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August 24, 2026

8 entries on this date.

CENTCOM official confirmed secret blacklist of journalists who call the command too often

On August 24, 2026, The Intercept reported that a U.S. Central Command public affairs official, Richard Allee, confirmed on the record that the command maintains a secret internal list of journalists to "disregard," and told an Intercept reporter he could be added to it for calling too often. CENTCOM's press office separately denied in writing that any "blacklist" exists, directly contradicting Allee's own on-record confirmation.

West Point ordered professor to stop teaching human-caused climate change, then declined to renew his contract after he objected, lawsuit says

Adam Kalkstein, a tenured geography professor who taught climatology at the United States Military Academy for 17 years, sued West Point and three administrators in federal court on August 24, 2026, alleging he was pushed out for refusing to comply with a directive -- issued on White House orders -- to stop teaching cadets that human activity is a primary driver of climate change. According to the lawsuit, West Point stripped Kalkstein of tenure in 2025, ordered the geography department in September 2025 to stop teaching anthropogenic climate change under threat of dissolving the department, and declined to renew his contract in 2026 after he protested the directive to the academy dean. West Point said in a statement it was aware of the allegations but declined further comment.

U.S. Air Force charged Maj. Jason Watson with Article 88 contemptuous-words violations over his public criticism of Trump

U.S. Air Force prosecutors charged Maj. Jason Watson on August 24, 2026 with three violations of UCMJ Article 88 for contemptuous remarks about President Trump, five violations of Article 92 for disobeying orders, and two violations of Article 133 for conduct unbecoming an officer, according to a charging document his attorney shared with CNN; an Air Force spokesperson confirmed the charges the following day. The charges stem from a June newsletter interview, a July 1 protest in uniform at the U.S. Capitol calling for Trump's impeachment, and an August 17 CNN interview in which Watson said Trump was "flagrantly violating the Constitution" and "killing Americans." Watson's attorney said he is believed to be among the first officers of his rank charged under Article 88 in modern military history, and Watson remains in pre-trial confinement.

AP investigation revealed State Department preparing to revoke B1/B2 visas of up to 200,000 asylum seekers

The Associated Press reported on August 24, 2026 that the State Department, coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security, is preparing to revoke B1/B2 business and tourism visas from as many as 200,000 people who have applied for or are currently seeking asylum in the United States. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott confirmed on the record that the department is working with DHS to identify and revoke visas from people who entered as short-term visitors and later filed for asylum. Officials said the action, targeting visas issued between 2016 and 2026 on a rolling basis, would be the largest mass visa revocation in U.S. history.

Florida's Juvenile Justice department left a public-records request unfulfilled for nearly two years, Florida Phoenix found

Florida Phoenix reported that the state's Department of Juvenile Justice has left the outlet's October 2024 public-records request for detention-center behavior reports unfulfilled for nearly two years, despite fulfilling a nearly identical request within three months earlier that same year. A second request from February 2025 and a March 2026 request for a statutorily mandated annual financial report also remain unanswered, and the department has given no explanation for any of the delays. First Amendment Foundation executive director Bobby Block said the pattern of non-response is increasingly common under the current administration and treats public records as a privilege rather than a right.

Idaho Education News investigation reveals Idaho Tax Commission withheld tax-credit recipient data despite months of records requests

An Idaho Education News investigation published August 24, 2026 found that the Idaho State Tax Commission had denied nearly all of at least seven public records requests filed between February and July 2026 for data on who benefits from Idaho's $50 million-a-year Parental Choice Tax Credit private-school subsidy program. Requesters included two journalists, a college faculty member, a data analyst, a homeschool advocate, a former public school superintendent, and Democratic state legislative leaders, several of whom sought data on how many recipients previously attended public school. Tax Commission officials confirmed the denials on the record, citing tax-return privacy laws and incomplete data processing.

Second Habersham County deputy misused Flock license-plate database for personal, non-law-enforcement searches; fired and arrested

Habersham County Sheriff's Office Deputy Jonathan Thomas was terminated and arrested on August 24, 2026, after an internal audit found he had accessed the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader system for a personal, non-law-enforcement purpose connected to a personal relationship. Thomas was booked into the Habersham County Detention Center on one felony count of violation of oath of office and two misdemeanor counts of misuse of license plate data, making him the second Habersham deputy in less than a month found to have misused the system after Deputy Christian Brewer's July 31 arrest. Sheriff Robin Krockum announced a strengthened two-person approval policy for Flock searches in response.

Missouri Department of Mental Health left man found incompetent to stand trial in county jail for years awaiting treatment bed

A Marshall Project investigation, published August 24, 2026 and republished by the Missouri Independent, found that the Missouri Department of Mental Health left Carl Henry Louis -- a man found incompetent to stand trial -- confined in the Clay County jail in Liberty, Missouri for roughly two and a half years, from his 2021 arrest until January 2024, awaiting a state psychiatric bed for court-ordered competency-restoration treatment. The wait included months after a judge suspended Louis's criminal case in August 2023 and ordered him committed for treatment, during which the jail continued to hold him because no bed was available. Missouri's own figures show the statewide waitlist for competency evaluation or restoration grew from 27 people in 2016 to 549 by July 2026, with at least two deaths in jails on the waitlist since May 2025.