Bad Watchdog Special
Podcast Series Trailer
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What happens when the watchdog tasked with overseeing the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country doesn’t do its job?
In a six-part series, host Maren Machles and investigative reporters from the Project On Government Oversight uncover a shocking pattern of misconduct at the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, which resulted in a failure to investigate some of the most troubling events in recent history.
If you enjoy Bad Watchdog, consider signing up for emails from the Project On Government Oversight to learn more about POGO’s mission and work.
Host Maren Machles: The Department of Homeland Security is a federal agency that you may not be paying attention to. But over the last several years it’s been at the center of a lot of controversy.
From Secret Service agents roughly clearing BLM protesters in D.C. …
[Crowd noise from Lafayette Square protests]
To the crisis at our southern border …
[KHOU11 reporter: One agent was caught on camera swinging his horse strap at one of the migrants.]
Maren: To January 6th …
[Audio from January 6th insurrection, including radio communications of law enforcement: (inaudible radio communication) ...breached the line. We need backup.]
Maren: It’s a powerful agency. But what happens when the people inside it abuse their power? And what happens when the watchdog tasked with exposing those abuses chooses to look the other way?
[POGO Senior Investigator Nick Schwellenbach: This is the guy running the watchdog shop. But he doesn’t wanna raise red flags when clearly they’re warranted.]
[POGO Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs Liz Hempowicz: President Trump was firing inspectors general left and right if they displeased him.]
[Former Inspector General Gordon Heddell: There’s enough smoke here to … to know that there's a fire burning somewhere.]
[Activist Jenn Budd: How the hell am I gonna be a border patrol agent? If I can’t protect myself
and I can’t do this anymore? I said, “I don’t even believe in what we do anymore. The people I arrest are less criminals than the guys I’m sitting next to.”]
[Director of the Constitution Project Sarah Turberville: Joseph Cuffari is giving cover to abusive agents within the ranks.]
[Former POGO Senior Investigator Adam Zagorin: All these people said that when they reported things, it was detrimental to their career. I mean, this is the story of an agency.]
Maren: This is a podcast about finding the truth and holding people accountable, which is essentially — and not coincidentally — the work of an inspector general.
I’m Maren Machles, and from the Project On Government Oversight, this is Bad Watchdog, a new six-part investigative series launching Thursday, January 26th. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
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S02E06
The Real Threat
Listen NowIn the season finale of Bad Watchdog, we return to where we started, with the DHS’s counterterrorism mission.
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S02E05
Behind the Curtain
Listen NowIn this episode, Maren gets into the conditions in ICE detention and raises the question: What needs to change for this broken system to be fixed?
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S02E04
The Battle
Listen NowThe Department of Homeland Security is a very large, very powerful federal agency. It’s also extremely secretive. Who monitors the agency and holds it accountable for the actions it takes as part of its mission to protect the homeland?
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S02E03
The Three Reports
Listen NowMaren follows the story of Berto Hernandez, who recounts their detainment at ICE’s Adelanto Detention Center and the treatment and conditions they faced inside.
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S02E02
The Hole
Listen NowHost Maren Machles learns more about people’s experiences in ICE detention by talking with formerly detained activist Berto Hernandez and traveling to El Paso, Texas, to hear directly from people who were recently released from ICE facilities.
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S02E01
The Red Herring
Listen NowEstablished in the wake of September 11, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was entrusted with protecting the U.S. from national security threats. Since then, much of the agency’s focus has been on the southern border.
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S01E06
The Perfect Storm
In the final episode of “Bad Watchdog,” Nick and Adam discover that Cuffari was aware of even more missing January 6th text messages, and experts discuss what may be preventing President Biden from taking action.Listen Now -
S01E05
Who is Joseph Cuffari?
Cuffari’s mismanagement of Homeland Security’s watchdog office has Maren wondering how he ended up with such an important job in the first place.Listen Now -
S01E04
The Story of an Agency
Homeland Security watchdog Cuffari tries to bury a report on sexual harassment and misconduct at the agency, but POGO’s investigators expose the plot.Listen Now -
S01E03
Abuse of Power and People
POGO investigators discover that Homeland Security watchdog Cuffari removed damaging findings from an official report about dozens of cases of domestic abuse by law enforcement agents with access to firearms.Listen Now -
S01E02
The Tip of the Iceberg
A troubling pattern of ignoring serious misconduct at DHS begins to emerge.Listen Now -
S01E01
The Missing Text Messages
Deleted Secret Service texts may hold important answers about the Jan. 6th insurrection, but Homeland Security watchdog Joseph Cuffari failed to tell Congress they were missing until explosive testimony by a former White House aide raised the stakes.Listen Now
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Special
Announcing Season 2
Listen NowThis summer, the Project On Government Oversight’s investigative podcast Bad Watchdog returns, with a new season focused on DHS.
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Special
Update: Cuffari Regularly Purges Texts
Last week, DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari testified in front of a House Oversight Subcommittee. Bad Watchdog is back to break it down.Listen Now -
Special
Podcast Series Trailer
In a new six-part podcast, POGO investigators explore what happens when the official appointed to protect the people from fraud and abuse decides instead to protect the very agency he should be investigating.Listen Now
