ProPublica

Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵

WATCH: A defense contractor CEO and his close associates donated nearly $900,000 to dozens of politicians and got over $40 million a year in government funding. He told the FBI that Sen. Susan Collins was his most important patron. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqyiFFB7Kjg

Between 2015 and 2025, at least 15 children in an Idaho faith-healing sect died of treatable conditions. State law allows that to happen: Parents who say their faith prohibits giving their children lifesaving medical care can’t be prosecuted.

USPS workers’ greatest concern about Trump’s mail voting plan was a requirement that they reject ballots for an array of reasons. “That’s not what we do. We deliver mail. We don’t decide what goes and what doesn’t.”

Missouri's Amendment 3 would restore an abortion ban with limited exceptions, but its ads focus on a different provision: banning gender transition care for minors. The campaign website never explicitly states it would repeal the constitutional right to abortion voters approved 2 years ago.

Backed by a GOP supermajority, TN state senator Brent Taylor pushed through half a dozen laws that superseded the priorities & power of local politicians & voters. Now, after gerrymandering split Memphis' Black vote, he's running to represent many of them in Congress. By @wendicthomas.bsky.social

How has the Trump administration dismantled safeguards meant to protect the vote, and what does it all mean for the midterm elections? On Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 4 p.m. ET, join our election team to discuss what’s at stake. 📌 RSVP now: https://events.propublica.org/voting-guardrails/bluesky

NEW: A Florida cybersecurity company promised to help clients recover data from ransomware attackers. In a 2019 story, we found the company was making secret payments to hackers and pocketing hefty fees from clients. The CEO was just indicted for fraud.

NEW: In a newly drawn congressional district including Memphis, Black voters may get a representative who spent years stripping away local control. by @wendicthomas.bsky.social @mlk50.com

NEW: Brent Taylor is the front-runner for one of Memphis’ congressional districts, recently redrawn from majority Black to majority white. As state senator, he repeatedly used his power to supersede local officials — and the will of the city’s voters. with @mlk50.com

Today we (@propublica.org) published this map of every location with an active 287(g) agreement with ICE. (with the help of @tituslegaldesign.com's initial data analysis). Read the story: "The Small-Town Cop Who Helped ICE Deport His Ingram, Texas, Neighbors" www.propublica.org/article/depo...

In August, President Trump announced he had signed the “biggest oil deal in world history.” ProPublica reviewed the deal and found it gives a small group of people largely handpicked by the Trump administration long-term control of the enterprise.

The former CEO of a naval defense contractor told FBI agents he cut cash-for-contracts deals with South Carolina’s two most powerful members of Congress — Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. James Clyburn.

West Virginia has been part of a nationwide push, partially funded by billionaire-backed political groups, to use taxpayer dollars to fund private schools. Among the proponents are the Koch family network and Pennsylvania billionaire Jeffrey Yass.

Lonnie Rouse worked at the Hanford nuclear site for nearly 20 years. It was so toxic, he said, that the floor once melted the rubber off his boots. Now he needs 24-hour care. The DOE has appealed his workers’ compensation claim more than 20 times.

ProPublica consulted seven emergency response experts to understand what went wrong after flooding killed three in Ruidoso, New Mexico. The tragedy “should be a clarion call” for officials to reevaluate how rescuers are deployed, one expert said.

This is a very good story about what 287(g) enforcement looks like on the ground, and the prong of Trump-era immigration enforcement that doesn’t look like ICE agents doing raids on the streets of Minneapolis or Chicago.

Read this thread

A trust owned by Texas AG Ken Paxton and his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, invested in a company led by a convicted fraudster. The firm and its affiliates later sent the trust 15 payments totaling $83K before and during the AG’s impeachment trial. w/ @texastribune.org

So as I headed to Ingram for the first time in March, I wanted to know who the local faces of the national immigration crackdown were. Who was driving the black Dodge Charger? www.propublica.org/article/depo...

A must-read thread ⤵️

The cop was handing them off to federal immigration agents. As early as a month after the flood, laborers were adding an extra 90 minutes to their daily commutes, just to avoid Ingram’s five-minute stretch of highway.

Early this year, I visited Ingram, a TX town of ~1,900, to check out a tip. The area was starting to recover from its worst flood in a century. But as Latino workers drove to jobsites to help rebuild, the tipster said, a cop in a black Dodge Charger kept stopping them ... 🧵

NEW: Ingram, Texas, was just rebuilding from a devastating flood when its tiny police department enrolled in ICE’s 287(g) deportation program. Within a year, cops would hand over the equivalent of 10% of the town. with @nytimes.com

Political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security wanted CISA, an agency that protects election systems, to acquire and hack a voting machine, which shocked staffers. “This goes against everything CISA represents,” a former official said.

Local and state officials insisted they performed admirably after a flash flood killed two children. But first responders say officials made decisions that left residents vulnerable, even though they knew a dangerous flood was likely.

As Texas’ top legal official, Ken Paxton has defended some of the country’s most restrictive abortion laws — under which several pregnant women died because they couldn’t get the care they needed. He could soon join federal anti-abortion efforts.

👀 More on the ad work Ben Yoho’s Strategy Group was responsible for: youtube.com/shorts/96R4v...

ProPublica has been publishing in-depth investigations into the Trump administration’s attempts to assert federal control over elections. 📌 Join our reporters on Tuesday, Oct. 27, for a conversation about what they found: https://events.propublica.org/voting-guardrails/bluesky

Ah. Ben Yoho was behind the Vivek attack ad against Amy Acton. Before that, as head of the Strategy Group, he was profiting off his close connection with Kristi Noem at DHS. www.propublica.org/article/kris...

This thread is worth your time 🧵

More than 200 complaints regarding sexual violence at schools have been filed with the Education Department since the start of Trump’s second term. The department has investigated only 29 of these, finding fault with a school district only once.