Andrew Ba Tran
@abtran.bsky.social
Washington Post Investigative Data Reporter
Predatory schools fleeced GI Bill out of more than $300 million in a decade. Institutions defrauded VA and taxpayers, with some teaching how to grow grass and make fake rocks, a Post investigation finds. By Craig Whitlock (and me) wapo.st/4pW9eOt
How predatory trade schools drained $300 million from the GI Bill and failed veterans
Trade schools fleeced VA — and taxpayers — of more than $300 million, often by teaching short and easy courses, a Post investigation finds.
wapo.st
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Economists have talked about it as the greatest wealth transfer in history. But generational wealth is obliterated for many by the astronomical costs of elder care. The poorest Americans spent nearly a third of their wealth on out-of-pocket care costs. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Defense technology companies like Anduril and SpaceX have generated at least $3.2 billion in direct government business since Trump's sons invested in them. @abtran.bsky.social investigates with Lizza Dwoskin, @lmelgar.bsky.social , and Peter Jamison www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...
NEW: A public link let anyone watch SFPD police drone operations. We reviewed hours of leaked footage showing drones tracking cars across the city, watching detentions, peering into apartment windows, recording thermal video, and sweeping up hundreds of bystanders w/ @agreenberg.bsky.social
A Leak of San Francisco Police Drone Footage Exposes the New Reality of Urban Surveillance
The SFPD’s exposure of hours of videos from drone platform Skydio reveals how broadly it’s watching the city from above—and how the results can spill online.
wired.com
@mcneill.bsky.social looks like I'll already be on USC campus when the @osintconference.bsky.social starts this year. Fortuitous timing!
The New World screwworm spread from southern Mexico to Texas in two years when the administration cut staff and funding. Former USDA officials said staffing cuts eroded the agency’s expertise and left fewer people available to deploy in an emergency. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Nearly 93 percent of all border wall spending over the past decade happened in this year and last, according to our analysis. The spike in border wall spending goes mostly to 2 firms with GOP, White House ties. wapo.st/3PMfxqi
Ok I'm sensing some momentum here, let's all start saying ai;dr when you see AI writing in a post or story or email, it's a great way to signal you're ignoring them until they use their actual brains www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell...
I'm over it!!
TikTok video by Drew Harwell
tiktok.com
Wish there was a way to automatically filter out any columns with entire premises based on "I asked AI to do XX research for me and and now I will react to what it gave me without fact checking first"
New one: Between 2022-24, California cops traced nearly 8,000 crime guns — those used in a crime, suspected to have been used in a crime, or illegally possessed — back to a single chain: Turner's Outdoorsman. The retailer also sold a shotgun to the WHCD attacker. www.thetrace.org/2026/05/turn...
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
huge congrats to my data team bud Emmanuel Martinez on being a Pulitzer finalist for this reporting!!! www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
ICE increasingly targets undocumented migrants with no criminal record
ICE officers are ramping up arrests. But the share of detained migrants with a criminal conviction has been declining.
washingtonpost.com
The Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for coverage of DOGE and the federal workforce. It’s the second time The Post has won the prestigious award in five years. Read more about our winning coverage here: https://wapo.st/3OX3l5A
Jahi Chikwendiu just won a Pulitzer for his photos that told this incredible story. The Post laid off all its staff photographers in February 2026 (Chikwendiu left in 2025). www.washingtonpost.com/health/inter...
He’s dying. She’s pregnant.
Tanner and Shay found themselves facing an unbearable duality: Preparing for their daughter’s arrival and bracing for her father’s death.
washingtonpost.com
We got our hands on internal ICE records that show how widespread use of force, like punches, kicks, takedown maneuvers, restraint holds, and less-lethal weapons such as Tasers and pepper spray in detention centers has grown wapo.st/4tdgBRA (1/)
The Army is investigating why an Apache attack helicopter conducting a training flight hovered outside the Tennessee home of musician Kid Rock and near protesters at No Kings rallies in the state, officials said Monday. with @alexhorton.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Once again done in by my own hubris of adding the suffix "_FINAL" to a file. THE HUBRIS!
Uploaded a Census handout in Grammarly to see who’d pop up in their Expert Reviews and looks like @shcohen.bsky.social and @albertocairo.com are among their AI experts. I have a feeling that’s news to them! www.platformer.news/grammarly-ex...
Emily is the best sports data journalist working right now, and I have no doubt she will continue to do incredible things in whichever newsroom is lucky enough to hire her. I’ll deeply miss getting to work with such an amazing colleague (and fellow FPL fan!!!)
Emily Giambalvo@emilygiam.bsky.social · 6mo agoThe past eight years at The Washington Post have been a dream. I am so sad but so grateful.
The @washingtonpost.com still sharing our data and how we did the work while other newsrooms pull back. Check out the gathered data on Github #opendata #reproducibility #transparency bsky.app/profile/cait...
Caitlin Gilbert@caitlingilbert.bsky.social · 7mo agoYou can also use the map in the story to look up vaccination rates in your local schools! This was a HUGE data lift: we reviewed and mapped tens of thousands of individual schools’ data, assembling the most comprehensive public database. And we published this data here: github.com/washingtonpo...
As vaccination has become a political hot potato, the already patchwork of counties & schools meeting herd immunity standards has fallen further. Maps + an interactive to lookup your local schools in this blockbuster w/ @laurenweberhp.bsky.social & @caitlingilbert.bsky.social wapo.st/49zDc43
EXCLUSIVE: @laurenweberhp.bsky.social & I have spent the last year collecting school+county-level vaccination data from across the US and found that only about 28% of counties now have herd immunity for kindergartners from measles—that leaves about 5.2mn kids unprotected. Gift link: wapo.st/49zDc43
U.S. vaccination rates are plunging. Look up where your school stands.
Take a look to see what the kindergarten measles vaccination rates are in your area.
wapo.st
For our new visual investigation into how night vision and city lights may have played a part in the DCA crash we flew a drone along the helicopters route, filmed incoming planes through night vision goggles, and analyzed it all within a 3D model of Washington, D.C. Watch here wapo.st/4atdTBI
In deadly D.C. plane crash, city lights may have played a role. See how.
The Post examined the bright skyline around Reagan National Airport and whether it may have been a factor in the January accident, which killed 67 people.
wapo.st
Excellent breakdown of potential contributing factors to the tragic air collision over the Potomac. Class B information overload + lights & NVGs potential contributors via @imogenpiper.bsky.social @jb1prod.bsky.social @abtran.bsky.social @alexhorton.bsky.social Brian Perlman wapo.st/4atdTBI
In deadly D.C. plane crash, city lights may have played a role. See how.
The Post examined the bright skyline around Reagan National Airport and whether it may have been a factor in the January accident, which killed 67 people.
wapo.st
Wide roads and fast-moving vehicles — especially when combined with signs of poverty, homelessness, drug & alcohol abuse, plus a lack of pedestrian-focused roadway improvements — has produced a pattern of death-by-vehicle that is uniquely American. Investigation by Ian Duncan & Emmanuel Martinez:
The deadliest roads in America
The number of pedestrians killed by vehicles has increased in the U.S., with road infrastructure and inadequate safety measures among key contributing factors.
washingtonpost.com
You can oversee the bloody dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw, and the president of the United States will smile, shake your hand and threaten to pull the license of a news outlet whose reporter asks you a question about it. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing
The de facto Saudi ruler was branded a pariah in 2018 after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Now, U.S.-Saudi relations are approaching a high point.
washingtonpost.com
