As @andykroll.bsky.social previously reported, a senior IRS attorney warned officials in February that using “performance” failures to justify the mass firings was “false,” because the administration hadn't conducted any assessments to make such a judgment.

And yet NatCon declined my request for a press pass to cover Vought’s speech 👀

"One could make the argument we should have sided with Hitler," a guest told Tucker Carlson's podcast last month. Yair Rosenberg writes about the MAGA influencers who want to rehabilitate the Nazi leader—and what they hope to gain by doing so.

BTW y'all if you know or work with Russ Vought, you should contact my buddy @andykroll.bsky.social....

Russ Vought at work...

NEW: The Texas Redistricting Fight Has Been the Testing Ground for the Trump Administration’s Latest Legal Strategy, w/ @texastribune.org

Do you work at the Office of Management and Budget? Do you know someone who does? Are you a current or former federal worker with information that you can share about Russell Vought? If the answer to any of these is "yes," please contact @andykroll.bsky.social www.propublica.org/tips/

Yes please!

One year ago, we published 14 hours of Project 2025's "Presidential Administration Academy" training videos. Watching these clips back now, you can see how Trump 2.0 is deploying the PJ2025 playbook.

"I hear [Swift's] songs as poetry; the music’s job is just to help get it across. And that’s what I hear when I listen to Springsteen: I hear poetry, and I hear Americans’ love of it." Springsteen Isn’t Who I Thought He Was www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/o...

UPDATE: I have the attention of Russ Vought's spokesperson at OMB. Check out the exchange below. I guess now I *am* curious what his dog's name is?? @propublica.org

Thank you, little tortoise 🐢

Thank you. And no, you're not a "nobody," cmon now!

Last fall, @propublica.org and @documented.net broke the story that Russell Vought, Trump’s current budget chief, said he planned to put career civil servants “in trauma.” Now, we're investigating the full extent of Vought's impact on the federal government. We need your help… 🧵 1/

Russ Vought played soccer at Wheaton College. (Go Thunder.) Didn't think this would be my first post on my return from mini-parental leave. Such are the times in which we live. Speaking of Vought — watch this space soon...

Eye-opening follow-up story here: N.H. jury acquits consultant behind AI robocalls mimicking Biden on all charges www.wbur.org/news/2025/06...

“I like singing, and I like ice cream,” Skye Yang, 7, said as she headed toward the exit. “That’s why I’m here.” Meet the kids who audition for the Met Opera’s Children’s Chorus. A lighter read for your Sunday morning. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/a...

The first known detention by the US Marines in their recent Los Angeles deployment is of... a US Army veteran on his way to an office at the Department of Veteran Affairs building. www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...

“What does a human slowly going insane look like to a corporation?” Mr. Yudkowsky asked in an interview. “It looks like an additional monthly user.” A completely absorbing and chilling read: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...

!!!! "In a previously unreported development, federal agents came to suspect that Bukele and members of his inner circle had diverted U.S. aid funds to the (MS-13) gang..."

Trump hailed El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, as a crime fighter for taking on the MS-13 gang. New @propublica.org reporting shows that senior Bukele officials repeatedly impeded the work of a U.S. task force investigating MS-13. Big scoop here: www.propublica.org/article/buke...

CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll was detained along with his crew and escorted out of a protest zone by police officers while documenting anti-deportation demonstrations in LA June 9: pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incident...

The EPA just withdrew a complaint against a major Trump donor -- GEO Group, which runs ICE detention facilities. The company was spraying a disinfectant without proper protection onto beds and into *microwaves*; detainees reported skin rashes + difficulty breathing www.propublica.org/article/epa-...

Here is the Army-branded platform for this weekend’s military parade. It’s on Constitution Ave, just south of the Ellipse — a notable spot for all you J6 obsessives out there.

Metal barricades have popped up all over downtown DC and the proximity of the White House. Reminds me a bit of what DC felt like in the weeks after the January 6 riots.

Appreciate the reference (below) to @propublica.org’s coverage of Russ Vought in @hcrichardson.bsky.social’s newsletter today. I have more Vought reporting in the works. I’d love to hear from anyone with information about Vought, OMB, and DOGE. Contact info in my bio.

🚨 FOLLOW LIVE: Russ Vought, Trump's budget director who said he wants to put federal workers "in trauma," is testifying on Capitol Hill. I'm reporting on Vought. I'll be live-tweeting the hearing. (Link to livestream below.) Send me your questions and tips. 1/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1sZ...

NEW: A nearly 90% funding cut proposed by the Trump administration would likely shut down and devastate the 37 tribal colleges and universities created to serve the students disadvantaged by the nation’s historic mistreatment of Indigenous communities. By @mattkrupnick.bsky.social

SLOW BURN: Seven months after @propublica.org + @documented.net exposed Russ Vought's plan to put federal workers "in trauma," he's still getting asked about it. This time on CNN's flagship Sunday show. He doesn't look comfortable responding to it: www.yahoo.com/news/trump-o...

Elon Musk may be stepping back from the government, but we’re not done reporting on the impact of his DOGE wrecking ball. If you have information to share with us, we want to hear from you. ➡️ propublica.org/tips

Leonard Leo's response to Pres. Trump calling him a "sleazebag":

I called my book about Seth Rich a "true-crime story for the post-truth era." It came out nearly three years ago, but the book's themes hit even harder today. Listen to this interview I did with lawyer Matt Adams about how "A Death on W Street" helps explain our present-day politics and culture.

The Trump administration's “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist. “The paper cited is not a real paper that I or my colleagues were involved with,” one expert told @notusreports.bsky.social. www.notus.org/health-scien...

Records show Attorney General Pam Bondi sold between $1 and $5 million worth of Trump Media shares on April 2. That same day, after the market closed, Trump announced his Liberation Day tariffs, sending the stock market plunging. www.propublica.org/article/pam-...

"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging. "My resignation represents such a refusal, not a surrender of responsibility but an assertion of it." time.com/7285045/resi...

Legal explainer: Does Trump Have the Power to Install Jeanine Pirro as Interim U.S. Attorney? By using another interim appointment to fill a vacancy for the top prosecutor in DC, the Trump is bypassing Senate confirmation & potentially claiming expansive authority. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/u...

1/ President Trump just announced he’s dropping Ed Martin as his pick for the U.S. Attorney for DC after a GOP senator opposed Martin’s confirmation. The decision comes immediately after a top Senate Democrat strongly condemned the pick — and cited ProPublica…🧵

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump says he's dropping Ed Martin, who defended Jan. 6 rioters, as pick for DC US Attorney after GOP Senate defection

WATCH: Sen. Dick Durbin is on the Senate floor, speaking out in opposition to Republican activist and lawyer Ed Martin's nomination to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Live here: www.c-span.org/event/us-sen...

NEW: In 2021, the Drug Enforcement Administration welcomed the addition of body cameras and touted the “enhanced transparency” they bring. Now the agency has quietly ended its body camera program, citing a Trump executive order. By @marioarizabaez.bsky.social

DOGE guy at the CFPB owned verboten stocks. He was explicitly warned by ethics lawyers that he wasn’t permitted to take any action that could benefit those companies — and him. He then helped fire workers anyway. Including the ethics lawyers who warned him. www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...

So grateful to work with such incredible colleagues @anniewaldman.bsky.social @maxblau.bsky.social @mayatmiller.bsky.social @propublica.org! Thank you to all the families, doctors, therapists, lawyers and workers who shared their stories with us. Our series: www.propublica.org/series/ameri...

NEW: The Great Lakes hold 95% of all the surface freshwater in the United States. Severe cuts have decimated the NOAA Great Lakes lab. Scientists worry they’ve lost the ability to protect the public from toxic algal blooms, which can kill animals and sicken people. My story for @propublica.org

TOMORROW we honor another intrepid journalist! TODAY we thank our previous Nellie Bly Award winners: @susannecraignyt.bsky.social @janemayer.bsky.social @jimheaney.bsky.social @jodikantor.bsky.social @alexgibneyfilm.bsky.social @jmitchellnews.bsky.social @andykroll.bsky.social

Ed Martin’s targeting of medical journals has raised grave concerns about curbing free speech and government intimidation of scientific publications. Here’s what else you should know about Trump’s pick for D.C. U.S. attorney. By @andykroll.bsky.social & @jeremykohler.bsky.social

Trump nominee for powerful D.C. U.S. attorney's post gave misleading testimony about ties to alleged 'Nazi sympathizer' www.kcur.org/politics-ele...

Durbin said he had planned to ask for a vote on Martin today but "on the basis of the chairman's — I hope, my clear understanding — I'm not going to make that move." Grassley said he's still reviewing Martin's paperwork and his staff has some additional questions.

Something is going on with Ed Martin's nom to be US attorney. But what, precisely, is unclear. Sen. Durbin said this AM: "It’s my understanding that we are not going to move forward on the Martin nomination." Grassley said he'd have more to say when Martin's nom was officially on the calendar.

In a letter from February, Martin asked Musk to “utilize me and my staff” to protect the people and the work of DOGE. He vowed to take “any and all legal action against anyone” who impeded DOGE’s work. By @andykroll.bsky.social and @jeremykohler.bsky.social

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