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How a Man Once Ordered to Pay Libel Damages Helped Launch an Investigation Into Islamic Private Schools

A man was ordered to pay libel damages after calling the head of an Islamic TV channel a “convicted terrorist.” Years later, he made similar claims against Islamic private schools applying for Texas’ voucher program, new legal filings say.

Illustration by Shoshana Gordon/ProPublica. Source images: Paul Sableman via Flickr

Barns, Go-Karts and Strip Malls: The Wild West of Private Schools That Collect Taxpayer Dollars

As private schools proliferate, states are taking a hands-off approach to regulating them. School founders — in one case, a woman prosecuted for sexual abuse — often aren’t screened. Some states can’t even say how many of these schools exist.

4 Days Ago: This Private School Had Students Scrub Floors and Attack a Fellow Classmate. The State Still Funds It.

Help Us Report: Tell Us About Your Experience With School Vouchers

Collage by Alex Bandoni/ProPublica. Source image: Roberto Schmidt/Stringer/Getty Images.

Trump Officials Want to Use Human Rights Aid to Advocate for White South Africans and Right-Wing Causes in Europe

Proposed grant recipients have included a free-speech organization that has fought against bans on “gay conversion therapy” and an Afrikaner group that promotes self-governance.

How a Paid Expert Reversed His View of a Notoriously Flawed Prosecution in the Rape of a Bestselling Author

Law professor Bennett Gershman told ProPublica that the prosecution of a man for the rape of author Alice Sebold was laced with misconduct. Then he was hired by the city and county that prosecuted the man — and reached a very different conclusion.

Takeaways: What We Uncovered About the Sexual Assault of Alice Sebold and a City’s Buried Rape Crisis

3 Weeks Ago: The Bestselling Author, the Exoneration and the Rape Crisis the Police Ignored

Texas Democrats Ask for Investigation Into Ken Paxton After Our Reporting Found He May Have Violated Election Law

The complaint asks the Texas secretary of state to examine whether Paxton committed election fraud by voting in the May primary runoff while registered at an address where he no longer appears to live.

2 Weeks Ago: Ken Paxton Vowed to Crack Down on “Illegal Voting.” He May Have Violated Texas Election Law.

2 Months Ago: Ken Paxton Wanted to Crack Down on Forum Shopping. Now Lawyers Say He’s Improperly Seeking Out Favorable Courts.

Podcast Paper Trail

How Microsoft’s “Little Workaround” Created a Major Pentagon Threat

Reporter Renee Dudley heard Microsoft was running tech support for the U.S. Defense Department through China, the country’s biggest cybersecurity adversary. She thought it sounded like a conspiracy theory — until she started looking into it.

A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers

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How Children Have Been Caught in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

Join us for a discussion about how families and children are being affected in new ways by President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

July 21, 4-5 EDT

Virtual

El DHS planea una “guerra frontal” contra los estafadores de inmigración mientras las denuncias por fraude de duplican

Texas Democrats Ask for Investigation Into Ken Paxton After Our Reporting Found He May Have Violated Election Law

DHS Plans “All-Out War” on Immigration Scammers as Fraud Complaints Double

Trump Administration Launches Crackdown on Teacher Sexual Misconduct Following KQED-ProPublica Investigation

Lawmakers Call for CDC to Track Vitamin K Shot Refusals, Cite ProPublica Report

Amid Mounting War Casualties, Pete Hegseth “Defunded and Impeded” Efforts to Protect Civilians, Lawmakers Say

Massachusetts Set to Extend Statute of Limitations for Rape Cases With DNA Evidence

Louisiana Supreme Court Frees Death Row Prisoner, Calling Evidence Against Him “Scientifically Indefensible”

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