Cate Brown
@catebrown.bsky.social
political investigations at @TheGuardian. formerly @WashingtonPost. power over/power to tips: cate.brown@theguardian.com
Russian-American private equity investor Konstantin Sokolov is also a donor to President Trump's White House ballroom renovation project, as @catebrown.bsky.social @theguardian.com noted last week www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump ballroom donor to lead state department’s $200m Armenia fund
Konstantin Sokolov, who gave undisclosed sum and has not held government job before, to chair Tripp+ trade project
theguardian.com
Russian-American private equity investor Konstantin Sokolov — who was recently appointed by the U.S. State Department to chair the TRIPP+ Enterprise Fund — gave $1 million to President Trump's super PAC on June 10th, new FEC docs show docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...
Schedule A for Line #17 Schedule A for Line #17
docquery.fec.gov
"Trump ballroom donor to lead state department’s $200m Armenia fund Konstantin Sokolov, who gave undisclosed sum and has not held government job before, to chair Tripp+ trade project" @catebrown.bsky.social for @theguardian.com
Trump ballroom donor to lead state department’s $200m Armenia fund
Konstantin Sokolov, who gave undisclosed sum and has not held government job before, to chair Tripp+ trade project
theguardian.com
NEW: A Guardian review of thousands of DOJ-released Epstein records found that Ben Black— now the Senate-confirmed head of the $205bn DFC — once invested in the same company as Epstein and maintained social ties with him for years afterward. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump appointee leading $205bn US agency had personal ties to Epstein, emails show
Ben Black’s lawyers deny relationship with disgraced financier, but DoJ records reveal years of interactions
theguardian.com
‘Board of Peace’ officials deny being short on funds, but the group has only received $123mil dollars of the $7bn promised to Trump in Feb. That’s $1.75 for every $100 pledged. Diplomats and others say countries are hesitant to pay, esp after war in Iran. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
‘The door to the future of Gaza is still closed’: Trump’s reconstruction promises stall
Diplomatic impasse and lack of progress on the ground has left countries that pledged funds to Board of Peace reluctant to pay
theguardian.com
The top Gaza envoy for Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ is slated to earn $400k for his work leading Washington’s vision there. Asked about the figure, a BoP official said, “I’m not the CFO … but those were eye-popping.” More on 💸 + stalled BoP efforts —> www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
‘The door to the future of Gaza is still closed’: Trump’s reconstruction promises stall
Diplomatic impasse and lack of progress on the ground has left countries that pledged funds to Board of Peace reluctant to pay
theguardian.com
The Pentagon has quietly dismantled a program it is legally required to operate to prevent and respond to civilian deaths in US military operations, according to its internal watchdog. Read more ⬇️ w/ @catebrown.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Pentagon quietly shut legally required program to prevent civilian deaths by military, watchdog finds
Trump administration accused of cutting military’s civilian harm program in light of US strike on girls school in Iran
theguardian.com
Trump may drop his lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for the launch of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate people wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration, including Jan 6 rioters. Quick take following NYT +ABC www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump may settle his lawsuit against IRS for $1.7bn fund to compensate allies
In unprecedented self-dealing maneuver, billions of taxpayer dollars could be paid to US president and his allies
theguardian.com
Former US special ops @wesjbryant.bsky.social says the US strike on an Iranian warship is illegal. The boat was hit while returning from a training in India. “By targeting it, is Trump saying that all of Iran’s government and military poses an imminent threat?” www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
The US war against #Iran is illegal, experts say, and they've challenged the Trump administration's rationale for waging it. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
Trump administration waging illegal war on Iran, experts say
Administration offers shifting explanations as it acts without congressional approval or legal premise
theguardian.com
Stories about the illegality of the Iran War under both international law and the US Constitution and War Powers Act have featured on the front pages of Süddeutsche Zeitung, El País, Le Monde and papers all around the world. Not, however, in major US papers. Something is seriously wrong.
Trump administration waging illegal war on Iran, experts say
Administration offers shifting explanations as it acts without congressional approval or legal premise
theguardian.com
The UK-based Guardian with the article that should be on Page 1 of every U.S. newspaper www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
Trump administration waging illegal war on Iran, experts say
Administration offers shifting explanations as it acts without congressional approval or legal premise
theguardian.com
Pleased to speak with @catebrown.bsky.social of the @theguardian.com about Trump’s illegal war. “For something to be lawful self defense, it has to be necessary – in the sense that there’s no alternative. That’s not the situation here.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...
Trump administration waging illegal war on Iran, experts say
Administration offers shifting explanations as it acts without congressional approval or legal premise
theguardian.com
‘An extension of his administration’: how Trump’s resorts became a proxy for access and power
‘An extension of his administration’: how Trump’s resorts became a proxy for access and power
Elected officials visited Trump properties 145 times since his inauguration, records show
theguardian.com
Trump has called Mar-a-Lago, “as close to paradise as I’m going to get”. And by some measures, it’s lovely he wants to share it. A new @citizensforethics.org report shows how Trump resorts have become luxury destinations to raise money and curry favor. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
‘An extension of his administration’: how Trump’s resorts became a proxy for access and power
Elected officials visited Trump properties 145 times since his inauguration, records show
theguardian.com
DHS stated that federal immigration agents should arrest refugees who have not yet obtained a green card and detain them indefinitely for rescreening — a shift that upends decades of protections and puts tens of thousands of people at risk.
New DHS memo outlines plan to detain refugees for further vetting
Resettlement organizations said the updated guidance represents a dramatic shift in how refugees are treated after being legally permitted to enter the United States.
washingtonpost.com
The Trump administration is planning to build a 5,000-person military base in south Gaza, contracting records show. The site is envisioned as an operating base for a future multinational force. Indonesia has already pledged troops. w/ @aramroston.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump officials plan to build 5,000-person military base in Gaza, files show
Exclusive: approximately 350-acre compound planned as base for multinational force, according to records reviewed by the Guardian
theguardian.com
Whistleblower attorney @AndrewBakaj revised his previous statement to the Guardian, saying that "The NSA picked up a phone call between two members of foreign intelligence involving someone close to the Trump White House." Updated with his new statement --> www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
NSA detected foreign intelligence phone call about a person close to Trump
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
theguardian.com
SCOOP: The NSA detected a phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump last spring. Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
theguardian.com
SCOOP: A US disaster response firm submitted a plan to White House officials that would guarantee 300% profits and a seven-year monopoly over a new trucking and logistics plan for #Gaza @AramRoston and I report on the draft and its cash potential --> www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
US contractor sent Gaza plan to White House that would secure 300% profits
Gothams LLC’s draft proposal, obtained by the Guardian, suggests seven-year trucking and logistics monopoly
theguardian.com
As this story notes, three executives charged by CEO Will Lewis with leading the Washpost's most-publicized revenue efforts have left the company in the past year.
Charlotte Klein@charlottetklein.bsky.social · 6mo ago“What’s the plan after this?” a former Post reporter wondered. “You cut however many hundreds of people to solve the fact that you’re still losing lots of money. Then what?” nymag.com/intelligence...
Family members have been scrambling to learn the whereabouts of more than 200 people arrested during an immigration crackdown that's swept across Maine. “#ICE came with the machinery in place to get people out of here as soon as possible." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Families in Maine scramble to halt ICE’s transfer of detainees out of state
Officials are quickly moving people they’ve apprehended out of state, making it difficult for loved ones to reach them
theguardian.com
SCOOP: UAE plans to bankroll the first “planned community” in Gaza. Blueprints describe a ‘case study’ community where Palestinians submit biometric data to gain entry. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
United Arab Emirates plans to bankroll first ‘planned community’ in south Gaza
Exclusive: Blueprints describe a ‘case study’ community where residents submit biometric data to gain entry
theguardian.com
Pleased to speak with @johnphudson.bsky.social about the OLC opinion blessing the invasion of Venezuela. “This view that international law and the U.N. Charter doesn’t bind the U.S. president is very significant and very dangerous.” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Previously secret memo gave legal basis for U.S. mission to nab Maduro
The administration releases a redacted version of a previously secret memo that gave the legal basis for the U.S. mission to arrest Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
washingtonpost.com
Exclusive: Dozens of artists, including @markruffalo.bsky.social @ilanaglazer.com have joined doctors and rights orgs to call for the restoration of medical care in #Gaza in a letter addressed to Israel and world leaders. It goes to UK, EU parliament this week. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Dozens of artists call for end to Israel’s ‘systematic attacks’ on Gaza hospitals
Actors, doctors and human rights leaders sign letter calling for restoration of medical care to ‘collapsed’ system
theguardian.com
Israel's war on Hamas has expanded to the Gulf. Here's a breakdown of their strikes across the region since Oct. 7, w/ @nihamasih.bsky.social --> wapo.st/4m9I4Ac
