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 "undercover agents" ...
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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
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The Mysterious Case of Kevin Ku
The story reports on Kevin Xu -- a Chinese national who was cuaght trying to sell fake drugs to undercover immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FDA agents in 2007.
Tags: Intellgectual Property Rights Coordination Center; IPRCC; Kevin Xu; FDA; ICE; Immigration and Customs Enforcement
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Tobacco Underground: The Booming Global Trade in Smuggled Cigarettes
"Tobacco Underground" is groundbreaking series on the global trade in smuggled cigarettes, produced by a team of 14 journalists based in 10 countries. The illicit trafficking of tobacco is a multibillion-dollar business today, fueling organized crime and corruption, robbing governments of needed tax money, and spurring addiction to a deadly product. So profitable is the trade that tobacco is the world's most widely smuggled legal substance. In an interactive, multimedia Web site, ICIJ published a series of nine stories, integrated with undercover footage; audio and video interviews with experts, smugglers and undercover agents; maps and charts; and extensive links to resources ranging from tobacco control groups to repositories of tobacco industry documents.
Tags: tobacco; smuggling; new media; international journalism; cigarette; tobacco
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Following the Money: Earmarks and Waste
The series tracks and investigates "government waste and Congressional earmarks." It uncovered "NASA's extravagant parties, USDA assigning undercover agents to spy on Hemingway's cats, a Congressman spending your tax dollars on a monument to himself" and more.
Tags: money; federal spending; tax dollars; investments; earmarks; Congress; NASA; CDC; USDA; government
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The Red Team
"Nearly six years after 9/11, classified test results leaked to 9NEWs show Transportation Security Administration screeners at Denver International Airport failed to find about 80% of weapons, like bombs and liquid explosives, carried by federal undercover agents called the Red Team. Denver is just one of many airports nationwide that are failing the tests, according to the Dept. of Homeland Security's OIG and US Government Accountability Office."
Tags: airports; security; homeland security; transport security association; TSA; bombs; weapons; flight safety
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Citizenship For Sale
Reporters from WTVJ-TV went undercover to witness a Florida man, Audie Watson, in the process of selling memberships in the Little Shell Band of the Pembina Nation. Watson claims the documents he sells for $1,500 allow purchasers to enter the United States legally. Reporters confronted Watson, and he agreed to be interviewed on camera. The series also showed interviews with people who had been arrested trying to cross the border with documents sold by Watson. Although Watson is now being investigated by state and federal officials and is currently on probation in Florida for an unrelated pyramid scheme conviction, his operation has not been shut down as of January 2007.
Tags: Fraud; Native Americans; Latinos; migrant workers; undercover investigations; Customs and Border Protection; Special Agent Zachary Mann; Ron DeLorme; Reginald Thabuteau; Universal Service Dedicated to God; Chippewa; Homeland Security
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Reporting Series on Karl Rove and CIA Leak
Isikoff reported on the scandal surrounding the leak of Valerie Plame's role as an undercover CIA operative. Isikoff wrote about how the scandal evolved for two years, and how its roots lie with Karl Rove.
Tags: CIA; espionage; undercover agent; spy; government conspiracy
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The Wrong Man
Brian Kelley, a decorated undercover CIA officer was investigated by the FBI to the point of nearly destroying his life, and his career. Kelley was the wrong man. The man the FBI actually arrested was Robert Hanssen, for selling secrets to Russia. Breaking his silence, Kelley spoke to 60 Minutes about his ordeal and about efforts by top FBI officials to keep their mistakes secret.
Tags: TAPE; spy; FBI; CIA; secret; CIA officer; arrest; agent; undercover officer; Justice Department; spy catcher; spy map; secret evidence; top secret; espionage; KGB; Brian Kelley; Robert Hansen; strip club; strip joint; porn sites; diamonds; mole; capital offense; capital crime; investigator.
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Mob Meltdown in Las Vegas: Inside the FBI's Operation Thin Crust
This is the story of the FBI's last major racketeering investigation of traditional organized crime in Las Vegas. With FBI agents and the lead undercover informant as the major sources, this story gives a glimpse through the eyes of those involved of what took place. The series concludes that the mob's influence in Las Vegas has declined dramatically over the years and that the mob no longer has a major presence in the casino industry.
Tags: Organized Crime; Murder; FBI; crime
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The Fixers
"The article explores the underground economy of immigration consultants - nonlawyers who ostensibly help immigrants fill out INS forms and applications, but who critics say illegally practice law and scam unsuspecting clients," according to the contest questionnaire. Hwang details how consultants work, and how undercover agents - hired by legal firms - combat the consultants' business to protect the public interest and their own business interests.
Tags: fraud; INS; attorneys; law; green cards; citizenship; political asylum; immigrants; California Chinese community; visas