Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order – Ep. 5: Sheep and Goats

Release Date: January 19, 2026
Host: Rachel Maddow

Episode Overview

In Episode 5, "Sheep and Goats," Rachel Maddow investigates the secret history of the U.S. government’s mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. The episode focuses on the internal discovery and subsequent purposeful suppression of key evidence by Justice Department officials—evidence that contradicted the military’s stated rationale for internment—leading to a historic miscarriage of justice. The episode then traces the decades-later rediscovery of these buried documents by activist-researchers, setting the stage for redress and a reckoning with history.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Harper’s Magazine Mystery and the Ringle Report

[02:00–07:30]

• In 1943, Justice Department lawyer Edward Ennis discovers an anonymous article in Harper’s Magazine, penned by a U.S. intelligence officer, which contradicts the government’s claim that Japanese Americans posed a threat.
• Ennis learns the author is Naval Intelligence Officer Ken Ringle, whose official report concluded Japanese American communities were loyal and recommended no mass incarceration.
• This directly conflicted with the War Department’s assertions in court and the official line being prepared for the Supreme Court.
• Quote:
  "What Ringel found was there was no justification for the mass internment of Japanese Americans."
  — Chuck Rosenberg [07:30]

2. The Suppression of Exculpatory Evidence

[08:18–19:09]

• Ennis urges the Justice Department to disclose the Ringle Report to the Supreme Court, arguing that withholding it would amount to illegal suppression of evidence.
• Quote:
  "If you don't tell the Supreme Court about the Ringle report... that's a cover-up. That is illegal suppression of evidence."
  — Rachel Maddow paraphrasing Edward Ennis [12:15]
• Despite Ennis’ warnings, Solicitor General Charles Fahey chooses not to inform the Court.
• FBI and FCC investigations had also debunked stories of sabotage by Japanese Americans; this evidence was also withheld.

3. The “Sheep and Goats” Report & The Burn Order

[20:49–24:55]

• The Army, specifically Carl Bendetsen of the Western Defense Command, produce a report justifying internment based on racist assertions, stating it was impossible to separate “the sheep from the goats”—that is, to distinguish loyal from disloyal Japanese Americans.
• Maddow underscores the explicit racism and illegality of this position.
• Quote:
  "This was clearly racial. It was an overtly racist statement that was flatly unconstitutional."
  — Historian [22:07]
• Assistant Secretary of War John McCloy, realizing the explosive nature of this report, orders a sanitized rewrite and instructs Bendetsen to retrieve and burn all copies of the incriminating original.
• Quote:
  "Bendetson recalled all 10 copies... and ordered that they be burned and that the burning and destruction be witnessed and recorded in writing."
  — [24:55]

4. Supreme Court Decisions and Aftermath

[25:09–29:14]

• The Supreme Court (unaware of the suppressed evidence) upholds convictions against Gordon Hirabayashi, Min Yasui, and Fred Korematsu, in notorious decisions that sustain internment.
• Only Mitsuye Endo prevails; the Court finds her loyal and orders her release, precipitating the closure of camps.
• Quote:
  "Justice Douglas goes on to write that loyalty is a matter of the heart and mind and not of race, creed or color."
  — [28:02]

5. Rediscovery and Legacy: The Paper Trail

[31:30–47:55]

• Decades later, Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga, a Japanese American activist and researcher, methodically uncovers the paper trail documenting both the original “sheep and goats” report and the subsequent cover-up.
• Her research reveals frantic correspondence as officials sought to destroy all original copies, but she finds what appears to be the elusive tenth copy at the National Archives.
• Quote:
  "I noticed in the margin many handwriting. Delete, scratch, change to move to page so and so... this is one of the first versions. I recognized this as that one, the 10th copy that was missing."
  — Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga [46:42]
• This discovery exposes the deliberate deception of the Supreme Court and provides historical and legal evidence for a redress movement.

6. Intergenerational Reckoning and Political Action

[36:14–42:32]

• Younger generations of Japanese Americans begin to organize for redress in the late 1970s, culminating in Days of Remembrance and political activism.
• Former internee Norman Mineta becomes a Congressman, helping to launch a formal investigation via a Congressional commission which then relies on Yoshinaga’s archival mastery.
• Quote:
  "This event provided the context for these parents to finally open up to their children... Anthropologists would later write that it was this burst open the tomb of Japanese American history."
  — Frank Abe [39:22]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ennis’ moral struggle:
  "When I look back on it, I don't know why I didn't resign."
  — Edward Ennis reflecting, [19:09]

• On the mass cover-up:
  "The government knew that there were certain things they should have told the Supreme Court. They relied on this book that was full of lies, all right, and didn't mention to the Supreme Court that this book is not truthful and that things had been changed."
  — Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga [47:55]

• On the sudden breakthrough in the archives:
  "It was luck. It was luck. If I hadn't walked in that day, it might not have been there."
  — Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga [47:25]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |----------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:00–07:30 | Ennis discovers Harper’s article and the Ringle Report | | 08:18–13:29 | Legal obligations, DOJ’s choice to suppress evidence | | 20:49–24:55 | Bendetsen’s “sheep and goats” report and the burn order | | 25:09–29:14 | Supreme Court upholds internment—except in Endo’s case | | 31:30–35:09 | Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga’s archival detective work begins | | 36:14–42:32 | Family dialogues, Day of Remembrance, and political organizing | | 46:42–47:55 | Landmark discovery of the original racist report in archives | | 47:55–49:24 | Legal implications of the document’s rediscovery |

Episode Tone and Storytelling Approach

The tone combines historical exposé with a sense of moral urgency. Maddow and her interviewees blend investigative detail with deep empathy for those affected, highlighting the personal cost of government lies and the transformative power of truth and activism.

Conclusion

Episode 5 of Burn Order draws a direct line from the secret government suppression of exculpatory evidence in the 1940s to later generations’ fight for truth and justice. The episode is as much about historical memory and accountability as it is about legal history. Through personal stories and documentary evidence, Maddow illuminates the anatomy of a cover-up and the painstaking activism that finally brought it to light.