 30 states it’s imp …

Bomb plot briefing may undercut DOJ's case for AP records seizure

A massive Justice Department investigation into the disclosure by the Associated Press of an ongoing covert operation against an al Qaeda suicide cell in Yemen – a probe that included a sweeping secret subpoena of the press association’s phone records -- …

AP, DOJ clash over seriousness of leak that prompted phone records seizure

Justice Department and Associated Press officials clashed Tuesday over leaked classified information that led the government to seize AP phone records, with Attorney General Eric Holder saying it “put the American people at risk” and the news organization’s chi …

IRS mishandling of Tea Party reviews still unresolved, audit charges

Poor management allowed low-level IRS employees to single out Tea Party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status for extra review, and the agency continues to drag its heels on fixing things, according to an inspector general's report obtained Tuesday by NBC News. …

The case of the missing mustangs; what happened to 1,700 wild horses?

The semis would rumble down country roads packed full of wild horses. Truckload after truckload, sometimes 36 horses at a time, all with the same destination: a ranch in the small town of La Jara, Colo.

Cruel or necessary? The true cost of wild horse roundups

DELTA, Utah -- The mustangs run with a spirit that makes them legendary here in the West. On a bitter cold morning, they descend from the Swasey mountains of central Utah and gallop for miles across the plains. Stallions and mares, beautiful and strong, guiding their y …

In their own words: opposing views of wild horse roundups

The Bureau of Land Management's roundups of wild horses and burros fire strong emotions on both sides of the issue. Here, in their own words, BLM Program Chief Joan Guilfoyle and singer-songwriter Carole King, a wild horse advocate, present their views:

It's not just about mustangs: the battle over burros

Public criticism of roundups is not limited to wild horses. The Bureau of Land Management also conducts annual “gather” operations to remove “excess” wild burros from herd areas in the West. In this video, advocates for the wild burros document "aggressi …

As applications swell, IRS nonprofit division overloaded, understaffed

Amid withering accusations the Internal Revenue Service targeted tea party and other conservative groups with enhanced scrutiny, the agency faces another problem: It’s drowning in paperwork. The IRS’ Exempt Organizations Division, which finds itself at the scandal&rs …

AP calls government's record seizure a 'massive and unprecedented intrusion'

WASHINGTON -- The Associated Press on Monday said the U.S. government seized records from phone lines assigned to AP offices and its reporters over a period of two months in 2012, which the news service described as a "massive and unprecedented intrusion.'' AP CEO Gary Pruitt, i …

Video: Emails show how White House joined in altering Benghazi talking points

Unaware of Tsarnaev warnings, Boston counterterror unit tracked protesters

In the fall of 2011, a key Boston police counterterror intelligence unit -- funded with millions of dollars in U.S. homeland security grants -- was closely monitoring anti-Wall Street demonstrations, including tracking the Facebook pages and websites of the protesters and wri …

US traffic deaths rise for first time since 2005 -- motorcycle rate a big contributor

For the first time in nearly a decade, the number of traffic deaths went up and a shift away from motorcycle helmet laws may be to blame, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and helmet advocacy groups.

Long before he was charged, Ariel Castro was accuser in sexual assault case

Nearly a decade before being charged with kidnapping, raping and torturing three Cleveland women, Ariel Castro was himself the accuser in a sexual assault case involving his daughters. The accusations, which resulted in the conviction of his ex-wife’s second husband, now o …