Chiefly subject files containing correspondence, interviews, writings, notes, and research material such as newspaper clippings, printed material, reports, legal documents, financial records, congressional hearing records, other government documents, and photographs documenting Lardner's career as a reporter covering national news for the Washington Post and as a commentator in other journals and magazines. Subjects include the Watergate Affair, Iran-Contra Affair, reform and congressional oversight of intelligence activities, the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, spy cases, terrorism, federal undercover operations including Abscam and Brilab, political assassinations, conspiracy theories, election campaigns, the Wedtech investigation, Freedom of Information Act, presidential papers administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, events involving Randy Weaver near Ruby Ridge, Idaho, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, and the Mafia.

Individuals represented include Billy Carter, Frank Church, Raymond Donovan, Daniel J. Flood, Jim Garrison, Phil Gramm, Gary Hart, Hamilton Jordan, Edward Moore Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Richard Lugar, Martin Luther King, Jr., Edwin Meese, Franklyn C. Nofzinger, Oliver North, Dan Quayle, George C. Wallace, and E. Robert Wallach.