Miles Klee 🦉

My name is Marisa Kabas, and I'm an independent journalist who publishes The Handbasket. I'm reaching out about a matter that involves your team and that continues to trouble me. In June of last year, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and I filed a FOIA lawsuit against the DC Metropolitan Police Department to compel them to release body camera footage from the March 17, 2025 DOGE raid on the US Institute of Peace. What followed was months of back and forth with their lawyers, arguing why it was in the public interest to release the un-redacted footage in its entirety. Though tiny segments were handed over, that wasn't enough: We wanted all of it.  On February 18, 2026, a DC judge ruled in our favor, and your reporter Mark Segraves sent a kind note of congratulations that day. Then on Monday, March 2nd, the footage was handed over to me and excitedly announced I'd received it and would be reviewing it in the coming days and sharing what I learned. When Segraves emailed me this past Thursday asking for my phone number, I didn't think much of it. But when he called me just before 2pm on Friday to let me know NBC4 Washington would be airing a segment at 5pm, I grew concerned.  Segraves said he'd obtained some of the footage via a FOIA request that week after he heard the footage had been released to me. He said he'd credit the work of RCFP and me, but it was little comfort. I asked if he'd known the day before when he emailed me for my number, why didn't he tell me then? He didn't have a good answer for that. He acknowledged all the hard work I'd done getting this footage released. I asked him if he could hold the story until Monday, to which he replied that he's "not just a blogger" (implying that that's all I am, presumably) and that he'd have to check with his editor. I said fine. Nearly an hour later he called back to say his editor refused to hold the story, but that they were happy to interview me via Zoom to add to the package, and I said I would.

What followed was two hours of furiously writing and posting clips of the footage to Youtube so I could get something published before the 5pm broadcast, and in the midst of that, recording a quick Zoom interview with a person who was about to take credit for my work. At 4:59pm ET, The Handbasket published a piece titled "Police body cam footage shows DOGE knew Institute of Peace was private property during raid." Then I tuned into NBC4 Washington via your website to catch the broadcast, and my instinct to rush to get something out first was proven right.  "It's a story you're seeing first on News4," your newscast began. "For the first time we're getting an inside look at what happened the day the Trump administration took over the US Institute of Peace. News4 obtained more than four hours of police body camera video from that day." What followed was more than six minutes of clips and commentary from Segraves, but it's not until six minutes and 21 seconds into the piece that he mentions my name (mispronounced though he asked for the correct pronunciation on Zoom), "The Handbasket blog," and the RCFP's foundational role in bringing this footage to light. I was angry, but didn't feel there was much I could do. Then I saw the version NBC4 posted to Instagram and TikTok—the video itself made ZERO mention of the RCFP or my work, only briefly acknowledging it in the written caption on Instagram, and not even bothering to do that on TikTok. An average viewer with no background on the case is lead to believe that this footage was released because of your efforts. When I saw that, I decided I couldn't let this go. It's difficult to explain what it's like to spend nearly a year working on a story only to have another reporter and outlet surreptitiously take credit for it; months of work and personal risk only to have another reporter lying in wait to swoop in. What NBC4 did was immoral, unethical, and to be frank, just truly sucked.

I just sent this email to the news director at NBC4 Washington about the unprofessional and disrespectful way they handled publishing the body camera footage of the DOGE raid on the US Institute of Peace that was obtained via my FOIA lawsuit:

NYT readers preferred the AI sample 4/5 times but that’s a different issue…

Who’s a Better Writer: A.I. or Humans? Take Our Quiz. A.I. chatbots contain the sum of all human knowledge. That can make them pretty good writers.

went 5/5 on picking humans here, there is absolutely no contest, the LLMs are still recognizable and devoid of meaning every time

got a link?

yes

For an upcoming story, I'd like to hear from people who have had an encounter with a stranger recording them on Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses. If that's you or you can pass along this request to someone else who has experienced this, I'm at miles_klee@wired.com or millionbear.44 on Signal. Thanks!

THREAD: I got laid off from NYMag/Vulture after 14 years. The family lost 75% of income + medical. Now mzs.press bookstore, once a side project. is do-or-die for Judith & I. I feel weird telling you this because others are doing much worse. But if you could like or share this, we'd be so grateful!

A headline reading “Camel pageant thrown into chaos after 20 competitors disqualified for using hump-plumping injectables”

Yes everything is terrible but let’s not lose sight of the fact that someone has written the Headline to End All Headlines.

The next 33 1/3 open call for proposals is open! If you’re a 33 1/3 fan, a writer, or simply a passionate music lover, now is your chance to submit your favorite album to the series.

Deadline is May 5th 2026, 11:59 PM EST. Full submission guidelines: https://bit.ly/41698ZE

"This probably sounds like nightmare fuel to many, but to wealthy VCs and AI and crypto entrepreneurs it’s the next gold rush." is the quote of our time

hanging with some friends at a picnic and we accidentally stumbled on the concept of Clavuncular, a chopped uncle version of Clavicular

the celebs get them years before they’re released to the slovenly masses

find the elote ones too if you can

Cheetos FLAVOR SWAP Lay’s Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue with Madison Beer on the bag

hell, if she’s eating them…

you walked right into it. happy birthday chief

Was sweating for a second.

well exactly and at the same time i also don’t think he will be mired too much in nostalgia. big trust in him to make his mark and go his own way

he don’t need me. excited to see his version

BADGER: uhh not to get too freaky here but i think i might have powers. special powers

VINCE GILLIGAN: please just say your actual lines

hear me out… what if they’re good

BLACK OIL: [oozing out from under a dishwasher]

GUS: [exhales steadily, rolls up sleeves]

it’s like one of three episodes i refuse to rewatch lol

okay somebody get miles connected with the coogler

SCULLY: i hate coming to new mexico

MULDER: looks a lot like the pacific northwest

LOCAL MUSTACHIOED SHERIFF: welcome to canada. glad to have you, the cartels have been just running amok around these parts

SAUL: are you fucking kidding me? i have to babysit this little slime monster?

DOGGETT: relax. we’ll be back to pick it up sometime tomorrow. probably

SKINNY PETE: i might need to get off this shit once and for all homes

FROHIKE: that’s loser talk. we need you jumping the fence at Area 53

BYERS: most people still believe Area 51 is where the government keeps crashed UFOs. but we’ve determined that they moved two areas over

MIKE: listen very carefully,

KRYCEK: no.

JESSE: so, like, you can just cook your own fruit roll-ups?

SCULLY: technically. but i wouldn’t recommend it

SKYLER: you cannot do this to our family. i won’t let you

WALTER: *our* family? oh ho ho. it’s *my* family. i don’t even know what you’re referring to, but i’m glad i did it

SKINNER: i just need one of you to acknowledge the search warrant