1/ This is Nick Adams. He’s a big deal in MAGA world. He’s got 638K followers on X and 2.1M on Facebook. President Trump even appointed him to a role at the State Dept. But when I started digging into Adams' nonprofit for "civics" education, something didn't look right ... 🧵

A few weeks ago, after two years of work, I published a story unlike any I’d encountered in my 18 years at ProPublica. I’ve been off social media for a while, but I felt compelled to share some of my reporting journey here. 🧵

As ProPublica’s IT support specialist Penny Serrano puts it: “We're just simply asking for a contract that reflects those values — and not just in words but also in wages.” Help us ensure fair pay for all our workers: www.propublicaguild.org

NEW: Before SpaceX IPO, Investors in China Secretly Acquired Stakes, by @justinelliott.bsky.social @josh-kaplan.bsky.social

Before SpaceX IPO, Investors in China Secretly Acquired Stakes

One previously unreported SpaceX investor has ties to Chinese military contractors. The information was revealed only after ProPublica went to court to obtain it.

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NEW: For its IPO, SpaceX banned Chinese investors because of the nat’l security risks. As a private company, it took China-based investment. @justinelliott.bsky.social, @josh-kaplan.bsky.social: www.propublica.org/article/spac...

NEW: In February, I visited Raw Farm. You may have heard of it. RFK Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow are customers. It supplies raw dairy products to 500 stores nationwide. And regulators have linked it to over a dozen recalls and outbreaks that have made hundreds sick. 🧵👇

He Profits Off Raw Milk That’s Making People Sick. The Government Isn’t Stopping Him.

With Raw Farm, the largest raw-milk dairy in the country, Mark McAfee has capitalized on a once-fringe product that’s been thrust into the mainstream in recent years and backed by Health Secretary Rob...

propublica.org

NEW: Earlier this year, an obscure startup in Texas announced that it had received at least $100 mil from one of the richest men in Asia. We dug into the backstory. We discovered a saga involving Donald Trump Jr., Russian oil, and an Indian billionaire family’s private zoo.

New: An Indian Billionaire was targeted by the Trump administration. Then he poured millions of dollars into a startup secretly backed by Donald Trump Jr. www.propublica.org/article/trum... w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

An Indian Billionaire Was Targeted by Trump. Then He Poured Money Into a Startup Secretly Backed by Donald Trump Jr.

An obscure Texas firm secretly connected to the president’s son said it received at least $100 million from Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. At the same time, the Ambani family secured major polic...

propublica.org

After a decade+ of nonstop pollution offenses, GOP Sen. Jim Justice's coal empire learned earlier this year that it was under federal criminal investigation. But before prosecutors could gather crucial evidence, Todd Blanche's office told them "pencils down."

I'm impressed by my @propublica.org colleagues every day, but omg the new Paper Trail podcast is so good. Amazing work from @jlussenhop.bsky.social + team. Take a listen: www.propublica.org/podcast/what...

What the FDA Won’t Tell You About Your Medications

For years, the FDA said generics are just as safe as brand-name medications. ProPublica found that this isn’t always true.

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House Dems' letter to DHS on Corey Lewandowski: preserve your documents oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/do...

NEW: Over the past year, we've been collecting thousands of financial disclosure documents from across the Trump administration. Now we're making them searchable. Look up names, assets, former employers across 1,500+ Trump appointees and 3,000+ ethics documents.

Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,500 of His Appointees - ProPublica

Use this database to explore potential conflicts of interest for President Donald Trump and his team. The documents disclose positions officials have held outside government, their assets and their de...

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Sen. Blumenthal has written a letter to Kristi Noem about her denial that Corey Lewandowski has a role in approving contracts at DHS. "I demand that you amend your testimony" and "provide the basis for your apparent false statement on the record." www.blumenthal.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

Justin Elliott@justinelliott.bsky.social · 5mo ago

New: Kristi Noem claimed to the Senate yesterday that Corey Lewandowski has no role approving contracts at DHS. But internal DHS records and interviews with current and former agency officials contradict her testimony: www.propublica.org/article/kris... w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social

New: Kristi Noem claimed to the Senate yesterday that Corey Lewandowski has no role approving contracts at DHS. But internal DHS records and interviews with current and former agency officials contradict her testimony: www.propublica.org/article/kris... w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social

Kristi Noem Misled Congress About Top Aide’s Role in DHS Contracts

Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Noem denied that Corey Lewandowski had any role in approving contracts. But internal DHS records and interviews with current and former agency staffer...

propublica.org

NEW: The Trump administration is planning to use AI to write federal regulations despite the risk of hallucinations. “We don't even need a very good rule,” the Transportation Department’s top lawyer said of the plan, per meeting notes reviewed by ProPublica. “We want good enough.”🧵

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.

BREAKING: We've found 40+ cases of agents using banned chokeholds & other moves that can cut off breathing People have had seizures. They passed out. “I felt like I was going to die” said 16-yr-old citizen Admin won't say whether any agents have been punished www.propublica.org/article/vide...

NEW: Here's the searing tale of one woman's struggle to feed her family after the Trump Administration imposed a man-made food crisis. Beautifully written by Brett Murphy & @annamaria.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/trum...

The Summer of Starvation: Amid Trump’s Foreign Aid Cuts, a Mother Struggles to Keep Her Sons Alive

After the Trump administration cut off food from the third-largest refugee camp in the world, thousands of families faced impossible choices as their children starved.

propublica.org

Amidst the Trump administration's attacks on "illegal" DEI, @propublica.org has found more than 1,000 nonprofits that revised the mission statements on their tax forms to remove terms like "racism" and "marginalized." Half who made changes reported no govt funding. www.propublica.org/article/dele...

Under Trump, More Than 1,000 Nonprofits Strip DEI Language From Tax Forms

As the Trump administration ordered agencies to eradicate “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, we identified more than 1,000 nonprofits that removed such language from the mission statem...

propublica.org

NEW: One of the most significant accomplishments of the Trump Admin: Decimating the US's humanitarian aid. We went to S. Sudan to see the effects. Rubio says no one has died from the cuts. Spoiler: That's not true. @annamaria.bsky.social & Brett Murphy: www.propublica.org/article/usai...

Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.

Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...

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NEW: Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal www.propublica.org/article/trum... w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal

The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing ...

propublica.org

So Jim Justice is one of the wealthiest people in the country. And in 2021, we wrote a story about how almost never paid taxes www.propublica.org/article/how-...

Yashar Ali 🐘@yasharali.bsky.social · 8mo ago

NEWS The IRS is suing GOP Senator Jim Justice and his wife saying they owe more than $5 million in back taxes.

New: Lawmakers Call for Probe of How Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Got Piece of $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts www.propublica.org/article/kris... w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

Lawmakers Call for Probe of How Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Got Piece of $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts

The demands for an investigation come after a ProPublica story revealed that the Noem-connected Strategy Group was secretly a subcontractor on the ad campaign.

propublica.org

NEW: When Andrew Tate landed in the US, Customs & Border Protection seized his electronic devices. But @propublica.org found that a White House official told DHS to return the devices, emphasizing that the request came from the White House. By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro

The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation

Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.

propublica.org

New: FBI Director Kash Patel Waived Polygraph Security Screening for Dan Bongino, Two Other Senior Staff www.propublica.org/article/fbi-...

FBI Director Kash Patel Waived Polygraph Security Screening for Dan Bongino, Two Other Senior Staff

As the FBI’s deputy director, Bongino receives some of the country’s most sensitive secrets, including the President’s Daily Brief. His ascent to that position without passing a standard bureau backgr...

propublica.org

NEW: We’ve uncovered the first known example of taxpayer money flowing from DHS to businesses controlled by Kristi Noem’s allies and friends. It’s part of a money trail that’s been shrouded in secrecy—and involves $220 million, a mysterious Delaware LLC & a horse named Gill.

NEW: Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts www.propublica.org/article/kris... w @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts

The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rule...

propublica.org

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

Senior Editor, Business

New York City, United States

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SCOOP The admin is making it harder for male vets w/ breast cancer to get their care covered The admin cites Trump order: “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” I got the memo laying it all out www.propublica.org/article/vete...

Citing Trump Order on “Biological Truth,” VA Makes It Harder for Male Veterans With Breast Cancer to Get Coverage

A Department of Veterans Affairs memo obtained by ProPublica erects new roadblocks to care for veterans with the rare but deadly cancer. The agency cites no new science but relies on an executive orde...

propublica.org

Here is our full story that Vance is dismissing, with primary source documents showing Trump cabinet members with multiple primary-residence mortgages www.propublica.org/article/trum... www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Trump Is Accusing Foes With Multiple Mortgages of Fraud. Records Show 3 of His Cabinet Members Have Them.

The White House has targeted opponents, including a Fed governor, for having more than one primary residence on their loan papers. ProPublica found that, in one case, a Trump cabinet secretary got two...

propublica.org

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 10mo ago

STEPHANOPOULOS: ProPublica reported that several members of the Trump administation have similar questions about their mortgages VANCE: ProPublica is basically a left-wing blog S: Do you dispute the facts they reported? VANCE: I haven't read it. I have no idea. I certainly question the source