Justin Elliott

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 man's suit lapel with two pins on it. One is the DOJ seal, the other is in the shape of a thumbs-up and says "Trump" on it.

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Have information we should know about this or something else? Get in touch:

In response to questions, a White House spokesperson told ProPublica: “President Trump’s two mortgages you are referencing are from the same lender. There was no defraudation. It is illogical to believe that the same lender would agree to defraud itself.” The spokesperson added, “this is yet another desperate attempt by the Left wing media to disparage President Trump with false allegations,” and said, “President Trump has never, or will ever, break the law.”

The White House said in a statement there was “no defraudation” because Trump used the same lender for each mortgage.

Rental listing for Woodbridge Rd home

But Trump’s two mortgages clearly exceed his own standard for “mortgage fraud.”

We found numerous rental listings for the properties.

The listing agent from the ‘90s told us in an interview: “They were rentals from the beginning.” “President Trump never lived there.”

Trump letter firing Lisa Cook

For months Trump has accused political enemies of mortgage fraud for just this: claiming more than one primary residence. Trump called one who did so “deceitful” and “CROOKED.”

(Experts say having two such mortgages can be valid and even when wrong is rarely prosecuted.)

Newspaper clip: Trump seeks more holdings in Palm Beach

But there’s no evidence Trump moved in. The homes were used as investments and rented out, according to news accounts and an interview with his longtime realtor.

Trump “hired an expensive New York design firm” to “dress them up to the nines and lease them out annually.”

Trump mortgage 1993

He got two mortgages just seven weeks apart. The two documents Trump personally signed said he would make each home his principal residence for a year, unless the lender agreed otherwise.

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Newspaper clip: Trump seeks more holdings in Palm Beach

The year was 1993. Trump was dealing with the business wreckage from a series of high profile bankruptcies and he had just married Marla Maples. In Palm Beach, he was pushing to turn Mar-a-Lago into a private club, and he decided to acquire two properties next door on Woodbridge Road.

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 ...

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

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-...

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.

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

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.

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

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...

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

Kristi Noem sits on a horse wearing a cowboy hat. In the background is Mount Rushmore.

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.

We're still reporting; if you have information we should have, get in touch

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...

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

Senior Editor, Business New York City, United States

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

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...

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...

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...

Elon Musk’s SpaceX Took Money Directly From Chinese Investors, Company Insider Testifies The newly unsealed testimony marks the first time direct Chinese investment in the company has been disclosed, raising new questions about foreign ownership interests in one of America’s most importan...

New: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Took Money Directly From Chinese Investors, Company Insider Testifies

www.propublica.org/article/elon...

Kristi Noem Fast-Tracked Millions in Disaster Aid to Florida Tourist Attraction After Campaign Donor Intervened The DHS chief has been widely criticized for slowing down FEMA’s response after natural disasters. Texts and emails obtained by ProPublica point to an effective way to get help faster: have one of Noe...

New:

Kristi Noem fast-tracked millions in disaster aid to Naples, Florida tourist attraction after campaign donor intervened

www.propublica.org/article/kris...

w/ @josh-kaplan.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

Trump Administration Halts I.R.S. Crackdown on Major Tax Shelters

My latest story - Trump administration rolls back tax shelter crackdown: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/b...

Post on X from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. The text says: "ProPublica's headline is the definition of fake news. I have NEVER claimed more than one primary residence! In 2007, I acquired a primary residence in NY upon leaving active duty. That was my primary residence for the next 17.5 years. My primary residence then changed to DC this past year when I become EPA Administrator. I completed the process by the book, notifying my mortgage companies, insurance company, and local government that my primary residence was changing. These fake news hacks knew this BEFORE posting their bogus claim, but they just couldn't help themselves." Below the post text is a screenshot of a ProPublica post that reads: "Trump has targeted political foes for claiming more than one primary residence on their loan papers. But ProPublica found that at least three of the president's Cabinet members have done the same thing."

1/ The documents are clear: Lee Zeldin and his wife have two principal-residence mortgages, for properties in Long Island and Washington, D.C.

We’ve got the records 👇

Long Island: legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
D.C.: legacy.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...

New:

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

www.propublica.org/article/trum... w/ @robert-faturechi.bsky.social @amierjeski.bsky.social

DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family. Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U...

NEW: After DOGE outed Mohammad Halimi on social media, Taliban intelligence agents blindfolded and took three of his family members to a remote prison.

They were repeatedly beaten and questioned about Halimi and his recently publicized work for the United States.