ProPublica

Federal Cyber Experts Thought Microsoft’s Cloud Was “a Pile of Shit.” They Approved It Anyway.
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A federal program created to protect the government against cyber threats authorized a sprawling Microsoft cloud product, despite the company’s inability to fully explain how it protects sensitive data.
https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-cloud-fedramp-cybersecurity-government?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Microsoft #Cybersecurity #Government #Technology #Tech #Cloud

Toxic oil waste is increasingly shooting out of the ground in Oklahoma, contaminating the state’s drinking water.

We found that regulators identified 2,000 problem wells in a 2021 report. Then they ignored their findings.
https://www.propublica.org/article/oklahoma-injection-wells-oil-regulators-database?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Oil #Gas #Environment #Oklahoma #Data #EPA #Regulation

This DHS Official Oversees the Security of Federal Elections. He Wants to Ban Voting Machines.
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David Harvilicz, who co-founded a firm with a 2020 election denier, oversees voting machine security for DHS while the Trump administration is relitigating the president’s baseless claims that the 2020 vote was stolen. https://www.propublica.org/article/david-harvilicz-homeland-security-voting-machines?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth.
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Two Florida women had to attend virtual court hearings while in labor to argue for their right to choose their own medical care. As their state pushes to expand some types of medical freedom, it has also constricted the rights of pregnant women.
https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-ordered-c-sections?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Women #Health #Florida #Law #Pregnancy #Medicine #Doctors #Courts #Legal

Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved limiting campaign contributions in 2020. Four years later, the Legislature finally adopted limits, but an advocate for tighter controls says recent changes render Oregon’s contribution limits “illusory.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/oregon-campaign-finance-reform-legislature-loopholes?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Oregon #Law #Election #Campaign #Finance #Reform #Government

Veterans Who Depend on Mental Health Care Keep Losing Their Therapists Under Trump
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Hundreds of mental health professionals have left the Department of Veterans Affairs since President Donald Trump took office, leaving staff “at a breaking point” and some veterans waiting as long as six months for help.
https://www.propublica.org/article/veterans-affairs-mental-health-therapists-quit-trump?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Military #Army #Veterans #MentalHealth #PTSD #Health #Psychology #Psychiatry #SocialWork #Trump

Decades after patients first warned Columbia University that one of its doctors sexually abused them, the school is acknowledging a culture of silence that allowed the abuse to continue and some school administrators are finally facing consequences.

https://www.propublica.org/article/columbia-university-robert-hadden-obgyn-sexual-abuse-report?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Columbia #University #Doctors #Health #Women #Medicine #SexualAbuse #Education #HigherEd

DHS Seeks Access to Massive Employment, Salary and Family Database Legally Restricted to Use in Child Support Cases
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The Trump administration’s immigration enforcers are requesting unfettered access to the government’s “most powerful people-finder system,” which contains sensitive information on children and victims of domestic violence.
https://www.propublica.org/article/dhs-trump-child-support-federal-parent-locator-service-immigration?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #DHS #Data #Children #Privacy #Government #USPolitics #Law #DomesticViolence

Under the Trump administration, two of the three major credit bureaus have sharply reduced the share of complaints they resolved in customers’ favor.

In 2024, Experian’s relief rate was 20%. Last year, that figure fell to less than 1%.

Read our full investigation: https://www.propublica.org/article/credit-report-mistakes-cfpb-experian-transunion?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#Data #Finance #PersonalFinance #Credit #Trump #DataViz #Research #Journalism

Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,500 of His Appointees
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Our database paints a detailed financial picture for President Donald Trump and hundreds of his political appointees, some of whom have ties to the industries they regulate. The disclosures include their recent employers, assets and debts.
https://projects.propublica.org/trump-team-financial-disclosures/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#Trump #USPolitics #Government #Data #Research #Journalism #Law #Ethics

ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who declined to identify former clients.
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-financial-disclosures-steve-feinberg?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #Government #USPolitics #Law #Finance #Data #Research

RE: @ProPublica@newsie.social

Are you a current or former Education Dept. employee?

Have information about civil rights investigations or discrimination in schools?

Reach out to reporter Jennifer Smith Richards on Signal at jsmithrichards.93 or Jodi S. Cohen at jodireporter.88.

Several high-ranking federal election officials attended a summit last week at which prominent activists who worked to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election pressed for the president to declare a national emergency to take over the midterms.

https://www.propublica.org/article/election-denier-summit-trump-midterms?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #Election #Democracy #USPolitics #Midterms #Law

Guards have taken away crayons, colored pencils and paper during recent room searches at Dilley, according to detainees and others.

After one inspection, the children just “cried and cried and cried,” a mother said. The facility denies the claims.

https://www.propublica.org/article/dilley-detention-center-kids-art-removal?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #ICE #DHS #Texas #Immigration #Children #Immigrants #Family #Art

NEW: ProPublica recently reported that the U.S. Forest Service knowingly issued protective gear containing #PFAS to wildland firefighters.

The agency says it has now stopped distributing those garments.

https://www.propublica.org/article/pfas-firefighter-gear-forest-service

#news #wildfires #safety #foreverchemicals #government

NEW: The Victims Who Fought Back

An #Oklahoma law was supposed to help reduce the sentences of women who killed their abusers.

Why are nearly all of them still in prison?

https://www.propublica.org/article/oklahoma-survivors-act-domestic-violence

#news #crime #criminaljustice #domesticviolence #law #justice #women #courts

NEW: Powerful #Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos had repeatedly blocked lawmakers from voting on a bipartisan bill to extend postpartum #Medicaid coverage.

The legislation now goes to Gov. Tony Evers, who is expected to sign it into law.

https://www.propublica.org/article/wisconsin-postpartum-medicaid-new-mothers-robin-vos?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-mastodon-post&utm_content=2-19

#news #government #parents #healthcare #mom

NEW: EmblemHealth has agreed to a $2.5 million settlement with the New York attorney general’s office after failing to correct provider directory errors that made it more difficult for customers to get mental health care.

https://www.propublica.org/article/emblem-health-ghost-network-settlement-mental-health?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=propublica-mastodon-post&utm_content=2-19

#news #NewYork #Insurance #Law #health #mentalhealth

NEW: For years, the #FDA website warned of products and remedies claiming to treat #autism that were being marketed deceptively and can be harmful.

Just a few:
•hyperbaric oxygen therapies
•chlorine dioxide
•raw camel milk.

Now, under RFK Jr, that advisory is gone.

https://www.propublica.org/article/rfk-jr-fda-removes-autism-treatments-warning

#news #RFKJR #health #medicine #safety #government #trump

NEW: Rather than turn former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández over to immigration officials when he was released from #prison less than four years into a 45-year sentence, the #Trump administration paid to transport him 350 miles to a posh #NYC hotel.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-ice-pardon-juan-orlando-hernandez-honduras-prison-special-treatment

#news #government #ice #criminaljustice #drugs #Honduras

9-year-old Maria Antonia was supposed to go to Disney World.

Instead, immigration agents sent her to Dilley, Texas.
https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-dilley-maria-antonia-guerra-story?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #ICE #Immigration #Detention #Immigrants #Children #Family #Disney

Ahead of the FBI’s raid of an election center in Georgia, the prosecutor overseeing the investigation met with several Trump lawyers, including Ed Martin and Kurt Olsen, who helped the president try to overturn the 2020 election.
https://www.propublica.org/article/thomas-albus-fulton-county-georgia-election-records?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #FBI #Georgia #Election #Vote #Missouri #USPolitics #Law #Trump

In a drastic reversal, Trump has gone from embracing “the opportunity to build even more bridges” with Canada in 2017 to threatening to stop the opening of the Gordie Howe bridge until Canada “treats the U.S. with … Fairness and Respect.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-michigan-canada-gordie-howe-bridge-reversal?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Michigan #Canada #Bridge #Trump #Trade #Business #Economy

ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found that DHS rushed a revamped tool to check voters’ citizenship into use while it was still adding data.

As a result, the tool has made persistent mistakes, particularly for citizens born outside the U.S.
https://www.propublica.org/article/save-voter-citizenship-tool-mistakes-confusion?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Vote #Election #DHS #Texas #Missouri #Data #Law #USPolitics

The Boarman family’s water was undrinkable: It corroded taps. It withered plants. Their ice maker expelled clumps of salt.

But why was this happening? For two years, Oklahoma delayed basic tests that could help them find out.
https://www.propublica.org/article/oklahoma-oil-polluted-drinking-water-boarman-family?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Oklahoma #Pollution #Water #Environment #Health #Safety #Oil

Colorado Marijuana Regulators Consider Major Changes to How Labs Test for Contaminants
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Critics say the current method of allowing manufacturers to choose the samples they send to labs is vulnerable to abuse and allows contaminated products to reach dispensaries.
https://www.propublica.org/article/colorado-regulators-marijuana-lab-testing-system?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Colorado #Marijuana #Testing #Safety #Health #Regulation

A newly updated reference manual for U.S. judges that provides answers to scientific and technical questions has eliminated some 90 pages about climate science.

It comes as numerous climate cases make their way through state and federal courts.
https://www.propublica.org/article/federal-judicial-center-climate-change-republican-pressure?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Climate #ClimateChange #Science #Law #GOP #Republicans

The Trump administration’s push for mass deportations has resulted in more than 18,000 challenges in federal court from immigrants claiming their detention is illegal.

We are tracking the increase in these cases:
https://projects.propublica.org/habeas-tracker/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #Immigration #Research #Data #Law #USPolitics #Legal

Immigrants claiming their detention is illegal have filed more than 18,000 challenges in federal court.

The cases, known as habeas petitions, total more than were filed under the last three administrations combined, including Trump’s first term.
https://www.propublica.org/article/habeas-petitions-immigrant-detentions-trump?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Immigration #ICE #Law #USPolitics #Trump #Immigrants #Legal

The Conservative Researcher Being Linked to the FBI’s Seizure of Election Records in Georgia
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Kevin Moncla has tried repeatedly to prove that the 2020 vote in Fulton County, Georgia, was tainted by fraud. While state election overseers have rejected his claims, his work may be fueling the federal government’s ongoing investigations.
https://www.propublica.org/article/kevin-moncla-election-researcher-fulton-county-georgia?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Georgia #FBI #Election #Voting #Law #USPolitics #Vote

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now accepting applications for its 2026 grant cycle.

But this time, it has unusually specific criteria: It “particularly welcomes” projects that align with President Donald Trump’s vision for America.
https://www.propublica.org/article/institute-of-museum-and-library-services-grant-guidelines-donald-trump?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Trump #Library #Museum #Funding #Government #USPolitics

New training from a Texas regulator about when doctors can legally terminate a pregnancy comes nearly five years after the state passed its abortion ban in 2021.

Experts contend the guidance can’t capture all complications that arise in pregnancy.
https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-medical-board-abortion-training-doctors?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Texas #Abortion #Women #Health #Healthcare #Medicine #Law

The Constitution's supremacy clause bars local interference with federal officers when they act reasonably, within the scope of their duties.

But when agents cross that line, experts said, there's an obligation to try to hold them accountable.
https://www.propublica.org/article/why-local-state-police-rarely-investigate-ice-cbp-fbi?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Police #CBP #ICE #FBI #Law #Constitution #USPolitics #Immigration

Mass. Governor Proposes Eliminating Statute of Limitations for Rape When DNA Evidence Exists
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A WBUR-ProPublica investigation found that no DNA match, testimony or even confession could allow a rape to be prosecuted after the state’s 15-year deadline. The governor aims to “help survivors who have had to wait far too long for justice.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/massachusetts-rape-statute-of-limitations-dna-healey-proposal?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Massachusetts #Rape #Assault #Law #DNA #Crime #Justice

Year 1 of Trump’s immigration crackdown:

• U.S. citizens were held against their will.
• ICE placed at least 600 immigrant kids in federal shelters.
• Student activists became a target.

That’s not all. Our year in review: https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-mass-deportation-campaign-first-year?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

#News #Immigration #Trump #Deportation #ICE #Immigrants #DonaldTrump