🎙Interview: Maren Machles
Meet the host of Bad Watchdog podcast.
Maren Machles (she/her) is an investigative producer at the Project On Government Oversight, where she hosts and produces the organization’s first-ever investigative podcast, Bad Watchdog. Before joining POGO, Maren was an investigative journalist with the Scripps Washington Bureau where she covered the U.S. immigration system, criminal justice, tribal justice issues, gender violence, and influential political figures. She has spent her career digging into the finances and backgrounds of powerful political figures, and into the systemic oppression of marginalized communities. Maren’s work has received several awards and has appeared on NPR, PBS NewsHour, Twin Cities PBS, USA Today, Newsy/Scripps News, DecodeDC, Long Beach Post, and across Scripps’ local television stations.
Learn more about the Bad Watchdog podcast by visiting the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) website.
Bad Watchdog – the podcast we are going to discuss – comes from the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). Can you give us a quick intro to this organization?
The Project On Government Oversight is a nonpartisan independent federal government watchdog that investigates and exposes corruption and abuse of power. In addition to our investigations and research, the organization advocates for reforms to achieve a more accountable government.
As a journalist, you have made a career out of holding powerful organizations and people accountable, while also making sure that you uplift marginalized voices. What drew you to this journalism focus?
I’ve always been curious to learn how and why the systems we’ve created and rely on ignore or even harm people. Sometimes it can be as simple as a statute or law needs to be changed, sometimes it’s a bad apple abusing the system, but what interests me most is when we, as a society, have a misunderstanding or a misframing about a system. That’s why season 2 of Bad Watchdog is one of my favorite projects I’ve ever worked on, because this season we really question the way we address and think about terrorism in our country and how we might be getting it wrong, over and over again.
Over two seasons, Bad Watchdog has looked into the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In a few sentences can you summarize what DHS does for our audience members who may not be familiar with the agency?
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created after 9/11 in order to bring different agencies that had previously been dispersed throughout the government under one department to address national security threats. Under DHS there’s more than 20 agencies including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Transportation Security Administrations (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), and many more.
Why has POGO, through this podcast, chosen to focus on this agency?
Bad Watchdog is not necessarily tied to focusing on DHS, however the agency is massive and my colleagues have uncovered a lot throughout the years. DHS is incredibly powerful, with the largest federal law enforcement agency, CBP, in the country. This means that in addition to its incredible power, it has incredible access to the general public. DHS touches our lives in daily ways, when we pass through airport security or cross a US border, but also during some of the most pivotal moments in recent history, like the 2020 George Floyd protests or the January 6th insurrection. This agency needs a lot of oversight considering how sprawling and powerful it is.
Transparently, I haven’t listened to all of season one yet, but I did listen to all of the latest season, which focuses on the outsized attention paid to “securing the Southern border” while ignoring the ever growing domestic terrorism threat created by white supremacist organizations. DHS is a massive agency with many functions, so why was this the story that needed to be told right now?
Throughout the run up to the election, immigration came up again and again as a threat, as something we need to be focused on. DHS is the main department in the federal government that handles immigration and more generally national security threats, and we talk in detail in this season about the statistics about immigration as a national security threat. While it’s true that more people are coming over the border than ever, it’s also true that more far-right violent extremists have been responsible for the majority of terrorist attacks over the last several decades. Experts told us this group is being emboldened with a President-elect who has failed on several occasions to condemn their actions. Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oathkeepers, a far-right violent extremist group, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the January 6th insurrection. One of our investigations found that more than 300 Oathkeepers have worked or are currently working at DHS. Even the agency charged with protecting us from these violent actors has issues keeping them out of its own ranks.This threat isn’t going away, it’s only growing.
This season also spends a substantial portion of it discussing the process of conducting the investigation into abuses Immigration and Customs Enforcement “ICE” facilities. I have never heard so much about Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, particularly on a podcast. Why did the podcast team decide to bring the FOIA process to the forefront?
The public has a right to this information. It has a right to know how its tax dollars are being spent and how our democracy is working for us. FOIA is one of the few ways we get to peek behind the curtain to see how our government is working for us, and a lot of people don’t even know how FOIA works. The episode where we really dive into the battle we had with the federal government over these records is one of my favorites because it really highlights the lengths my colleagues and I have to go through in order to access this information. My colleague, Lance Sims said it best in this episode when he said, “to have the government fight tooth and nail to keep this information hidden is offensive.” I think this rings true for a lot of folks working on FOIA requests every day.
Fortunately, the last two episodes of Bad Watchdog really highlight people advocating for solutions to the lack of accountability for DHS. What solutions stand out to you as being the most important for folks to pay attention to?
It’s hard to say what’s most important when it comes to solutions, because my job is to shine a light on the problems. But I think it’s really important to focus on the solutions presented by the people who are most impacted by the system and are working to address the problem. Listening to people like Berto or Daryl is really important when we think about how to move forward in addressing national security.
And are we moving forward since the show wrapped in July?
Our investigative team continues to look at DHS and is hoping to dig in even further into the accountability failures and impunity these agencies have under this department.
What's at stake now that Trump has been reelected with respect to DHS, and what could be done to pre-empt or manage the fallout that is going to result from his administration’s leadership?
Accountability failures have been pervasive at DHS under both the Trump and Biden administrations. An independent watchdog at the agency who has trust and credibility across both sides of the aisle could help with this, but unfortunately, as we covered in our first season, the current watchdog - Joseph Cuffari - has faced serious allegations of misconduct and has sat on, heavily redacted, or flat out refused to investigate allegations of misconduct or abuse of power at DHS. He’s stayed in his position in both administrations even though some in Congress have called for his removal and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency has released a scathing probe into Cuffari’s conduct that found he “abused his authority” by wasting 1.4 million taxpayer dollars launching a “retaliatory investigation” against whistleblowers in his office. It's also going to be crucial for people across the country to continue to speak up about abuse and misconduct at DHS when it occurs. We are so thankful for those who have shared their stories to help shine a light on this in both seasons of Bad Watchdog.
Before we close, I want to share that one of the cool things about Bad Watchdog is that it is part of The Democracy Group consortium, which is described as “A network of podcasts dedicated to engaging in civil discourse, inspiring civic engagement, and exploring the future of our democracy.” What have the benefits been, either for the show or for you personally, since joining The Democracy Group?
Since joining The Democracy Group we’ve been able to work with other podcasts, swapping episodes and promotions. We’ve been able to strengthen the podcast through information sharing with others in the network and work with a new generation of journalists through its fellowship program. It’s been really incredible to be a part of a network that is mission driven and that the mission aligns with POGO’s.
Is there any new or upcoming work that you would like to share with us?
Yes! We are in the early stages of development for season 3 and we are really excited about coming to our listeners with a new story, and we are even focusing on a new department.
If this show’s topic interests you, you might also want to check out the Sounds Like Impact interview with David Sirota of Master Plan podcast.