A billionaire known as “Bitcoin Jesus” was under indictment for massive criminal tax fraud and very likely going to prison. Then, he hired a “Friend of Trump” and the criminal charges disappeared. How did they do it? Avi Asher-Schapiro and I spent months getting the inside story.

In today's Laurels/Darts, I interview Jessica Schulberg, the Huffpost reporter who has extensively covered an unjust Oklahoma death-penalty case. She was at the penitentiary when the the convict was spared -- exactly 2 minutes before he was scheduled to die. www.cjr.org/laurels-and-...

You know one sign of sophisticated intelligence is the ability to integrate new information and not lose your job twice for essentially the same reason

JOB ALERT! We are hiring a business editor. You have an unerring instinct for the jugular of the wealthy & powerful? Build a team with me and we’ll get after it! job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j... You can email me or on Signal at 718-496-5233

BREAKING: In a 3-2 vote Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole board recommended clemency for Tremane Wood, a man sentenced to death for a killing his brother admitted to committing www.huffpost.com/entry/oklaho...

Tremane Wood is facing execution on November 13. I revisited his case to investigate how a group of judges and prosecutors have secretly coordinated in ways that have undermined Tremane’s final chance to live. www.huffpost.com/entry/oklaho...

NEW from me: The CFPB's consumer complaint system is more popular than ever, fielding over 2.7M complaints last year. But Republican lawmakers still voted to slash the CFPB's budget, even after referring thousands of their own constituents' issues to the agency. www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...

Do you have information about Big Law spurning clients who might incur Trump's anger? Get in touch: [email protected] or on Signal at mollyredden.14

New from me: Big Law is fearful of representing anyone Trump sees as his enemies, and it's thwarting challenges to his agenda. “There are cases that aren’t being brought at a time when civil rights abuses are maybe at the highest they’ve been.” www.propublica.org/article/trum...

NEW— "A lot of children have passed the point of no return...The gut lining has started to auto-digest & will no longer [absorb] water or nutrition. Death is imminent for 1000s" An American doctor who just returned from Gaza on where US-Israeli policy is taking us: www.huffpost.com/entry/gaza-s...

Tips are *very* welcome. Are you in Big Law or a Trump-aligned firm? Struggling to recruit pro bono partners to sue the administration? Former or current DOJ/OCR? Leonard Leo? Get in my DMs!

I'm launching a new @propublica.org beat! Legal affairs under Trump: his assault on Big Law, his judicial nominees, his defiance of the courts, the politicization of executive branch legal offices, favor-trading for dropped investigations, White House legal strategy—you name it.

“I struggle for adjectives to adequately describe the horror that this administration has visited on the world,” said a former State Dept official about the damage done by Trump and Musk abandoning America's humanitarian aid commitments.

Mothers, hide your Overton Windows! A secretive effort is at work to convince courts the US is legally under "invasion." MAGA loyalists have pushed this fringe legal theory for years. Now, it's the linchpin of Trump's mass deportation campaign and his extraordinary threats to suspend habeas corpus.

THREAD: Under a new law, thousands of prisoners in Louisiana have been cut off from ever getting a chance at parole. Why? Because an algorithm said so. 1/

An October 2024 story about Russell Vought captured the breadth and ferocity of the coming attack on the federal government. So why didn’t this story drive more of a national conversation when it appeared?

New and devastating reporting from my colleagues showing just how dangerous it has become to be pregnant and in Texas after the state banned abortion. Please read and share: www.propublica.org/article/texa...

“In response, the employees refused their requests and called sheriff's deputies.“

If a nakedly corrupt and anti-constitutional DoJ won't hold Eric Adams to account, here's who could. How Other Prosecutors Could Pick Up the Case Against Eric Adams www.thecity.nyc/2025/02/15/e...

I wrote about how the Trump administration's assault on the civil service draws from the same playbook used for decades against public school teachers. A nation that devalues its public servants devalues its future www.vox.com/donald-trump...

The Trump administration has flown about 100 immigrants to Guantanamo Bay. Perla Trevizo and I identified nearly a dozen of them and spoke to relatives of three of them. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

NEW: Under the Trump administration, the Office for Civil Rights has shifted its focus to removing gender-neutral bathrooms, banning transgender athletes from women’s sports and prioritizing complaints alleging discrimination against white students.

NEW from me: Why has Patrick Soon-Shiong touted RFK Jr repeatedly and run interference for him at his paper, the LA Times? Maybe because his biotech company has 3 applications pending at the FDA, whose parent agency Kennedy is about to be running. prospect.org/power/2025-0...

Buckle up

Donald Trump has just released a national under 18 trans care ban executive order. I am working through specifically how it tries to do this, and will live tweet here section by section as I read through it. It is not yet on the website, but has been released via press release.

Trump Day One executive order is an illegal deferral under the Impoundment Control Act. It also seems as though Trump is (accidentally? purposefully?) demanding the US break its contracts for funding that has been obligated but not yet outlaid in saying no funds shall be disbursed.

Hegseth has said that he got into West Point but didn’t attend. We asked West Pt public affairs, which told us twice on the record that he hadn’t even applied there. We reached out. Hegseth's spox gave us his acceptance letter. We didn't publish a story. That's journalism.

NEW: There have been internal concerns that Trump Media has misled investors about Truth Social's performance, a source said. But with Donald Trump, $DJT's largest shareholder, about to be president, will the SEC be up to the job of investigating? www.propublica.org/article/dona...

Excellent piece from my buddy Paul Kiel on an obscure loophole that allows billionaires to avoid Medicare tax: www.propublica.org/article/medi...

Get ready for a much more aggressive Civil Rights Division on behalf of conservative causes/interests in Trump DOJ 2.0.

Today, as Tennessee defends its ban on trans youth care at SCOTUS, it will rely on testimony from four roundly discredited experts—including one who said some children may be “born to suffer and die” I wrote about their lucrative role in pushing misinformation here: www.huffpost.com/entry/paid-e...

New from me: As they prepare to cut trillions in government services, Trump + team are planning to test a radical legal theory which claims the president can unilaterally choke off funding from programs he opposes. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

I burst into tears when I got here. The speaker is a bereaved husband. “We all know pregnancies can come out beautifully or horribly,” Hope told ProPublica. “Instead of putting laws in place to make pregnancies safer, we created laws that put them back in danger.” www.propublica.org/article/pors...

Reupping my and @andykroll.bsky.social story on Russ Vought, a Project 2025 architect, on the news he is joining the next Trump administration. We got private videos of Vought's plans for "traumatically" razing the civil service, siccing military on protestors… 🧵 www.propublica.org/article/vide...

Do you work at HHS? The Education Department? The DOJ's civil rights division? I'm reporting on the Trump administration's sweeping cultural agenda and I want to hear from you! See below for how to reach me securely.

Why? Concerned public servants are some of our most important sources. We rely on you to help us identify stories, report and fact-check. We appreciate the difficult situations people weigh as they decide whether to reach out. All of our reporters take privacy very seriously...

As the second Trump White House takes shape, our reporters are already digging into some issues that will require scrutiny in the coming years. We want to share some details, including how you can help inform future reporting. 👇