The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Federal Agents" ...
-
Led by an innocent into a web of evil
The investigation chronicles the tireless efforts of Boston federal agents who followed the trail of a single photo of a distraught toddler erroneously sent to them by a Boston-area man obsessed with child pornography. It ended with the arrests of more than 42 men from California to Mexico and the discovery of more than 140 exploited children, one of them only days old. In the telling, staff writer Jenifer B. McKim deftly details the exploding worldwide problem of child pornography, the new and innovative efforts made by investigators to rescue children and track down criminals, and the devastating toll that child porn takes on victims and families.
Tags: child porn; pornography; sex abuse; children
-
Need to Know: Crossing the Line at the Border Parts 1 & 2
Few, if any, pieces published or broadcast in 2012 had as much impact as “Crossing the Line at the Border,” a joint project of the weekly PBS newsmagazine, “Need to Know,” and the Nation Institute that was in the best tradition of American investigative journalism. Within days of its broadcast, 16 members of Congress demanded that the U.S. Justice Department investigate the killing of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, a 42-year-old Mexican whose death at the hands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents was detailed in our report. A few months later, a U.S. attorney in convened a federal grand jury. It is currently considering criminal charges in the case. And months after that, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the incident had prompted it to launch a full-scale review of its use of force. Hernandez Rojas had a fatal heart attack shortly after being subdued by agents, beaten, and shot with a Taser gun at the San Ysidro border crossing on May 28th, 2010. His death was largely ignored until the "Need to Know” team, in partnership with the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute, unearthed never-before-seen eyewitness video of the incident.
Tags: U.S. Justice Department; border; killing; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Taser
-
RGJ: ATF/US Attorney Rift
A months-long Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that after Reno’s chief U.S. Attorney told local ATF agents that her office would not prosecute their cases until certain unnamed “issues” were resolved, most of the agents transferred to new jobs outside Nevada, leaving Reno vulnerable to gun violence. The investigation found that the federal prosecutors dismissed or refused more than a dozen cases involving violent criminals. The RGJ probe also revealed that dozens of people who bought guns and later failed background checks were allowed to keep the guns because the rift emptied the Reno ATF office of the very agents who are tasked with retrieving those guns. The RGJ series led to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and an independent review of the dropped cases. It also sparked Congressional action.
Tags: Department of Justice; guns; gun violence
-
The Informants
In the package, "Terrorists for the FBI," Mother Jones exposed this pattern with in-depth pieces that drilled deep into what has become federal law enforcement's No. 1 priority. As a part of an 18-month investigation, reporter Trevor Aaronson pulled court documents of all 508 federal terrorism convictions since September 11, 2001, and interviewed everyone from undercover FBI informants to street agents, top bureau officials, and legal and terrorism experts. The investigation found that following 9/11, the FBI built a massive network of domestic informants -15,000 in all- many of them tasked with surveilling and infiltrating Muslim neighborhoods and institutions.
Tags: FBI; informants; undercover; federal agents; terrorism
-
Gunwalkers
CBS News broke and developed the story of the Gunwalker Scandal. US Federal agents covertly helped deliver thousands of assault rifles and other weapons to killer Mexican Drug Cartels.
Tags: Drug Cartels; Federal Agents; Gunwalker Scandal; US Federal Agents; CBS News; Drug Cartels
-
The Crown Topples: The Swift Rise and Brutal Fall of Maryland's Latin Kings
An inside look at what happened when a national gang infiltrated two suburban counties. Major findings: in 2007 and 2008, the brother of a brutal gang member started a new Latin Kings "tribe" in Maryland and Washington D.C. The Royal Lion Tribe grew to nearly 200 members and initiated a bloody rivalry with the local branch of MS=13. A group of federal agents took down the gang from the inside after a minor crime brought the new gang into the spotlight.
Tags: Gangs; Gang Violence; Maryland; Royal Lion Tribe; Latin Kings;
-
Sneak & Peek Warrants
A Team 4 investigation exposes people breaking into homes, copying computer files, and covering their tracks on the way out. But these weren't criminals. They were federal law enforcement agents using a special kind of warrant known as sneak & peek.
Tags: Warrants
-
Gunwalker
A story uncovering how U.S. federal agents covertly helped deliver thousands of assault rifles and other weapons to killer Mexican drug cartels.
Tags: smuggling; guns; weapons; mexico; drug cartels; federal agents;
-
Gangster Rep
Federal agents and officers hired to protect the U.S-Mexico border too often succumb to the temptation of fast, easy money, sex and power.
Tags: Border protection; Mexico; Smugglers