ProPublica

ProPublica

Ken Paxton’s Security for Travel Cost Taxpayers Millions. Just 1 in 6 of His Trips Had a Stated Business Purpose.

Records show the Texas attorney general has taken nearly 1,000 trips during his tenure, costing $3.3 million in security. We could only connect 138 of those trips and $553,000 in security costs to state business.

More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica

The government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this Trump administration.

ProPublica

As Trump’s Wall Closes in, DHS Intimidates a Border Tribe With Surveillance, Masked Agents and Drones

For decades, the Tohono O’odham Nation collaborated with DHS to stave off a border wall. Despite their cooperation, the Trump administration is barreling forward with a project that would divide their community.

ProPublica

American Academy of Pediatrics Renews Call for Ban on Raw Milk

Citing the growing popularity of unpasteurized milk and the damage it can do to children, the nation’s largest professional group of pediatricians is seeking a nationwide ban on the sale and distribution of raw dairy products.

ProPublica

How ProPublica Reporters Became Private School Owners in 24 Hours

The reporting experiment demonstrates how easy it can be to open private schools that might then access public money. No credentials or background checks required.

ProPublica

This White House Plan Threatens Funding That Helps Disabled Americans Vote

A new rule from the Office of Management and Budget would prohibit anyone from using federal grant money for voter registration drives. It’s part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to restrict voting access.

ProPublica

The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way

After the FBI caught a defense contractor’s CEO making illegal campaign contributions, it sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others. Then the second Trump administration dismantled the unit handling the inquiry.

ProPublica

ProPublica Debunks Susan Collins’ Claims About FBI Anti-Corruption Probe

ProPublica revealed that the FBI was circling Sen. Collins over a defense contractor’s donations — until President Trump gutted the unit in charge. Collins has since mustered a defense with a series of incorrect and misleading claims.

ProPublica

Who’s the Shadow President?

ProPublica

The Untold Origins of Trump’s Plan to Sharply Restrict Mail-In Voting

ProPublica’s reporting reveals for the first time the extent of the White House’s role in trying to dictate how mail-in ballots are processed, spurring behind-the-scenes drama that played out for nearly a year.

ProPublica

Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch

The oligarch, Umar Kremlev, spent hundreds of thousands on expenses like renting out a private island. He appears to have met Trump Jr. only recently, but he attended the intimate wedding with a large group of other Russian guests.

ProPublica

Watch: The New Supreme Court

For likely the first time in modern history, the Supreme Court decided more cases in fast-tracked, secretive proceedings than in open court. We break down how a once-rare emergency process became the norm — and what it means for public trust.

ProPublica

How the Smithsonian Became the Latest Front in Trump’s Culture War

The Smithsonian — particularly its National Museum of American History — has faced withering pressure from the Trump administration. It’s the culmination of decades of criticism by conservatives and other groups.

ProPublica

Across the Country, Youth Prisons Are Closing. This State Is Building More.

Tennessee officials say they need more high-security facilities for kids who commit crimes. Experts say this approach flies in the face of crime data and research that shows youth prisons are not rehabilitative.

ProPublica

Four Kids in One Faith-Healing Family Died. Authorities Could Do Nothing.

An exemption in Idaho law shields faith-healing parents from criminal prosecution for conduct that otherwise would be charged as neglect. It also keeps police and social workers from stepping in to protect a dead child’s surviving siblings.

ProPublica

“Our Dear Friend Umar”: How We Uncovered That a Russian Oligarch Bankrolled Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding

On social media and in tabloids, photos from Don Jr. and Bettina Trump’s Bahamas wedding were tightly curated. But sometimes, what — or, who — isn’t pictured is just as important as what is. Let’s go on an investigative, visual tour.

ProPublica

Two Years After Hurricane Helene, People Are Still Allowed to Live in Harm’s Way

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and the floods in Texas’ Hill Country expose weaknesses in federal and state policies that allow people to live in dangerous areas where homes could be swept away.

ProPublica

Ectopic Pregnancy Deaths Have Nearly Doubled. It’s Worse in States With Abortion Bans.

With prompt and appropriate medical care, experts say, people shouldn’t die from an ectopic pregnancy. Women in Texas and Oklahoma have sued over delays in care, which, coupled with our new analysis, raises questions about the role of abortion bans.

ProPublica

U.S. Postal Service Failed to Properly Handle Some Ballots During This Year’s Primary Elections, Audit Finds

An inspector general’s audit found a lack of training for post office staff, deficiencies in how ballots were tracked and errors leading to delays. Experts say it raises questions ahead of the midterms.

ProPublica

How the Planet-Altering Disaster of “Forever Chemicals” Was Kept Secret

ProPublica

“A Clear Watering Down”: Drug Transparency Bill Stripped of Critical Provisions Ahead of Senate Vote

The bill was designed to alert consumers about where their drugs came from. After two major changes to the proposed law, experts worry it won’t be as effective.

ProPublica

EPA to Loosen Methane Rules, Boosting Pollution From Oil and Gas Wells

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing a rule that’ll drastically weaken restrictions on “stripper wells,” which tend to be old, poorly maintained and prone to leaking methane, the highly potent greenhouse gas.

ProPublica

New Mail Voting Rules Moved Forward Despite USPS Officials’ Concerns About Mass Disenfranchisement

In internal meetings, officials worried the rules they were drafting could delay or block ballots from reaching large swaths of eligible voters for the upcoming midterms.

ProPublica

The Trump Administration’s Plan for Protecting Consumers? Politely Ask Companies to Behave.

Rather than investigate a buzzy fintech startup for throwing users’ accounts into chaos, the Russell Vought-led Consumer Financial Protection Bureau trusted that the company was “back on track.” Customers soon learned the hard way that this wasn’t true.

ProPublica

Texas Democrats Ask for Investigation Into Ken Paxton After Our Reporting Found He May Have Violated Election Law

The complaint asks the Texas secretary of state to examine whether Paxton committed election fraud by voting in the May primary runoff while registered at an address where he no longer appears to live.

ProPublica

FCC Commissioners Face Ethics Complaints for Taking Luxury Gifts From Paramount

Citing a ProPublica report on Paramount providing luxury Kennedy Center gala tickets to FCC officials, the complaints note that commissioners accepted the gifts while the FCC was reviewing or about to review megamergers involving Paramount.

ProPublica

Federal Judges Chastise Trump’s Justice Department for “Unlawful,” “Unethical” and “Unseemly” Conduct

ProPublica reviewed hundreds of cases in which judges criticized the actions of federal prosecutors. In many, judges expressed frustration that they can no longer take the government at its word.

ProPublica

The Federal Agency That’s Supposed to Protect Consumers Just Made Another Business-Friendly Move

Debt collection. Credit reporting. Payday loans. Consumer complaints to a federal database used to help reveal issues and bring accountability. Then the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stopped publishing the narratives.

ProPublica

These Judges Take Months to Decide If Immigrants Have Been Unlawfully Detained

Judges in some parts of the country have taken months to adjudicate immigrants’ claims of unlawful imprisonment, our analysis of 70,000 habeas petition cases found. Some detainees are asking to be deported rather than wait in detention centers.

Do My Grocery Store Blueberries Come From Farms Where Workers Were Harmed?

Max Blau spent a year reporting on abuses of farmworkers. It left him wondering: Is the produce he buys at the grocery store part of the problem?

ProPublica

Solar Developer Cancels Washington State Project on Sacred Indigenous Land

The company, Avangrid, pulled its long-standing and controversial project following years of delays, as well as tribal objections spurred in part by High Country News and ProPublica reporting.

ProPublica

Top Commanders Told Hegseth Not to Cut Civilian Protection Program, Poll Showed. He Did It Anyway.

The U.S. military has killed hundreds of noncombatants since gutting its Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response mission last year. After significant blowback, the Defense Department is considering partially restoring the program.

ProPublica

The Scientist Trying to Keep Kratom Legal Has Not Disclosed Longstanding Ties to Kratom Lobbyists

University of Florida professor Christopher McCurdy has accepted travel reimbursements, donations to his university’s foundation and funding for symposiums from the American Kratom Association. None of this is mentioned in the papers he publishes.

ProPublica

This MAGA Influencer Runs a Charity to Teach Kids Civics. Much of the Money Goes to Him Instead.

Nick Adams’ Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness has brought in millions in donations and helped him land a State Department appointment, but records show there is almost no indication FLAG was spending that money on its stated mission.

ProPublica

Children in This Church Were Sexually Abused. In Some Cases They Repeated the Abuse on Peers or Even Continued as Adults.

As ProPublica and the Minnesota Star Tribune investigated child sexual abuse in the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, reporters found that children who were victims of sexual misconduct sometimes went on to repeat the behavior.

ProPublica

The EPA Spent Millions Cleaning Up a Massive Superfund Site. Our Tests Found Toxic Levels of Lead in Many Yards.

The agency spent hundreds of millions on lead remediation in Omaha, Nebraska, home of the nation’s largest residential Superfund site. New soil tests by the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica show that many yards still have harmful levels of lead.

ProPublica

Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections

A prosecutor planned to file civil rights charges — similar to those brought against the officers who killed George Floyd — against an ICE agent. In an email we exclusively obtained, he reveals that Trump officials quashed those plans.

ProPublica

Senators Push Federal Regulator to Prove School Bus Safety Data Is Accurate

The request from two Democratic lawmakers comes after WBUR and ProPublica found that the federal safety record was missing dozens of fatal crashes involving one of the nation’s largest public transit operators.

ProPublica

For the Second Time, Lawmakers Failed to Fix California’s Warning System for Teacher Misconduct

California is set to launch a database for school support staff, such as bus drivers and janitors, with substantiated claims of egregious misconduct. Setting up a similar system for public school teachers, however, is proving more complicated.

ProPublica

How the Government’s Obligation to Keep Foreign Workers Safe Collided With Its Efforts to Keep Farms Afloat

Farmers want the Trump administration to overhaul the H-2A visa program to make it more favorable to their businesses. But cutting red tape could cut labor protections, too.

ProPublica

5 Raw Quotes From America’s Largest Raw-Milk Dairy Owner

I toured Mark McAfee’s Raw Farm for a story about raw milk’s foothold in America despite its health dangers. Here’s what he told me about recalls, outbreaks and his relationship with the federal government.

ProPublica

Andy Beshear Set Out to Make Drug Treatment Widely Available in Kentucky. Fraud and Abuse Followed.

In 2020 as Kentucky faced a spike of deadly overdoses, Gov. Andy Beshear set out to help more people access drug treatment by loosening Medicaid spending controls. But as the costs piled up, so did the warnings that the system was being abused.

ProPublica

DHS Plans “All-Out War” on Immigration Scammers as Fraud Complaints Double

The number of scammers trying to capitalize on immigrants’ fears by posing as lawyers and ICE agents has surged since Trump’s reelection, ProPublica found. Now, DHS says it is seeking to identify and find these fraudsters.

ProPublica

How a Man Once Ordered to Pay Libel Damages Helped Launch an Investigation Into Islamic Private Schools

A man was ordered to pay libel damages after calling the head of an Islamic TV channel a “convicted terrorist.” Years later, he made similar claims against Islamic private schools applying for Texas’ voucher program, new legal filings say.

ProPublica

As Trump’s Tariff War With Canada Drags On, This Border Community Suffers Without a Voice

Under an intensifying trade war, parts of northern Michigan are feeling the financial pain. But with a president intent on conflict and a congressman silent on the issue, these Michiganders see no sign of relief.

ProPublica

How Trump’s “America First” Administration Could Shut U.S. Scientists Out of the Next Nobel-Worthy Discovery

A proposed White House rule would give political appointees unprecedented control over scientific funding. One physicist, who helped discover the Higgs boson, explains how the rule would’ve stifled that breakthrough.

ProPublica

On This Nearly Deserted Alaska Island, You Pay to Keep Hundreds of Empty Buildings Wired for Internet

U.S. phone customers pay more than $340,000 a year for an Anchorage company to keep homes and buildings on Alaska’s Adak Island wired for obsolete internet service. All but a few of them sit empty.

ProPublica

Barns, Go-Karts and Strip Malls: The Wild West of Private Schools That Collect Taxpayer Dollars

As private schools proliferate, states are choosing a hands-off approach to regulating them. The backgrounds of school founders — sometimes with criminal histories — often don’t matter