1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken. Hundreds of kids are still detained. We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

My thoughts on new US tax accounting disclosures, for @bloombergtax.com: "These new disclosures are a major improvement on what we’ve had before. The hope is that with more public scrutiny, big multinationals are less likely to play offshore tax games that put investors at risk."

We still haven't solved tax havens. "American Express lowered its corporate income taxes by $241m through operations on the island of Jersey in 2025....Without the Jersey effect, American Express's tax rate would have been 1.8% higher." via @richardrubindc.bsky.social www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

What does it say about the state of the US and its democracy today if it plans to celebrate its 250th birthday by building a giant arch with bribe money? 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

“…funded with leftover private donations to his White House ballroom project, which he has said could cost about $400m. Publicly identified donors to the ballroom project, such as Amazon, Google and Lockheed Martin, collectively have billions of dollars in contracts before the administration.”

#FIFA seems to have a #kleptocracy problem. The last 2 x World Cups were held in highly corrupt states (#Qatar and #Russia) and part of the upcoming one will too (US). 🤔

I study #corruption for a living and even I’m in awe at the creativity and venality of these schemes: a $1b bribe to Trump gives corrupt leaders dibs to send huge contracts to selves and cronies as part of post-genocide reconstruction. WOW 🤯

Unhinged

I wonder how #Hungarian voters feel about their #Kleptocrat Viktor Orban giving $1billion of Hungarian taxpayer money to #Trump for a seat on a board about #Gaza? Could be an interesting election issue this spring.

It’s notable that a majority of the members of this board have either engaged in #corruption themselves of shilled for those who do. Not a good sign for good governance reforms in #Gaza, which Gaza’s people so desperately need and deserve.

What are some #Trump insiders’ financial links with critical minerals contracts in #Greenland? A new expose’ out this morning 👇🏻

"There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military. That is precisely a move that a corrupt politician would be attracted to." @warren.senate.gov

Democracy activist/scholar Srdja Popovic describes the “Maduro Model” whereby an authoritarian (or wanna be one) is willing to even risk crashing their economy to stay in power. Read more about it here: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

A huge shoutout to the folks at Citizen Historians for taking pictures of all exhibits at the Smithsonian—including at the National Portrait Gallery—so we have a historical record of what had been there before. Read more about the remarkable volunteers here: www.citizenhistorians.org

Wise advice for today: “Yes, he was indoctrinated,” Dr. Matthäus said of Mr. Onnen [the murderer]. “But what is probably more important is that you are part of a machine, and if you don’t make a deliberate decision to get out of it, you get further drawn into this.”

#Afghan Analysts Network published a summary of what university courses and books are banned by the far right Taliban as they seek to Make Afghanistan Great Again (as defined by the Taliban). The report is excellent and should be read in full. But some thoughts 🧵

“…there are a number of personnel actions that can be taken-letters of counseling or reprimand-that, even if found to be baseless later, would affect one’s potential for promotion and impact their discharge.“

Know what would make this more effective? Enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act—which is part of same NDAA—so PRC-linked firms can’t hide behind anonymous companies; then add a public registry (which is the intl standard) so companies can look up who owns their suppliers.

As reported in the article, it sounds like Mr Smith is kneecapping fire depts twice: 1st by not paying his taxes and thus depriving them of the funds they need and then in charging extortionate rates for software they need.

U.S. F-35 fighter jets were available to fly only half the time in 2024 due to maintenance shortcomings by Lockheed Martin , a report from the Defense Department's Office of the Inspector General said.

“With some $100B in AUM, it is one of the largest private equity firms in the world, helmed by Robert F. Smith, a billionaire who a few years ago agreed to a $139 million settlement with the federal government in what was one of the largest tax evasion cases in the country’s history.”

When you see the criminal facilitation laid out—as @cjcmichel.bsky.social has done—by the Trump Administration, often for their private financial gain, you realize just how much the average US citizen and the economy as a whole is now even more vulnerable to scams, terrorists, narcotics…

“Authoritarian systems do not emerge spontaneously. They are financed, lubricated and sustained by precisely these kinds of quid-pro-quo arrangements. The end point is not merely corruption, but entrenchment: a political order in which crime is rewarded, enforcement is optional&loyalty is currency.”

#CoSP11: 🎉 Last week, countries adopted a resolution that sets minimum standards for political finance transparency. This is the first time this has happened since the UN Convention against Corruption entered into force 20 years ago. 🔗 Read our experts’ analysis here: anticorru.pt/3g9

“LA regulators have adopted a new rule that suspends certain consumer protections if utility companies need to quickly build power plants for certain industrial developments, including data centers, that require massive amounts of electricity.”

A perfect example of “dead catting.” The idea is to (figuratively) throw a dead cat on a table in a room full of people so all they talk about is the cat corpse. This propelled dead cat has diverted people from talking about Epstein, Wednesday’s Trump speech, rising medical insurance premiums…

The Trump Family continues to pitch private investments for personal gain at the expense of the public good…this time in the UK enclave of Gibraltar

Public debt is the public's debt. A new report by Transparency International, NDI and @opengovpartnership.org explores the rise of confidentiality clauses in sovereign debt contracts and their impact on transparency and accountability. 🔗 Read it here: anticorru.pt/3g3

“When transparency disappears, you don’t get privacy—you get crime.” Brilliant @natesibley.bsky.social on yesterday's appellate court decision upholding the #CorporateTransparencyAct

🚨On the eve of other countries handing American companies a free pass from global minimum tax, we learn that American companies still book around 1/2 of their profits in tax havens. Compelling new @taxobservatory.bsky.social research is #TaxTwitter must-read: www.taxobservatory.eu/publication/...

“President Donald Trump’s $1,776 checks for more than a million troops, announced Wednesday, come from Congressionally-allocated reconciliation funds intended to subsidize housing allowances for service members, a senior administration official confirmed.”

The UN warns the “manosphere” is a rising digital threat. OCCRP tracked its new offline frontier: Marbella, where male influencers and Tate associates have built a growing hub. What’s drawing them there? Read more in our story www.occrp.org/en/feature/s...

Glad to know I’m not the only one who downloaded the new #Apple #ios update and thought “Who thought this was a good idea?”

‘What are the rules that are in place to guard against conflicts of interest?’” said Rob Shriver, former acting OPM director and current managing director of Civil Service Strong at Democracy Forward.”

The demolished WH East Wing, plans to demolish 4 x more public fed buildings, takeover of 3 public golf course, USIP building takeover, & DOGE plans to privatize other federal buildings. This is what #kleptocracy looks like as public goods are handed to private interests

“The default notice, dated Oct. 29, did not specify reasons the group was in default or how it could remedy any concerns…Natl Links Trust had 45 days to address any concerns, which means the nonprofit group could lose operational control of the E Potomac, Rock Creek and Langston courses next week.”

“The declaration…asserts the White House is deep into the process of selecting contractors to demolish 4 architecturally significant buildings: the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, the GSA Regional Office Building and the Liberty Loan Building.”

Russia destroyed 100% of Odesa’s energy infrastructure. All substations were destroyed by missiles and drones. The city has been completely left without electricity, hot water, and heating for over one million people, including all critical infrastructure.

Incredible bravery at Bondi beach as a witness wrestles a gun from one of the attackers. youtu.be/SJtq75x_IWA?...

The latest example of the power of anti-corruption, pro-reform politics.

7News Australia reports that the hero who jumped and disarmed one of the terrorist shooters His name is Ahmed el-Ahmed A 43 year old married father of two He owns a fruit shop in Sutherland No experience with guns He was walking past He has two bullets in his arm

“…2 former Doge officials…are leading the group’s conversations about humanitarian assistance&the postwar reconstr of Gaza. They have circulated slide decks w detailed plans for logistics ops, incl prices, financial projections & locations of potential warehouses. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Prime Minister of Poland. 🇵🇱

Read this: www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...

What will it mean for the US and the world as America’s crony capitalism looks more and more like the corruption of the so-called “shithole” countries Trump claims to abhor? 👇

If you're looking for a Sunday morning read, our website team spent a lot of time writing code to make the animations on this article work, so give it a look, will ya? www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-...

In case you missed it: our investigation into how Sky Bet relocated to Malta to avoid £55m of tax/year This kind of thing is often reported as "perfectly proper, and there's no suggestion that any laws were broken". But here it looks improper. Laws may have been broken. 🧵

Last month, five Peruvian investigative outlets, including several ICIJ media partners, filed constitutional petitions in Lima courts to challenge the so-called “APCI Law,” passed by Peru’s Congress in April and enacted soon after by its then president.

So rich soccer fans (or those pretending to be soccer fans & who buy a ticket) get a special visa portal & priority over students, scientific researchers, children in need of medical care in the US, etc. Says a lot about US govt values these days 🇺🇸 www.wired.com/story/the-us...

“PennState trustee Paterno questioned the need for secrecy…Given that the Big10 is about to create “a for-profit company using what are essentially public dollars,” he argued, boards need to know more in order to be able to advise their insts accordingly.” www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...