UPDATE: another packed house at #IRE26 for "Strategies for investigating anonymous companies." As @dgillison.bsky.social said, the fact that we've had so many attendees over the last two years says something about how frequently journalists find themselves face to face with these kinds of firms.

Happy Father's Day, especially to the fathers who bike.

With the ever-declining state of search, the verb "Google" is on the same etymological arc as "Munson"

🦀 🦀 🦀 We'll be at #IRE26 near Washington, DC later this week. We have answers to all your questions about how simulation games can teach journalists and public interest researchers how to follow the money. Our founder, @johndellosso.bsky.social, will be around. Come say hello!

@dgillison.bsky.social and I had a packed house on a Saturday morning at #IRE25 in New Orleans last year for our session on figuring out who benefits from secretive offshore companies. And now, we're bringing it back home to Washington, DC (sort of) for #IRE26 (@ire.org)

Evergreen and widely applicable @xkcd.com.

In his first interview since being kicked out of the US, FIFA referee Omar Artan tells’s the NYT’s Matt Bigg that the biggest dream of his professional life has been shattered. The World Cup ref was questioned for 11 hours, held in a cell and then dumped on a plane. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/w...

"Gordon S Wood, a Pulitzer prize-winning author and historian, was killed on Sunday when he was struck by a car in a supermarket parking lot in Rhode Island."

If I ruled the world, there would be way more bollards.

🇧🇪 Goedendag ! We are in Mechelen, Belgium for Dataharvest 2026, put on by @journalismarena.eu. If you want to hear about how we are using simulation games to teach investigators how to follow the money and promote accountability, our founder @johndellosso.bsky.social is here to spread the word.

OpenFacto a accueilli les 24-25 mai John Dell'Osso @investigativesimulations.org pour un jeu de simulation mobilisant toutes les compétences requises à une enquête financière sur des cas de corruption, de fraudes et autres conflits d'intérêt. Un grand succès pour ce nouveau format pédagogique. ✌️

This past weekend in Paris, investigators uncovered a vast criminal conspiracy. They followed paper trails across borders. They traced links between organized crime, professional enablers and corrupt officials. They worked under pressure. You probably didn't hear about it in the news though.

Pass.

The Anti-Corruption Data Collective found long-shot wagers — bets of more than $2,500 with less than 35% odds — on military outcomes won more than they lost. Researchers say it’s a telltale sign of “systemic insider-trading.” cbsn.ws/4uUJPG8

📢 ICYMI: We recently launched the Beta version of #EveryPolitician, a global #database of political officeholders. Read all about it - or come and help us make it better ➡️ www.opensanctions.org/articles/202...

Such a good soundtrack, and one of the few where I can mostly separate the content of the show/movie from my enjoyment of the music. Requiem for a Dream would be an example where that is not the case.

This would constitute one of the most brazen, most appalling acts of corruption in U.S. history. I know we’re numb to all of this but this is a seven-alarm fire. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/b...

Today, @tbij.bsky.social launches Voices For Transparency, a photo series showing the human stories behind corporate secrecy in the UK's CDOTs. 🌏 Ahead of the Illicit Finance Summit, the UK must end offshore secrecy & lead by example in the global fight against corruption. 🔗 Full series below ⤵️

We obtained a trove of internal ICE records showing detention center guards have increasingly used physical force and chemical agents on detainees. Gift link: wapo.st/4tdgBRA story w/ @abtran.bsky.social & team

🚨 The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (@tbij.bsky.social) and Investigative Simulations Lab are running a two-day simulation game on crime, corruption and corporate enablers from 26-27 May in London. Test your investigative skills! For more information, contact: [email protected]

Proud to know the big brains at the @acdatacollective.bsky.social behind this shocking (or maybe not shocking) research.

I'm proud to have been part of the team that won two National Headliner Awards for our work on the hidden geopolitical links in US real estate holdings. We found millions of dollars in real estate connected to corruption cases in Nigeria and sanctioned Russian bankers.

the number of people i see speeding through school zones and residential streets with their phones directly in their faces…

This is going to be a lot of fun. If you're in London and want more information on reserving a spot, let me know!

I wonder if @theonion.com buying Infowars will break the spell over people who have been brainwashed by Alex Jones or create openings for deradicalization. It would be amazing if they leaned into that and also solicited some PostSecret-style testimonials from such people and their loved ones.

If you are a French speaking investigator and want a challenge, see below! We'll be running a simulation game in Paris on 23 and 24 May in collaboration with the excellent OpenFacto (@openfacto.bsky.social).

Thank you to Mario Hidalgo Jara, the rest of the team at Universidad UTE and co-organizers Dr. Giovanna Rodriguez-Garcia (giroga.bsky.social) and Bonnie Palifka for the opportunity to present a short simulation game at the Academia against Corruption in the Americas conference in Quito, Ecuador.

Yikes.

The nonprofit that runs the successful, Pulitzer-winning Baltimore Banner is going to take over the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Of all the possible outcomes here, this is likely the best we could have hoped for. apnews.com/article/pitt...

We are on FIRE. #WorldBollardAssociation🔥

Sunlight member @riversiderecord.bsky.social joined a dozen news outlets in filing a motion to unseal three warrants obtained by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office in connection with Sheriff Chad Bianco’s investigation into alleged election fraud.

Journalists! Want a better way to explore, clean and share data? Join the @muckrock.com team and @alexgarcia.xyz on April 17 as they share how @datasette.io can help. Free training and free tool! us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

“Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.” Geneva Convention Additional Protocol I and Department of Defense Law of War Manual, § 5.2.2

🏘️ A data architecture built by ACDC was the starting point for a series of investigations into Nigerian PEP's U.S. real estate holdings by @pplaaf.bsky.social. 🎯 The stories keep coming, and they're making an impact.

We had a FOIA win on this story. The indicted Nigerians tried to move a home into an anonymous trust. Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser’s Office records said the transfer failed because the gift deed didn't identify a trustee. Tidy! cc: Brechner FOI Project (@brechnerfoi.bsky.social)

#Nigeria : A new investigation led by @pplaaf.bsky.social @johndellosso.bsky.social has uncovered additional properties in the United States that had previously escaped seizure by Nigerian prosecutors. Prof Dibu is facing justice. His next hearing will be in April

It did not have legs.

🥇 First Place: Tony Bartelme, Glenn Smith, and John Dell'Osso of The Post and Courier for "Uncovered: Power & Polo/The Russians Next Door," an investigation of how powerful people from across the world exploit weak transparency laws.

🇳🇬 🇺🇸 A group in #Nigeria is pressing for an investigation into assets held by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu. A court filing cites an investigation @tbartelme.bsky.social and I published last year exposing Uzor Kalu's properties in the Carolinas. cc: @pplaaf.bsky.social @acdatacollective.bsky.social

Our story last year about international investors with sketchy pasts has some impact in Nigeria. @johndellosso.bsky.social @pplaaf.bsky.social www.postandcourier.com/news/local_s...

To put this into perspective...

👋 Come find us at #SunshineFest next week and see for yourself how we're using simulation games to promote transparency and accountability! Here's where we'll be... cc: @brechnerfoi.bsky.social @muckrock.com @knightfoundation.org

This email from #DOGE staffer Justin Fox (recently deposed in the NEH case) is shocking. Did he not understand separation of powers? Did he not know GAO is part of the legislative branch? The EO cites 5 USC 551, which clearly (and obviously) says: "but does not include— (A) the Congress;"

One of the best of all time. “You’re not stuck in traffic. You ARE traffic.” Wish we had come up with that one. #UrbanTruth

Underappreciated benefit of mindfulness: not thinking too much about the substance you just sat in on the bus until after you've put your clothes in the wash and showered.

Thank you A-Mark Foundation and SC Press Assoc. for recognizing our “Power and Polo” corp transparency project last year as SC’s top investigative journalism prize. with @glennsmith.bsky.social a d @johndellosso.bsky.social www.postandcourier.com/news/post-an...

Hot damn! We won an award. Bartelme and Smith, along with John Dell’Osso from the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa, won the A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism for “Power and Polo.”

This is worrisome.