The Trump administration knew that the vast majority of the 230+ Venezuelan immigrants it sent to El Salvador in mid-March had not been convicted of crimes in the U.S. before it labeled them as terrorists and deported them, according to Homeland Security data. (Published May)

The Midwest newsroom at @propublica.org is amazing. Fantastically talented, hard-working, good-hearted people who do this work for all the right reasons. And so much fun to be around. I love being part of it. Come join us! This is a **solid-gold journalism job opportunity.**

New craft class coming up quick. I've dreamed of teaching this one for years! We'll explore the porous boundaries of investigative literature, from Gwendolyn Brooks in Montgomery to Lynn Nottage in Reading, PA., to Patrick Radden Keefe in Northern Ireland. Online + open to all, incl. all genres.

NEW: Records show that Uvalde school leaders initially planned to defend Police Chief Pete Arredondo after the Robb Elementary shooting. The details were revealed in over 25,000 pages the district released after a legal fight with news outlets. With @texastribune.org

2/ As the story also makes clear, having two such mortgages is not on its own evidence of wrongdoing. But it is a standard the Trump administration has been using to go after its political foes. Read our full story:

1/ The documents are clear: Lee Zeldin and his wife have two principal-residence mortgages, for properties in Long Island and Washington, D.C. We’ve got the records 👇 Long Island: legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26... D.C.: legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

ProPublica identified 17 people who each shielded at least $1 billion in capital gains from the so-called Net Investment Income Tax. Together, this small group, by collectively exempting more than $35 billion, saved about $1.3 billion in taxes. (Published Dec. 2024)

"Pulte did not respond to a request for comment from ProPublica." @justinelliott.bsky.social @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social for @propublica.org. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Pearl, always in sunshine.

Throwing my cat into the ring for my city’s extremely fake “bike path mayor” race.

So the Trump appointee to head the precious jewel of American economic data collection is: -a J6er -who has a nazi ship photo -and can’t get the math right to back his belief that the economy was in recession under Biden and then soared when Trump took over

Texas AG Ken Paxton hired a former staffer to work on a recent case. As a state employee, her labor would have cost taxpayers $641. As a private attorney, Paxton allowed her to bill $3,780 an hour, so that day of work cost taxpayers $24,570. With @texastribune.org

Texas is about to give more than $1 billion in public money to private schools. We found that they routinely engage in nepotism and enrich insiders in ways that would be illegal for public and charter schools. Just out @propublica.org @texastribune.org: www.texastribune.org/2025/08/13/t...

Billy Long only lasted 6 months as Trump's IRS chief. Sure, that's a short period of time, but not bad for a guy whose self-touted tax expertise appeared to come solely from a 3-day seminar. From @propublica.org Dec. 2024: www.propublica.org/article/bill...

THREAD: All over the country, immigration officers are smashing car windows to get at the people inside. As we began tracking incidents, my @propublica.org colleague @nicolefoy.bsky.social and I had two questions: First, is this legal? Second, is it, well, normal? Was this happening before? 1/

So proud of my awesome nephew! Back in Swan Lake for the Maine State Ballet. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EjI...

New from me: After Oregon’s record-breaking fire season in 2020, lawmakers wanted to map out which properties were most at risk. But anger from homeowners escalated quickly. Misinformation got accepted as fact. In this telling, Oregon’s hotter, drier climate isn’t the problem; the map is.

The following first appeared in The Maine Monitor’s free environmental newsletter, Climate Monitor, which is delivered to inboxes every Friday morning. Sign up for the newsletter to stay informed of Maine environmental news. themainemonitor.org/newsletters/

"All I could hear was kids crying..." Incredibly difficult videos to watch of immigration agents' aggressive acts of violence. @propublica.org reporting. projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-sm...

A looming global water crisis may be under appreciated as climate change takes hold. Today I report on a new study that finds the planet is quickly drying, with mega-regions of water loss now stretching across continents. www.propublica.org/article/wate...

NEW: Turns out the Pentagon was not the only part of the government where Microsoft was using China-based engineers. For years, the tech giant has also used these overseas employees to maintain cloud systems for DOJ, Treasury and Commerce, ProPublica's @reneedudley.bsky.social found.

This CEO co-owned a company that pleaded guilty in 2019 to a scheme to hire and conceal undocumented workers. Now he’s profiting off the construction of an immigrant detention camp. Such critical reporting from Avi Asher-Schapiro + @jeffernsthausen.bsky.social: www.propublica.org/article/nath...

The immensity of this reporting cannot be overstated. @propublica.org made an archive of reported, fact-checked info on each of the individuals sent to prison in El Salvador. Trump admin knew that only *six* had been convicted of violent offenses.

Since March, the USDA has filed 56 foreclosures in federal court against properties purchased with a rural development mortgage. All but one were in Maine. Important reporting by Sawyer Loftus for @bangordailynews.bsky.social @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/usda...

BREAKING: ICE officials will gain access to personally identifiable information for all Medicaid enrollees, according to an agreement obtained by the AP.

Very thoughtful response to great @propublica.org reporting by @reneedudley.bsky.social and Doris Burke: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

NEW: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to overhaul an obscure but vital program that underpins the nation’s childhood immunization system. Depending on what he does, the results could be catastrophic. By @sheinvestigates.bsky.social

One thing that will become increasingly clear as DHS starts spending the billions they got in the Big Ugly is that a lot of this will go to pay off favored contracts. @hunterw.bsky.social lays out how Florida did that here. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/contrac...

So the former NYPD commish is suing Mayor Adams and the NYPD, accusing them of a "coordinated criminal conspiracy." As evidence, the commish points to my investigation of a "rogue" that answered directly to City Hill. That story, from March. www.propublica.org/article/eric...

Ads for the property don’t mention that state and federal officials approved its use as a mitigation site to compensate for wetlands that the credit card giant MBNA filled while building its campus. And that as part of that deal, the parcel “shall be protected in perpetuity from future development.”

Its been 60 years since our leaders knew climate change was approaching. My latest reflections on the tragedy in Texas... fighting off the numbness of these repetitive disasters now coming faster than I can tally them, and trying to keep the big picture in focus. www.propublica.org/article/texa...

As the climate crisis worsens, the federal government is running away from policies and research that could address it -- great reporting by @abrahm.bsky.social for @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/texa...

"There is nothing remarkable about a politician raising money for nonprofits that promote their campaigns or agendas. What’s unusual is for a politician to keep some of the money for themselves." Smart reporting by @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/kris...

The NewYorker's fact-checking department continues to be the industry gold standard. There are currently 27 people checking facts at the magazine, 24 of them full-time. The magazine's famously rigorous fact-checking department began with an angry letter from a protective Maine mother.

People in Venice are protesting Jeff Bezos' upcoming gala wedding there, pointing out his history of tax avoidance. As @propublica.org showed in 2021, Bezos has TWICE paid $0 in federal income tax. One year, he claimed & received a $4k tax CREDIT for his kids. www.propublica.org/article/the-...

As seen in VT

As seen in VT

I've spent the last few months examining the +1,450 grants terminated at the NIH, including reading hundreds of abstracts. Many were studying how to solve or improve health disparities – not just identify or explain them. Some of the terminated grants (h/t to @scott-delaney.bsky.social + team)

Staffers have expressed shock at how little Fugate knows about the basics of his role -- DHS did not address questions about his level of experience.... @hannahallam.bsky.social @kirstenberg.bsky.social for @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...

"The agency has been operating streamgages in the United States since the 1880s. One of the first 120 gages the agency installed was in Wisconsin in 1899 ... That longevity gives scientists an essential resource for tracking Wisconsin’s bodies of water." via @wisconsinexaminer.com

NEW: We obtained DHS data that shows the US knew only 32 of the 238 Venezuelans deported to a prison in El Salvador in March were convicted of US crimes, only 6 of those violent. Trump called them “savages,” “monsters” and "the worst of the worst.” www.propublica.org/article/trum...

The government's own data indicates they knew their assertions that all these men were the 'worst of the worst' was untrue. Great reporting by a team at @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/trum...

The financial wreckage is strewn across Texas, having swept up both wealthy investors and older people with modest incomes who dug into retirement savings on the advice of the same investment advisor. @anjeanette-damon.bsky.social @mrsimon22.bsky.social

“Caregivers need help,” said Jennifer Benson, state director of AARP Massachusetts. “They are essentially saving us about $15 billion in the amount of work that they do. If they weren’t there doing that job, the need still exists.” bit.ly/3GOW974

Read the whole thing. You won’t be surprised, but you should be outraged.

pearl…

NEW: ALA salutes Dr Carla Hayden for her exceptional service to the nation as the Librarian of Congress. We are deeply disappointed in Dr Hayden's abrupt & unjust dismissal last night, an insult to the scope & breadth of her work. Read ALA Pres. Cindy Hohl's statement: www.ala.org/news/2025/05...