Tag

#cover-up

Deliberate concealment of government wrongdoing, including destruction of evidence, classification of embarrassing information, and obstruction of investigations. Undermines accountability and enables continued violations.

3 incidents

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Epstein Files: DOJ Withholds Evidence, UN Experts Warn of Crimes Against Humanity

After signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Trump administration's DOJ missed legal deadlines, secretly re-redacted files, and withheld documents containing an unadjudicated allegation that Trump sexually abused a minor. Separately, UN special-procedure experts stated that a number of the crimes described in the files 'may reasonably meet' the threshold of crimes against humanity. The case has drawn bipartisan congressional subpoenas of AG Bondi, and calls for a special counsel over alleged perjury.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Baghuz Strike: US Bombs Hit a Crowd of Mostly Women and Children in Syria; Military Hid It for Over Two Years (March 2019)

A US special-operations task force called in bombs on a crowd near Baghuz in 2019 that military investigators believed was mostly women and children. The strike was hidden from the public for more than two and a half years. The military later called it self-defence and justified; its count of civilian dead is far lower than its own investigators'.

Grade 4 of 5: Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

Khashoggi Assassination Cover-Up: Trump's Protection of Saudi Arabia from Accountability

Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a 15-person hit squad sent from Riyadh. The CIA concluded with high confidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing. Trump publicly sided with Saudi Arabia over his own intelligence agencies, blocked sanctions on MBS, and used the murder as leverage in arms sales negotiations.