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 🧵

The Dept. of Education has pulled funding for programs in 8 states that support students with both hearing and vision loss. A staffer at one program says he was told the Trump admin. took issue with 2 words on the grant application: “transition" and “privilege": www.propublica.org/article/trum...

There are 600,000 of you who now follow us on Bluesky 🦋 As journalists ourselves, we understand that regularly reading stories about broken systems can take a toll, and we never take the community here for granted. Thank you to all of you who care deeply about the work we do.

NEW: Trump has targeted political foes — including Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook — 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.

NEW: Amid public health concerns over online sports betting, major operators like DraftKings say their in-app safeguards can prevent users from spiraling out of control. Our reporter decided to find out for himself whether that was true.

The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens. We are. 500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term. Our tally is almost certainly an undercount. THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️

NEW: The Trump administration keeps denying and downplaying that immigration agents have been detaining Americans. It’s wrong. We’ve found more than 500 U.S. citizens have been held against their will, including handcuffed or held at gunpoint.

The breast cancer center appealed thousands of Blue Cross reimbursements for being too low. At trial, the insurer revealed that it had never considered any of the appeals — and that they were pointless: “An appeal is not available to review an underpayment.” (Published April 2025)

WATCH: In late 2024, FBI investigators had enough evidence to launch a sweeping bribery probe of politicians including Sen. Susan Collins — until Trump gutted the unit in charge. ProPublica revealed the existence of the case for the first time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqyiFFB7Kjg

Despite multiple complaints — and videos — of physical abuse and mistreatment of students, Arkansas' Delta Institute continues to receive public funds. It is just one of hundreds of private schools taking state money with little oversight. (Published July with @arktimes.bsky.social)

1/ We’re excited to announce that our “Paper Trail” podcast has been nominated for three Signal Awards: “Best New Podcast,” “Best Documentary,” and “Best Documentary Host”! We’re deeply grateful for your support. If you’re a fan of our show, you can vote for us via the links below 👇

“THIS IS THE TEXTBOOK DEFINITION ON LOANSHARKING,” wrote one consumer about a tribal loan company. A federal database used to publicly display such complaints, and they’ve helped inform several ProPublica stories. Now the narratives aren’t public.

1/ Say hello to our new Local Reporting Network reporters and their newsrooms! 👋 • Eliza Aronson, The Everett Herald • Max Filby, @dispatch.com • Luke Nozicka, @missouriindependent.com

TOMORROW at 4 p.m. ET: Join ProPublica reporters for a deep dive into the changing private school landscape and what regulations do and do not exist around these schools. 🔗 RSVP: https://events.propublica.org/wild-west-school-vouchers/bluesky