Ryan Lucas
Ryan Lucas covers the Justice Department for NPR.
He focuses on the national security side of the Justice beat, including counterterrorism and counterintelligence. Lucas also covers a host of other justice issues, including the Trump administration's "tough-on-crime" agenda and anti-trust enforcement.
Before joining NPR, Lucas worked for a decade as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press based in Poland, Egypt and Lebanon. In Poland, he covered the fallout from the revelations about secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe. In the Middle East, he reported on the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and the turmoil that followed. He also covered the Libyan civil war, the Syrian conflict and the rise of the Islamic State. He reported from Iraq during the U.S. occupation and later during the Islamic State takeover of Mosul in 2014.
He also covered intelligence and national security for Congressional Quarterly.
Lucas earned a bachelor's degree from The College of William and Mary, and a master's degree from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.
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Conspiracy theories have swirled around disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein since his death in a federal lockup in 2019. On Monday, a department released a memo that reaffirmed previous conclusions.
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The two-page memo outlines the "exhaustive review" the department conducted of the Epstein files in its possession, and also reiterates that Epstein died by suicide, contrary to some conspiracy theories. -
The Justice Department announced charges in what officials describe as the largest health care fraud bust in DOJ history. -
The ruling, involving the firm Susman Godfrey, marks the fourth time out of four that a federal judge has permanently blocked one of Trump's executive orders seeking to punish an elite law firm. -
U.S. authorities continue to be on alert for any potential threat on U.S. soil stemming from President Trump's decision to bomb Iran.
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The Department of Homeland Security is warning about what it calls a "heightened threat environment" in the U.S. That's amid fears Iran could retaliate for a U.S. attack on its nuclear facilities.
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Since taking the helm more than 100 days ago, Patel has yet to shutter the FBI headquarters and reopen it as a museum as he once said he would, but he has begun trying to remake the bureau. -
A former fierce critic of the FBI, Kash Patel is now leading the agency and making drastic changes.
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The decision reverses the use of consent decrees to ensure accountability of law enforcement agencies. It comes days before the anniversary of George Floyd's murder by a police officer. -
Democrats have denounced the charges as politically motivated and an effort by the Trump administration to intimidate members of Congress and chill oversight. -
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled the USIP president and board members were unlawfully fired by President Trump and should be reinstated. -
Current and former officials say the current effort amounts to the dismantling of the civil rights division and its traditional mission.
