Reporter covering legal affairs for ProPublica. Have a tip? molly.redden@propublica.org or find me on Signal at mollyredden.14 | @mtredden.bsky.social
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After a decade+ of nonstop pollution offenses, GOP Sen. Jim Justice's coal empire learned earlier this year that it was under federal criminal investigation.
But before prosecutors could gather crucial evidence, Todd Blanche's office told them "pencils down."
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New: Weeks before she struck down the federal mask mandate in spring 2022, U.S. District Judge Mizelle attended an all-expenses-paid retreat where a conservative group gave her a crash course in the niche legal theory propping up her opinion. huffpost.com/entry/judges-lu…
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New: In an open letter, Congressional interns accuse their bosses of having "suppressed" and downplayed demands for a ceasefire. A survey of 71 offices recorded *693,170* emails, voicemails and calls for a ceasefire since the bombing of Gaza began:
huffpost.com/entry/open-lett…
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New: A Koch-funded organization called the Judicial Education Institute is flying Trump judges to luxury resorts around the country where they huddle over a new strategy to advance "history and tradition" as the law of the land huffpost.com/entry/judges-lu…
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"This building isn't listening." Congressional staff say the mood inside the Capitol is tense, stifling and bewildering as members brush off constituents’ demands for a cease-fire. huffpost.com/entry/calls-for…
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New: Progressive Dems are assailing Squad challengers for taking "toxic" AIPAC money, noting that much of it comes from GOP megadonors. Rep. @CoriBush just became the first to call on her challenger to reject the money outright. huffpost.com/entry/squad-aip…
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New: Wesley Bell, Rep. Cori Bush's formidable primary challenger, is running as a progressive. But his first role in politics was managing a GOP congressional campaign for a friend. huffpost.com/entry/wesley-be…
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Many Democratic offices are getting a deluge of angry calls and have no idea how to respond. In some offices, "Let it go to voicemail" was the prevailing guidance for the first weeks of the siege. Others misrepresented their member's stance.
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NEW from me: A rare look at how NYC's elite try to work the criminal justice system — like when famed former prosecutor Linda Fairstein asked for leniency for a friend-of-a-friend of her "Vineyard best friend" after he upskirted women on the subway.
huffpost.com/entry/linda-fai…
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I reported on this group in March. Conservative slush funds write them checks to send mostly Trump judges to luxury hotels. The kind of legal analysis they evangelize is supposed to offer a rationale for making "history and tradition" the law of the land.
New: A Koch-funded organization called the Judicial Education Institute is flying Trump judges to luxury resorts around the country where they huddle over a new strategy to advance "history and tradition" as the law of the land huffpost.com/entry/judges-lu…
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In response to these new revelations, @SenWhitehouse said: "The multi-pronged billionaire-funded scheme to influence the judiciary includes flying amenable judges to luxury resorts to bathe them in the latest fantastical right-wing legal theories…
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…At the very least, the public ought to know when judges are attending lavish ‘seminars’ promoting the agenda of partisan special interests. The Judicial Conference should take a close look at tightening its rules to ensure transparency around such junkets."
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NEW and first on HuffPost: Justice Sonia Sotomayor took the unusual step of traveling with a medic in 2018 and with medical gear in 2021 and 2022, according to records obtained by @FixTheCourt, deepening questions about her health: huffpost.com/entry/sonia-sot…
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I am beyond excited to be joining the amazing Democracy Team at @propublica!
I'm thrilled that kickass gunner @mtredden has joined @propublica:
propublica.org/atpropublica/…
We are lucky to have her on our Democracy Team.
Feed her tips!
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These lavish working vacations, at luxury mountain resorts like Deer Valley, can cost more than $5,000 a head — but judges are allowed accept them for free with hardly any oversight.
Here's every federal judge who disclosed attending a JEI retreat or serve on its board
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The wave of transphobic laws wouldn't be possible without a tiny group of "experts" who make serious money defending them in court.
"They're hired guns," and they're paving the way for courts to roll back rights across the country. My latest: huffpost.com/entry/paid-expe…
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What are they learning when they're not golfing? Legal corpus linguistics — a way to keyword-search historical documents, and, critics say, cherry-pick examples of what the founders believed and dress it up as big data. huffpost.com/entry/judges-lu…
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New from me: As they prepare to cut trillions in government services, Trump + team are planning to test a radical legal theory which claims the president can unilaterally choke off funding from programs he opposes. propublica.org/article/trump…
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We uncovered videos of a key MAGA ally's chilling vision for a Trump second term: A "traumatically affected" EPA. Upheaval resembling the years 1776 and 1860. The military suppressing anti-Trump protests.
“God put us here for such a time as this.” propublica.org/article/video…
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NEW: Exclusive documents show hundreds of police departments requesting surplus U.S. military gear to police racial justice protests and do routine police work — traffic stops, warrants, and responding to domestic violence and people threatening suicide. huffpost.com/entry/militariz…
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New: Wesley Bell is the latest Squad challenger raising money from Republicans for his Dem primary campaign.
He's even raised money from donors to GOP Sen. Josh Hawley — who he was challenging right up until switching races to take on Rep. Cori Bush. huffpost.com/entry/wesley-be…
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Members of Congress led by @AyannaPressley and @brianschatz are demanding that the Biden administration enact broad bans on transfers of surplus military gear to local cops: huffpost.com/entry/biden-cab…
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NEW: The Biden administration allowed a top official to keep $15mil in future Microsoft stock while overseeing a federal department that hands out massive tech contracts. Ethics experts say it’s an extraordinary exception to conflict of interest law. huffpost.com/entry/kurt-delb…
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When management sets these ridiculously low salary floors, it's sending one of two messages: we only want to hire people from rich families, or, we don't care if our workers suffer.
Solidarity with @bfnewsunion ✊
We've been bargaining our contract for almost 2 years, but BuzzFeed won't budge on critical issues like wages — all while preparing to go public and make executives even richer.
So TODAY, we're walking out to send a reminder that there's no BuzzFeed News without us. #BFNWalksOut
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This is not even the first person named Jo(e) to sneer about how HuffPost is some bygone news outlet in the last week. It's an insult to the incredible ways my colleagues are impacting the world, so I'm going to highlight some in this thread.
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New: a Laguna Beach billionaire and his wife are funneling money to anti-trans rights advocacy around the US. One group they helped start from scratch wrote Montana's ban on trans care for youth. “It made the worst of the worst people here more bold.” huffpost.com/entry/joseph-ed…
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By fighting Disney and "woke banking," DeSantis wants to manufacture the illusion that he poses a serious threat to corporate America.
In reality, according to people who have watched his power-hungry rise, he has crony capitalism down to a science. huffpost.com/entry/ron-desan…
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As Election Day drew nearer, large corporations almost doubled their giving to election deniers. huffpost.com/entry/corporate… via @HuffPostPol
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Private equity is gobbling up hospice care at an astonishing rate — and threatening to undermine its mission of death with dignity in favor of huge profits. My latest:
huffpost.com/entry/hospice-p…
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As a CEO, I worry about the erosion of control over my employees' lives. But as a human? I care about birthdays.
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The Trump era gave the ACLU millions in cash and a new mission: to harness the power of the resistance.
This is the inside story of how they wound up in turmoil: huffpost.com/entry/aclu-trum…
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New from me: a top @ACLU executive is leaving suddenly after two years of complaints about his treatment of staff and high turnover in his department: huffpost.com/entry/aclu-exec…
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"glamorous travel" is a Boomer urban legend, like pensions and starter homes.
Perspective: Travel isn’t as glamorous as it used to be, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do our part. It wouldn’t hurt any of us to dress up for our next flight. wapo.st/3xGcdl0
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Dedicated to all you Joe Manchins out there.
“If unemployment stops, I’m scared to think of what happens next. I’m scared for all our sanity.”
“What about somebody who needs to eat now? We have to live. What are we to do? What are we to do?” huffpost.com/entry/black-lat…
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Short of impoundments, the admin may test all sorts of ways to kill programs they don't like. Grants getting held up indefinitely. Funding rules suddenly shifting.
If you work in federal government and spot these kinds of changes, reach out: propublica.org/article/secon…
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The ultrarich are in a mad scramble to pass on their wealth before Biden can hike their taxes. If you're trying to book a jet appraisal, you're probably already too late! huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden…
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You can simply be on the side of, every journalist doing good work is essential. You don't have to fall for their scarcity mentality and declare which struggling newsrooms deserve their fate more than others.
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New: Leonard Leo's network is secretly funneling money to Do No Harm, an influential new activist group attacking transgender health care. huffpost.com/entry/leonard-l…
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The documents also show that the militarized crackdown on last summer's protests was not a split-second decision—it's how many police *prepare* for protests
Many departments explicitly said, we need military equipment to police civil demonstrators. The Pentagon said, you got it.
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A controversial tax break to help poor neighborhoods has become a bonanza for wealthy investors — and crypto millionaires want in. My latest. huffpost.com/entry/cryptocur…
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NEW from me: I am *not* saying that this mysterious group of investors who bought $30m in gold bars "for the good of society" and to avoid capital gains taxes are breaking any rules…but I kind of wonder what the IRS would say! huffpost.com/entry/gold-oppo…
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The Pentagon is giving police departments that claim to be preparing for climate disasters priority access to surplus military vehicles, and who knows how that could possibly go wrong. huffpost.com/entry/police-cl…
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NEW: Before he was CEO of the @TrevorProject, Amit Paley worked on McKinsey consulting teams that advised Purdue Pharma on boosting the sale of OxyContin and proposed ways to combat the backlash over the opioid epidemic. huffpost.com/entry/amit-pale…
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After 6 years, today is my last day at HuffPost. I'm excited for my next move, but I'll miss my incredible colleagues on the National team so much. Follow their work: @nhbaptiste @CitizenCohn @c_m_dangelo @jamieson @AlexCKaufman @letsgomathias …
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These "experts" have hardly any experience providing care for trans people and it shows
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First off, we're one of @WGAEast's largest digital media shops. We amplify your calls for fair contracts, join your picket lines, and fight to raise the bar for the entire industry. As just one example, no other WGAE media contract has a higher starting salary than @HuffPostUnion
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Our reporting on extremism, where to even start? @AndyBCampbell literally wrote the book on the Proud Boys. No one worked harder than @JessReports to illuminate how the most radicalized corners of the internet have torn apart ordinary peoples' lives.
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But impoundments is the big question mark.
"That is just not the constitutional design," one source said. "The president doesn’t have the authority to go into the budget bit by bit and pull out the stuff he doesn’t like.” propublica.org/article/trump…
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U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk just disclosed in a new financial filing that she also attended one of these luxury retreats.
Pitlyk, like many of the other guests, is a Federalist Society member and one of Trump's highly controversial judicial appointments.
New: A Koch-funded organization called the Judicial Education Institute is flying Trump judges to luxury resorts around the country where they huddle over a new strategy to advance "history and tradition" as the law of the land huffpost.com/entry/judges-lu…
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Again, I don't even know what to say. Emily's accountability reporting is unmatched. The CEO of United Way resigned because of her reporting on the company's sexist and racist culture like……last week?? She's a star.
My last day at HuffPost will be March 15, alongside some wonderful colleagues and friends. It's been a great 9+ years. I'm proud of all the work we did. If you known of any good opportunities, my DMs are open.
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A couple of weeks ago I got an email offering me St Kitts and Nevis citizenship for the low low price of $125,000. It turns out wealthy Americans are seeking backup citizenship in record numbers. I took a dive into the process: huffpost.com/entry/backup-pa…
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This map has really haunted me. I can't imagine the pain and violation of someone interfering with your loved ones' final resting place.
HuffPost has documented more than two dozen incidents where people protested the construction of a Muslim cemetery. Some states saw multiple incidents. Other communities had their cemeteries vandalized or broken into.
With support from @IWMF huffpost.com/entry/they-desp…
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Few people are more dedicated to shining a light on how extremism has taken over whole communities than @letsgomathias huffpost.com/entry/far-right…
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And so few doctors are willing to defend these harmful laws that states are looking a little desperate.
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After she and @AkbarSAhmed broke the news that US-linked forces were detaining journalist Adel al-Hasani, @RepRoKhanna and Biden mobilized to secure his release. huffpost.com/entry/yemen-uae…
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Do you have tips about how the Trump White House 2.0 is carrying out its cultural agenda? Get in touch!
Starting with VP-elect JD Vance, top administration officials seek to infuse Trump’s second term with conservative, religious and nationalist principles.
@mtredden investigates what this looks like as policy. Contact her with insight from gov’t, law enforcement or nonprofits.
ALT A ProPublica social media graphic with information on how to contact reporter Molly Redden. The graphic reads: “I’m reporting on how the Trump/Vance administration will carry out its cultural agenda. I’m interested in hearing from federal workers seeing rightward shifts in policy on civil rights, religion, free expression, LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive health, and people with insight into how ideological groups and donors who helped reelect Trump are trying to influence White House policymaking. molly.redden@propublica.org or 202-886-9499 on Signal or by phone.”
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On Jan. 6, @igorbobic put himself in harm's way to get some of the most crucial footage from the entire Capitol riot: Officer Eugene Goodman diverting the mob away from US Senators who were taking cover just a few doors away.
Here’s the scary moment when protesters initially got into the building from the first floor and made their way outside Senate chamber.
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But the courts are so conservative that all they need to hear is something that sounds like logic. If and when the Supreme Court weighs in on gender-affirming care, don't be surprised to see some of these names: huffpost.com/entry/paid-expe…
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"You can't get me for tax fraud if I never file my taxes" sounds like galaxy brain shit, but that's roughly the state of New York's whistleblower law. I wrote about a bill to fix the loophole, and the powerful interests lined up against it.
huffpost.com/entry/whistlebl…
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Many of them were recruited by the Alliance Defending Freedom — whose goal is to turn the U.S. into a Christian theocracy — and share some of the same reactionary politics (no matter how much they talk about science)
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The IRS office that investigates tips from whistleblowers is broken. Parts of the agency are deeply suspicious of working w informants, and cases are taking forever.
Meanwhile, uber-rich and corporate tax cheats are dodging billions in taxes. My latest: huffpost.com/entry/irs-whist…
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At the peak of the pandemic, CareTrust, one of the largest senior housing landlords in the country, chose a company with an alarming safety record to run homes for hundreds of seniors.
Executives got a bonus. huffpost.com/entry/coronavir…
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I don't even mean to pick on @JoeKeohane. We've all seen similar shit being said about Vice etc. We can lament the choices of the idiots who ran the business side of digital media into the ground without taking shots at our incredible and enterprising colleagues
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I will die in this conference room before our members agree to a bad contract and the unit will allow my sacrifice. Do not test them.
Just finished up an all-unit update with 4.5 hours until our contract expires and one thing is clear — we are fed up and fired up 🔥🔥🔥 #FairContractNow
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@phillej_ has built crucial trust with activists around the country who are seeking justice for victims of police brutality. After the police killing of Tyre Nichols, he gave a voice to other Memphis families who have been ignored: huffpost.com/entry/tyre-nich…
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Rebecca absolutely owned one of the most important stories of the pandemic, education. She's one of the sharpest, most talented, generous reporters I've ever had the privilege of working with, and anyone would be lucky to have her work.
Hi all. Just found out I was laid off with so many of my incredible colleagues who I care about so much. This industry is tough, but I hope to continue my reporting elsewhere. If you know of opportunities: rebecca.klein.journalist@gmail.com.
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More lives changed. @Rowaida_Abdel's unmatched reporting on Trump's Muslim ban has resulted in the US government reuniting separated families. huffpost.com/entry/trump-tra…
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The SDNY indictment of SBF accuses him of campaign finance violations without going into much detail. But SBF recently claimed he funneled tens of millions to GOP campaigns in secret—here's why that might be illegal.
huffpost.com/entry/sam-bankm…
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for my money, @AlexCKaufman is providing the country's best coverage on the future of nuclear power and the state-level political fights that will determine whether the nation meets its critical CO2 reduction goals.
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We're producing fearless and vital reporting that serves millions of ordinary Americans every day. I'm sorry you don't read us! I'm sorry you think some journalists should be sacrificed according to how non-elite is their readership!
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and @SebastianMurdoc is constantly breaking news about Alex Jones' crumbling empire. He was among the first to take seriously the Sandy Hook parents' legal crusade, and the trust he earned shows up in all his reporting.
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After the East Palestine derailment, @c_m_dangelo was the first to call foul on officials' methods for declaring the drinking water "safe," and @Robillard's reporting on a looming rail merger prompted @SenWarren to call for a halt to another dangerous consolidation
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Onto the reporting. @jessicaschulb's extraordinary profile of Kip Kinkel put direct pressure on Gov. Kate Brown to free people from prison who committed crimes as children — which Brown did. She granted clemency to dozens of people a few months later. huffpost.com/entry/kip-kinke…
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Hard to overstate what a massive power grab this would be if they pull it off. Which is not a sure thing.
They need Congress to roll over, give up its most essential power—the power of the purse—and repeal the post-Watergate impoundment ban, OR, an extremely compliant SCOTUS.
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These are just off the top of my head. I'm not even doing justice to our coverage of abortion, pop culture, mental health, unions and labor, environmental racism, police violence.
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As Tennessee defends its ban on trans youth care at SCOTUS, it will rely on testimony from 4 roundly discredited experts—including one who said some children may be “born to suffer and die”
I wrote about their lucrative role in pushing misinformation: huffpost.com/entry/paid-expe…
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It's called "impoundment," and courts and Congress prohibited it in the Watergate era, after Nixon tried to gut federal funding for highways, clean water, and disaster relief.
But Elon, Vivek, and Trump's future budget director are serious about knocking that precedent down.
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Love and solidarity for the BuzzFeed and Complex colleagues who are losing their jobs. This absolutely sucks and you deserve better.
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After protests over Michael Brown, Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile, police near Ferguson, Baton Rouge and in Minnesota sought armored vehicles to deal with future protests.
After the raid on Standing Rock in N. Dakota, sheriffs in S. Dakota prepared for a possible repeat
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This is absolutely devastating to me. You may know Nick as one of the best extremism and far right reporters working today, but you can put him on any story and he'll blow you away. He's also just one of the best god damn humans. I'm crushed.
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If I were a dad I’d be a Storm Dad. I cannot stop going “wow” and trying to get everyone around me to go “wow” whenever a good storm rolls in
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The WH/@NSC_Spox can't keep their story straight from one day to the next. First my colleague made things up—then he misunderstood when they plainly accused him of making things up
The truth is @AkbarSAhmed's peerless reporting on Gaza threatens them and they want to shut him up
72 hours after first responding to this story by claiming without evidence that I "made up" quotes @NSC_Spox is standing by that statement.
I look forward to an apology + retraction soon.
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Members of the @HuffPostUnion are in our final days of bargaining before our contract expires! We’re fighting for fair wage increases, a strong benefits package, and a real path to career growth for our hardworking, talented colleagues. We won’t settle for less! ✊🏻
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"They're indoctrinating the judges … by taking them to fancy, fancy, fancy resorts so they can learn what they are supposed to do." @SenWhitehouse reacts to my exclusive reporting on Koch-funded retreats for Trump judges. piped.video/watch?v=n45OtKT3…
New: A Koch-funded organization called the Judicial Education Institute is flying Trump judges to luxury resorts around the country where they huddle over a new strategy to advance "history and tradition" as the law of the land huffpost.com/entry/judges-lu…
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The prison executives in this story took a feel-good trip to Norway to learn about "humane" incarceration. But when an ace jailhouse lawyer got too good at suing them for dismal prison conditions, they tossed him in solitary.
I wrote about how Oregon DOC — which claims to model itself after Norway's progressive practices — retaliated against its most effective jailhouse lawyer, firing him from his job and throwing him in solitary for 120 days, potentially delaying his freedom huffpost.com/entry/oregon-pr…
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Yes, and: people have hardly begun to grasp how dangerous the end of Roe is going to be for ordinary maternal care.
You're having a miscarriage? Your fetus has rights. You're having a difficult delivery? Your body is just the vessel for the baby, you don't need our care.
I wrote about how the assertion that privileged people are going to find their circumstances unchanged is both incorrect and anesthetizing: thecut.com/2022/05/roe-v-wad…
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I also wrote about FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame's attempt to buy his girlfriend Michelle Bond a seat in Congress—which is not illegal per se but *is* hilarious.
As the couple geared up to be movers-and-shakers, $4m eyesore in the DC suburbs. Bond got absolutely munched in her primary
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The administration blessed this incredible arrangement because the official, Kurt DelBene—husband of Rep. Suzan DelBene—agreed to transfer all the stock to a trust fund for their adult kids. Leaving him with no financial stake in Microsoft “as a practical matter.” OK!
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I'm thrilled to be a @deadlineclub awards finalist along with my colleague @letsgomathias! deadlineclub.org/2024-awards…
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I am so sick of watching my industry reject its very best people, the ones who do enterprising and inspiring work and live up to journalism's promise.
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As Congress shrugs off the bloodshed in Gaza, Muslim and Arab staffers are reaching a breaking point. huffpost.com/entry/muslim-ar…
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these NYT moral panic pieces never fail to imply that trans peoples are getting *too much medical care* when literally the opposite is true
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Read my remarkable colleague @AkbarSAhmed's extensive, painstaking interviews with two senior leaders of Hamas, where he presses them on the group's Oct. 7 attacks on civilians and its vision for the future of Israel-Palestine.
NEW: I extensively interviewed two senior leaders of Hamas.
HuffPost pressed them on civilians on Oct. 7, Israel-Palestine’s future & more.
We sought news & relevant, rarely heard perspectives. We brought back analysis unlike any US outlet. Please read:
huffpost.com/entry/hamas-gaz…
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U.S. immigration is a quagmire, but a handful of people in Congressional have trained themselves to become relentless advocates for constituents facing deportation or trying to flee war zones like Palestine. My story: huffpost.com/entry/palestini…
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