The Best Free Intelligence Source Almost Nobody Uses
The single best open source I use is free, updates every day, and most people scroll right past it: the U.S. Department of Justice’s press releases at justice.gov/usao/pressreleases. A great open source meets three tests — it’s open and public, it’s close to free, and it’s hard, incontestable fact. DOJ press releases hit all three, and you can sort them by category: civil rights, drug trafficking, public corruption.
What makes the material so reliable is what stands behind every item: a guilty plea where the defendant admits the facts, a jury conviction where citizens found it to be fact, or an indictment that prosecutors will have to prove in front of a jury. Many releases link straight to the indictment, criminal information, or plea agreement — primary documents you’d otherwise pay to pull. Read across them and you’re reading the government’s own priorities in criminal and national security matters. The federal government isn’t perfect, but every case it brings carries real rigor, because it could end up in front of a jury that’s under no obligation to agree. That’s the checks and balances working — and it’s why this is one of the most trustworthy free sources an analyst has.
Eric Garland is an intelligence analyst personally sanctioned by the Russian Federation in May 2022 for his work on Russian intelligence operations. He is the author of the 2016 “Game Theory” thread, named by The New York Times as one of the 25 most important tweets in history.
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📝 Substack: ericgarland.substack.com
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SOURCES
U.S. Department of Justice — U.S. Attorneys’ Offices press releases, justice.gov/usao/pressreleases (primary source; updated daily)
Linked primary court documents (indictments, criminal informations, plea agreements) referenced from individual USAO releases
