December 2016 Archive
ProPublica Files Lawsuit Seeking Agent Orange Documents From the VA
The suit claims the VA failed to promptly process a FOIA request for correspondence with a consultant about the defoliant used during the Vietnam War.
‘What’s Going On, Daddy’: A Reporter on the Hate Beat Finds 2 Very Local Stories
A brutal beating; a terrible murder. Seeking motives in a divided America.
Agent Orange Curse Hangs Over Families of Virginia Veterans
There's no proof Agent Orange can be passed from fathers to their children, but that's no solace to Vietnam vets who see their children struggle with life-long health problems — and sometimes die.
Trump’s Pick for Commerce Secretary May Have the Biggest Conflicts of Them All
Wilbur Ross has made a fortune in steel — and the Commerce Department will soon make decisions that will affect his firms.
The Children of Agent Orange
For decades, Vietnam veterans have suspected that the defoliant harmed their children. But the VA hasn’t studied its own data for clues. A new ProPublica analysis has found that the odds of having a child born with birth defects were more than a third higher for veterans exposed to Agent Orange than for those who weren’t.
A Public Official’s Private Pain
A Washington legislator had two children after her husband returned from the Vietnam War. One lacks sight in an eye. The other died of cardiomyopathy at age 21. “We don’t have this in the family,” she said. “The veterans would all say, ‘You know it’s probably Agent Orange.’”
Vietnam Veterans And Their Families Share Stories of Exposure, Illness And Frustration
As part of our Reliving Agent Orange series, ProPublica and The Virginian-Pilot have been recording the voices of those impacted by the herbicide, which contained the toxic chemical dioxin.
How We Obtained the Government’s Data on Agent Orange and Birth Defects
The Veterans Administration refused to release what it had learned about possible links between birth defects and exposure to Agent Orange. ProPublica and The Virginian-Pilot found a novel way to obtain the information under procedures historically used for scientific research by academic scholars.
Tracking Evictions and Rent Stabilization in NYC
We’ve mapped more than 450,000 New York City eviction cases filed between January 2013 and June 2015. Look up your building to see its recent eviction cases and whether it may be rent-stabilized.
Trump’s Pick for Labor Secretary Wrote a Deregulatory Manifesto
Andrew Puzder’s co-author told us: “He’ll put in place everything we laid out in the book.”
The Fateful Vote That Made New York City Rents So High
A 1994 City Council vote enabling landlords to dodge limits on rent increases has had a profound impact on the lives of New Yorkers.
EPA Concludes Fracking a Threat to U.S. Water Supplies
The EPA’s finding, endorsed by environmentalists, comes as the Trump administration prepares to rethink regulation of the gas drilling industry.
The Chosen: Who Trump Is Putting in Power
As President Donald Trump picks his top officials, we’re laying out the best accountability reporting on each.
‘As a White Nationalist, What Do You Do?’
A conversation with a scholar of America’s extreme right
We’ve Updated Dollars for Docs. Here’s What’s New.
ProPublica has been publishing data on conflicts of interest in medicine since 2010. We’ve updated our Dollars for Docs database with billions of dollars in payments made last year.
Updated Dollars for Docs
We’ve updated Dollars for Docs. It now includes payments made from August 2013 through December 2015 — some $6.25 billion in payments to more than 800,000 doctors.
Emoluments Clause: Could Overturning 185 Years of Precedent Let Trump Off the Hook?
Another view of the clause in the Constitution regarding payments from foreign countries would let Trump off the hook — and overturn more than a century of practice and law.
