Investigative Journalism in the Public Interest
Trump Signs Defense Bill Prohibiting China-Based Engineers in Pentagon IT Work
The post Trump Signs Defense Bill Prohibiting China-Based Engineers in Pentagon IT Work appeared first on ProPublica.
President Donald Trump signed into law this month a measure that prohibits anyone based in China and other adversarial countries from accessing the Pentagon’s cloud computing systems. The ban, which is tucked inside the $900 billion defense policy law, was enacted in response to a ProPublica investigation this year that exposed how Microsoft used China-based engineers to service the Defense Department’s computer systems for nearly a decade — a practice that left some of the country’s most sensitive data vulnerable to hacking from its leading cyber adversary. U.S.-based supervisors, known as “digital escorts,” were supposed to serve as a check on these foreign employees, but we found they often lacked the expertise needed to effectively supervise engineers with far more advanced technical skills. In the wake of the reporting, leading members of Congress called on the Defense Department to strengthen its security requirements while blasting Microsoft for what some Republicans called “a national betrayal.” Cybersecurity and intelligence experts have told ProPublica that the arrangement posed major risks to national security, given that laws in China grant the country’s officials broad authority to collect data. Microsoft pledged in July to stop using China-based engineers to service Pentagon cloud systems after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly condemned the practice. “Foreign engineers — from any country, including of course China — should NEVER be allowed to maintain or access DoD systems,” Hegseth wrote on X. In September, the Pentagon updated its cybersecurity requirements for tech contractors, banning IT vendors from using China-based personnel to work on Defense Department computer systems. The new law effectively codifies that change, requiring Hegseth to prohibit individuals from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from having direct or indirect access to Defense Department cloud computing systems. Microsoft declined to comment on the new law. Following the earlier changes, a spokesperson said the company would “work with our national security partners to evaluate and adjust our security protocols in light of the new directives.” Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican who serves on the House Armed Service Committee, celebrated the development, saying it “closes contractor loopholes … following the discovery that companies like Microsoft exploited” them. Sen. Tom Cotton, the GOP chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence who has been critical of the tech giant, also heralded the legislation, saying it “includes much-needed efforts to protect our nation’s critical infrastructure, which is threatened by Communist China and other foreign adversaries.” The legislation also bolsters congressional oversight of the Pentagon’s cybersecurity practices, mandating that the secretary brief the congressional defense committees on the changes no later than June 1, 2026. After that, such briefings will take place annually for the next three years, including updates on the “effectiveness of controls, security incidents, and recommendations for legislative or administrative action.” Read More A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers As ProPublica reported, Microsoft initially developed the digital escort program as a work-around to a Defense Department requirement that people handling sensitive data be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The company has maintained that it disclosed the program to the Pentagon and that escorts were provided “specific training on protecting sensitive data” and preventing harm. But top Pentagon officials have said they were unaware of Microsoft’s program until ProPublica’s reporting. A copy of the security plan that the company submitted to the Defense Department in 2025 showed Microsoft left out key details of the escort program, making no reference to its China-based operations or foreign engineers at all. This summer, Hegseth announced that the department had opened an investigation into whether any of Microsoft’s China-based engineers had compromised national security. He also ordered a new third-party audit of the company’s digital-escort program. The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment on the status of those inquiries. The post Trump Signs Defense Bill Prohibiting China-Based Engineers in Pentagon IT Work appeared first on ProPublica.
Oregon Faced a Huge Obstacle in Adding Green Energy. Here’s What Changed This Year.
The post Oregon Faced a Huge Obstacle in Adding Green Energy. Here’s What Changed This Year. appeared first on ProPublica.
A few months ago, Oregon’s green energy outlook was bleak. The state Legislature and Gov. Tina Kotek had repeatedly failed to address a huge obstacle that has held back wind and solar projects in the Northwest for years: aging electrical lines too jammed up to handle more renewable power. A series of articles by Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica identified barriers in the federal and state bureaucracies that delayed improvements to beef up the grid. The failure to complete upgrades is the main reason Oregon, like its fellow progressive state and neighbor Washington, has lagged most of the nation in the growth of clean energy despite an internal mandate to go green. Bills to tackle the transmission problem continued to languish and die in the Oregon Legislature as recently as this spring. But there has been a groundswell of urgency since the stories were published. Kotek, a Democrat, has now issued two executive orders mandating that state agencies speed up renewable energy development by any available means, including fast-tracking permits and directly paying for new transmission lines. Those efforts could eventually be backed up by money. The state’s energy department, in a first, recommended lawmakers consider creating a state entity to finance, plan and build transmission lines. A lawmaker whose bill to create such an authority failed this year suddenly has hope for getting it done, and he said the governor’s office is working with him to make it happen. What was essentially an unacknowledged problem among many Oregon policymakers now has the full attention of the governor and the key agencies that report to her. There has been new attention on electrical transmission in Washington state, as well. The shift comes as President Donald Trump has created new obstacles to ramping up renewable energy. This year, he removed tax credits that made wind and solar cheaper to build, blocked new wind permits and fired employees of the federal agency that reviews them. This was the year “where you’ve seen all these factors coming together — we know that our outdated grid is choking our ability to grow across the state, and we’re already paying more for electricity,” Kotek said in an interview last week. Kotek acknowledged the role of OPB and ProPublica’s reporting when asked what prompted the changes. “You’ve been doing some great stories,” she said. In May, OPB and ProPublica showed that the state ranked 47th in renewable energy growth over the past decade. Washington is 50th. An analysis by the news organizations found that Northwest wind and solar farms face the longest odds in the country for successfully connecting to the power grid, under a process heavily controlled by the Bonneville Power Administration. The federal agency’s transmission lines and substations constitute 75% of the region’s electrical network. Out of 469 large renewables projects that have sought access to Bonneville’s system since 2015, only one was successful. Backers of the other projects either abandoned their requests or were still waiting on studies and necessary upgrades to power lines and substations. Northwest utilities fear rolling blackouts within the decade unless transmission capacity is expanded to meet surging energy demand, particularly from data centers that support artificial intelligence. Kotek said she hadn’t seen the numbers on Oregon’s stagnant renewable energy growth before OPB and ProPublica reported them. “I hope — and we will be planning — to make our numbers look better and better in the coming years,” she said. In 2021, when lawmakers enacted Oregon’s plan to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in electrical generation by 2040, they failed to account for transmission and the glacial pace set by Bonneville for improvements. (The agency has said previously its project approval decisions are guided by financial prudence.) Oregon leaders also did not address the state’s slow process for evaluating energy projects, with appeals that can prolong permit decisions on new power lines or wind and solar farms for years. The rules originated with the 1970s antinuclear movement. Foes say rural transmission and wind projects blight the landscape, and they have used the permitting system as a means of delay. Bills to smooth out the state permitting process, even those supported by rural interests, went nowhere. Efforts to bypass Bonneville also withered. Advocates proposed a state financing authority for new transmission lines and substations as recently as this year. The legislation, which lacked the endorsement of either Kotek or the Oregon Department of Energy, died. Emily Moore, director of climate and energy for the Seattle-based think tank Sightline Institute, called OPB and ProPublica’s reporting “invaluable” in prompting change. “It has motivated policymakers and advocates alike to try to find solutions to get Oregon and Washington unstuck and is recruiting new people to the effort,” Moore said. Kotek’s latest executive order calls for a wide array of state agencies to recommend ways to overcome obstacles to clean energy development. This followed her October order for state agencies to take “any and all steps necessary” to fast-track solar and wind permits. Separately, the energy department recommended lawmakers look into creating a new entity like state authorities in Colorado and New Mexico, which plan transmission routes, partner with transmission developers and issue bonds to finance construction. The agency’s strategic plan, finalized in November, said the state must streamline clean energy development and take a more active role in getting regional transmission lines built. Similar findings emerged in a Dec. 1 report by a state working group created by Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, which called for a dedicated state entity focused on increasing transmission capacity. The authors cited OPB and ProPublica’s 2025 coverage in stating that Washington is falling behind on infrastructure needed to hit its green energy goals. (Ferguson requested the report following reporting by The Seattle Times and ProPublica last year on the energy consumed by data centers, which receive generous state tax breaks.) “This would be something that could potentially really help move the needle,” said Joni Sliger, a senior policy analyst with the Oregon energy department. The governor has also ordered the department and Oregon utilities regulators to designate physical paths through the state in which permitting for transmission lines can be streamlined and to gather financial support for projects that serve the public interest. <img decoding="async" height="766" width="1149" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg" alt="A lush hilly landscape of conifer trees, bushes and grasses with pale blue mountains in the distance." class="wp-image-62336" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250610-Lenz-Northwest-Wind-Problems-031_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px" /> A proposed Eastern Oregon transmission line was stuck in the permitting process for nearly two decades. The line is expected to run through this stretch of La Grande, Oregon. Steve Lenz for ProPublica Kotek cited the Boardman to Hemingway transmission line in Eastern Oregon that got caught in permitting limbo for nearly 20 years, an episode highlighted in OPB and ProPublica’s reporting. The governor called the state’s handling of the project a “red flag.” “We have to get out of our own way,” she said. Kotek’s executive orders drew praise from a range of organizations who appeared with the governor when she announced her most recent moves in November. “It makes our energy system stronger and more reliable, enhancing grid resilience, expanding storage and bolstering transmission to keep electricity affordable and dependable for every Oregonian,” Nora Apter, Oregon director for the clean energy advocacy group Climate Solutions, said at the time. The head of Oregon Business for Climate, which represents interests including real estate developers, wineries and coffee roasters, also spoke at the event. Tim Miller, the group’s director, said that although Oregon has put in place an energy permitting system to ensure siting is done right, Kotek’s order “reminds the state that we also have to get things done.” Lawmakers now are working on a plan to enact a state transmission financing authority during the next full legislative session, in early 2027. Rep. Mark Gamba, the Portland-area Democrat whose effort to create such an agency last year failed, said the governor’s office is in discussions with him about the new legislation and that he expects it to pass thanks to her involvement. “Her leaning in the way she has is what we needed,” he said. Gamba said he’s seeing newfound support for expanding transmission from across the political spectrum. “I’ve gotten calls from interests that typically I’m on the other side of the fight with,” Gamba said, “because they recognize that this is an economic development issue as well.” The post Oregon Faced a Huge Obstacle in Adding Green Energy. Here’s What Changed This Year. appeared first on ProPublica.
25 Investigations You May Have Missed This Year
The post 25 Investigations You May Have Missed This Year appeared first on ProPublica.
Over the past year, ProPublica has published hundreds of investigations. In January, Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News examined why a sexual assault case took seven years to go to trial in Alaska. In March, our video journalists told the stories of three mothers fighting to address America’s stillbirth crisis. In August, a team across the newsroom calculated how deeply President Donald Trump’s administration cut federal health agencies. And in December, Megan Rose and Debbie Cenziper reported how the Food and Drug Administration’s lax generic drug rules put a lung transplant patient’s life at risk. Here are 25 long-reads to add to your end-of-year reading list. You can also explore our most-read stories of the year. 1. Anchorage Police Say They Witnessed a Sexual Assault in Public. It Took Seven Years for the Case to Go to Trial. By Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News. Co-published with Anchorage Daily News. Published Jan. 7. In Alaska, where the time to resolve most serious felony cases has nearly tripled over the past decade, one case was delayed so long that both victims died. A former prosecutor called it “a travesty of justice.” 2. Dozens of People Died in Arizona Sober Living Homes as State Officials Fumbled Medicaid Fraud Response By Mary Hudetz, ProPublica, and Hannah Bassett, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. Co-published with Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. Published Jan. 27. Arizona officials acknowledged that a fraud scheme targeting Indigenous people with addictions cost taxpayers $2.5 billion. But they haven’t accounted publicly for the number of deaths tied to the scheme. 3. What a $2 Million Per Dose Gene Therapy Reveals About Drug Pricing By Robin Fields Published Feb. 12. Video by Jose Sepulveda/ProPublica Taxpayers and charities helped develop Zolgensma. Then it debuted at a record price, ushering in a new class of wildly expensive drugs. Its story upends the widely held conception that high prices reflect huge industry investments in innovation. 4. How a Global Online Network of White Supremacists Groomed a Teen to Kill By A.C. Thompson and James Bandler, ProPublica, and Lukáš Diko, Investigative Center of Jan Kuciak. Co-published with FRONTLINE. Published March 8. The murders of two people outside an LGBTQ+ bar at first looked like the act of a lone shooter. A ProPublica and FRONTLINE investigation shows they were, in fact, the culmination of a coordinated, international recruiting effort by online extremists. 5. Before a Breath: America’s Stillbirth Crisis By Nadia Sussman, Liz Moughon, Margaret Cheatham Williams and Lisa Riordan Seville Published March 20. Video by ProPublica More than 20,000 stillbirths occur in the U.S. each year, but 1 in 4 may be preventable. “Before a Breath” sheds light on three mothers fighting to change those statistics. 6. “A Wholly Inaccurate Picture”: Reality Cop Show “The First 48” and the Wrongly Convicted Man by Jessica Lussenhop, photography by Sarahbeth Maney Published March 29. Video by Jose Sepulveda/ProPublica Edgar Barrientos-Quintana spent 16 years behind bars wrongly convicted for a shooting featured on “The First 48.” The Minnesota attorney general’s office effectively alleged that the show shaped the case instead of the case shaping the show. 7. An Algorithm Deemed This Nearly Blind 70-Year-Old Prisoner a “Moderate Risk.” Now He’s No Longer Eligible for Parole. By Richard A. Webster, Verite News. Co-published with Verite News. Published April 10. A Louisiana law cedes much of the power of the parole board to an algorithm that bars thousands of prisoners from a shot at early release. Civil rights attorneys say it could disproportionately harm Black people — and may even be unconstitutional. 8. How a Chinese Prison Helped Fuel a Deadly Drug Crisis in the United States By Sebastian Rotella Published April 23. While China enforces strict laws against domestic drug trafficking, state-supported companies have openly shipped fentanyl to the U.S., investigators say. One prison-owned chemical company boasted online: “100% of our shipments will clear customs.” 9. Nike Says Its Factory Workers Earn Nearly Double the Minimum Wage. At This Cambodian Factory, 1% Made That Much. By Rob Davis, photography by Sarahbeth Maney. Co-published with The Oregonian/OregonLive. Published April 25. Nike has made an expansive effort to convince consumers, investors and others that it is improving the lives of factory workers who make its products, not exploiting them. A rare view of wages at one Cambodian factory tests this claim. 10. Threat in Your Medicine Cabinet: The FDA’s Gamble on America’s Drugs By Debbie Cenziper, Megan Rose, Brandon Roberts and Irena Hwang Published June 17. A ProPublica investigation found that for more than a decade, the FDA gave substandard factories banned from the United States a special pass to keep sending drugs to an unsuspecting public. 11. He Was Accused of Killing His Wife. Idaho’s Coroner System Let Clues Vanish After a Previous Wife’s Death. By Audrey Dutton Published July 16. Video by Jose Sepulveda/ProPublica Clayton Strong had a history of domestic unrest in two marriages. The women’s families say a more thorough investigation of Betty Strong’s death in Idaho might have saved the life of his next wife, Shirley Weatherley, in Texas. 12. He Came to the U.S. to Support His Sick Child. He Was Detained. Then He Disappeared. By Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica; Perla Trevizo, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune; Mica Rosenberg and Jeff Ernsthausen, ProPublica; Ronna Rísquez, Alianza Rebelde Investiga; and Adrián González, Cazadores de Fake News. Co-published with Alianza Rebelde Investiga, Cazadores de Fake News and The Texas Tribune. Published July 18. Like most of the more than 230 Venezuelan men deported to a Salvadoran prison, José Manuel Ramos Bastidas had followed U.S. immigration rules. Then Trump rewrote them. 13. The Drying Planet By Abrahm Lustgarten, graphics by Lucas Waldron, illustrations by Olivier Kugler for ProPublica Published July 25. A new study finds that freshwater resources are rapidly disappearing, creating arid “mega” regions and causing sea levels to rise. 14. Middle School Cheerleaders Made a TikTok Video Portraying a School Shooting. They Were Charged With a Crime. By Aliyya Swaby. Co-published with WPLN. Published July 28. Social videos, memes and retweets are becoming fodder for criminal charges in an era of heightened responses to student threats. Authorities say harsh punishment is necessary, but experts say the crackdown has unintended consequences. 15. “We’ll Smash the Fucking Window Out and Drag Him Out” By Nicole Foy and McKenzie Funk Published July 31. We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “minimum amount of force.” You can judge for yourself. 16. Gutted: How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies By Brandon Roberts, Annie Waldman and Pratheek Rebala, illustrations by Sam Green for ProPublica Published Aug. 21. More than ‎20,500 workers have left or been pushed out of federal health agencies, a ProPublica analysis found. Staffers say the cuts will leave their agencies less equipped to conduct studies, perform inspections and combat deadly outbreaks. 17. “Material Support” and an Ohio Chaplain: How 9/11-Era Terror Rules Could Empower Trump’s Immigration Crackdown By Hannah Allam Published Sept. 9. The U.S. government was trying to deport Ohio children’s hospital chaplain Ayman Soliman, alleging tenuous connections to terrorism. If DHS had succeeded, experts say it could have handed the Trump administration a “sledgehammer” to use on mass deportations. A few weeks after this investigation was published, Soliman was freed. 18. “Just Let Me Die” By Duaa Eldeib, photography by Sarah Blesener for ProPublica Published Sept. 10. After insurance repeatedly denied a couple’s claims, one psychiatrist was their last hope. 19. These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department. By Megan O’Matz and Jennifer Smith Richards Published Oct. 8. Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of public schools as we know them. 20. How Paul Newby Made North Carolina a Blueprint for Conservative Courts By Doug Bock Clark Published Oct. 30. Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well beyond the borders of his state. 21. She Begged for Help. This State’s Probation Gap May Have Put Her in Danger. By Paige Pfleger, WPLN, and Mariam Elba, ProPublica. Co-published with MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, Tennessee Lookout and WPLN. Published Nov. 11. Tennessee probation officers pause in-person visits and home searches for offenders facing an arrest warrant. That reduced supervision can last for months. Temptress Peebles was one of six mothers who died during this gap. 22. What the U.S. Government Is Dismissing That Could Seed a Bird Flu Pandemic By Nat Lash, graphics by Chris Alcantara Published Nov. 18. Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air. After a disastrous Midwestern outbreak early this year, we tested that theory and found that where the wind blew, the virus followed. Vaccines could help, but the USDA hasn’t approved them. Read More The Most-Read ProPublica Stories of 2025 23. Under Trump, More Than 1,000 Nonprofits Strip DEI Language From Tax Forms By Ellis Simani, design by Zisiga Mukulu Published Dec. 17. As the Trump administration ordered agencies to eradicate “illegal” diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, we identified more than 1,000 nonprofits that removed such language from the mission statements in their tax filings. 24. Inside the Trump Administration’s Man-Made Hunger Crisis By Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester, photography by Brian Otieno for ProPublica Published Dec. 17. “Brutal and traumatizing”: Interviews and a trove of internal documents show government officials and aid workers desperately tried to warn Trump advisers about impending disaster and death. 25. Fighting for Breath By Megan Rose and Debbie Cenziper, photography by Hannah Yoon for ProPublica Published Dec. 19. Lung transplant patient Hannah Goetz’s life depended on the generic version of a critical drug. It was supposed to be equivalent to the brand-name medication — but the FDA doesn’t always ensure that’s the case. The post 25 Investigations You May Have Missed This Year appeared first on ProPublica.
The Most-Read ProPublica Stories of 2025
The post The Most-Read ProPublica Stories of 2025 appeared first on ProPublica.
When President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, ProPublica’s reporters set out to cover how his second administration would reshape the government and the country. Our reporters detailed what happened when the Department of Government Efficiency, initially led by Elon Musk, slashed federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Social Security Administration. We wrote about the people caught up in the administration’s immigration crackdown, including the more than 170 U.S. citizens who had been detained by immigration agents. We profiled key figures in the administration, including the 22-year-old picked to lead terrorism prevention and the man who has been described as Trump’s shadow president. Our newsroom also focused beyond the White House. Ginger Thompson wrote a five-part series, with research by Doris Burke, that told the story of American health care through the only hospital in Albany, Georgia. Ellis Simani and Lexi Churchill uncovered a Texas charter school superintendent who makes $870,000. And David Armstrong sought to understand why a single pill of his cancer drug cost the same as a new iPhone. Those were all among the investigations that readers spent the most time with this year. In the new year, ProPublica will keep reporting on these storylines — and new ones. In the meantime, revisit our most-read stories of 2025, as measured by the total amount of time spent reading them across several of our publishing platforms. 1. The Militia and the Mole By Joshua Kaplan Outraged by the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, a wilderness survival trainer spent years undercover climbing the ranks of right-wing militias. He didn’t tell police or the FBI. He didn’t tell family or friends. The one person he told was a ProPublica reporter. 2. Sick in a Hospital Town By Ginger Thompson, with research by Doris Burke Why were the people in Albany, Georgia, so sick, when the town’s most powerful institution was a hospital? 3. Inside ICE Air: Flight Attendants on Deportation Planes Say Disaster Is “Only a Matter of Time” By McKenzie Funk Current and former flight attendants for GlobalX, the private charter airline at the center of Trump’s immigration crackdown, expressed concern about their inability to treat passengers humanely and to keep them safe. 4. The Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social Security By Eli Hager DOGE has ignored urgently needed reforms and upgrades at the Social Security Administration, according to dozens of insiders and 15 hours of candid interviews with the former acting chief of the agency, who admits he sometimes made things worse. 5. Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal By Justin Elliott, Robert Faturechi and Alex Mierjeski The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing he called “deceitful and potentially criminal.” 6. Getting “DOGED”: DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family. By Avi Asher-Schapiro and Christopher Bing Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U.S.-funded nonprofit. 7. “The Intern in Charge”: Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention By Hannah Allam One year out of college and with no apparent national security expertise, Thomas Fugate is the Department of Homeland Security official tasked with overseeing the government’s main hub for combating violent extremism. 8. The Price of Remission By David Armstrong When Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer, he set out to understand why a single pill of Revlimid cost the same as a new iPhone. He has covered high drug prices as a reporter for years. What he discovered shocked him. 9. “Incalculable” Damage: How a “We Buy Ugly Houses” Franchise Left a Trail of Financial Wreckage Across Texas By Anjeanette Damon and Mollie Simon Charles Carrier is accused of orchestrating a yearslong Ponzi scheme, bilking tens of millions of dollars from both wealthy investors and older people with modest incomes. Despite signs of trouble, the houseflipping chain HomeVestors of America didn’t step in. 10. The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation By Robert Faturechi and Avi Asher-Schapiro Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate. 11. This County Was the “Model” for Local Police Carrying Out Immigration Raids. It Ended in Civil Rights Violations. By Rafael Carranza, Arizona Luminaria. Co-published with Arizona Luminaria. Under Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County was one of the first testing grounds for ICE’s 287(g) program, which lets local police enforce immigration laws. Many Arizonans say those abuses parallel what’s playing out now under Trump. 12. The H-2A Visa Trap By Max Blau, ProPublica, and Zaydee Sanchez, for ProPublica, with illustrations by Dadu Shin for ProPublica Sofi left behind her child in Mexico for the promise of providing him a better life. She ended up a victim of an operation that is alleged to have exploited the H-2A visa program — and the workers it brought to America. 13. “Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas. By Kavitha Surana and Lizzie Presser, photography by Lexi Parra for ProPublica ProPublica has found multiple cases of women with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions. Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother, was told by doctors there was no emergency before preeclampsia killed her. 14. To Pay for Trump Tax Cuts, House GOP Floats Plan to Slash Benefits for the Poor and Working Class By Robert Faturechi and Justin Elliott A menu of options being circulated by congressional Republicans also includes new tax cuts for corporations and the ultrawealthy. 15. Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations By Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirements, experts say. 16. We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. By Nicole Foy, photography by Sarahbeth Maney The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And nearly 20 children, two of whom have cancer. 17. Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera. By Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy, photography by Peter DiCampo Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a result. 18. “The President Wanted It and I Did It”: Recording Reveals Head of Social Security’s Thoughts on DOGE and Trump By Eli Hager In a recording obtained by ProPublica, acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek portrayed his agency as facing peril, while also encouraging patience with “the DOGE kids.” 19. This Charter School Superintendent Makes $870,000. He Leads a District With 1,000 Students. By Ellis Simani, ProPublica, and Lexi Churchill, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune. Co-published with The Texas Tribune. On paper, Salvador Cavazos earns less than $300,000 to run Valere Public Schools, a small Texas charter network. But taxpayers likely aren’t aware that in reality, his total pay makes him one of the country’s highest-earning superintendents. Read More 25 Investigations You May Have Missed This Year 20. What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trump’s Shadow President By Andy Kroll Vought is the architect of Trump’s broader plan to fire civil servants, freeze government programs and dismantle entire agencies. Here are some key things to know about the D.C. insider who wants to take a hatchet to the federal government. 21. “Slow Pay, Low Pay or No Pay” By T. Christian Miller Blue Cross authorized mastectomies and breast reconstructions for women with cancer but refused to pay the full doctors’ bills. A jury called it fraud and awarded the practice $421 million. 22. “We’re Broken”: As Federal Prisons Run Low on Food and Toilet Paper, Corrections Officers Are Leaving in Droves for ICE By Keri Blakinger Many of the problems the agency is facing now are not new, but staff and prisoners fear an exodus of officers could make life behind bars even worse. 23. He Spent Funds Meant for Native Hawaiians on Polo and Porsches. The Federal Government Failed to Stop Him. By Nick Grube, Honolulu Civil Beat. Co-published with Honolulu Civil Beat. A small business program allowed Christopher Dawson to win big contracts if he promised to uplift Native Hawaiians. Instead, federal prosecutors allege, he used the money to line his own pockets. 24. Young Girls Were Sexually Abused by a Church Member. They Were Told to Forgive and Forget. By Jessica Lussenhop, ProPublica, and Andy Mannix, Minnesota Star Tribune, photography by Leila Navidi, Minnesota Star Tribune. Co-published with Minnesota Star Tribune. In Minnesota, leaders of an Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community enabled a child abuser by telling his victims that once the sins were “washed away in the blood of reconciliation,” they could never speak of them again. 25. Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. By Lizzie Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou and Kavitha Surana ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban. The post The Most-Read ProPublica Stories of 2025 appeared first on ProPublica.
Medical Examiners Warn That Controversial Lung Float Test Could Be Dangerous
The post Medical Examiners Warn That Controversial Lung Float Test Could Be Dangerous appeared first on ProPublica.
The nation’s largest organization for medical examiners has issued a warning about a controversial, centuries-old forensic test that has contributed to cases in which pregnant women have been charged with murder. The premise behind the lung float test is simple: If a baby was born alive and then died, air from its first breaths would cause its lungs to float in a jar with water. If the baby was stillborn, the lack of air in the lungs would cause them to sink. But the many critics of the test have long labeled it junk science and drawn parallels between the test and witch trials, where women were deemed witches based on whether they floated or sank. The National Association of Medical Examiners addressed the lung float test as part of a larger position paper released in October on investigating perinatal deaths, including stillbirths. A panel of 11 experts said the test has “known pitfalls” and is of “questionable value” and “without clearly defined error rates.” “Those who use the lung float should be wary of accepting the results when it conforms to their summation of the findings and rejecting the result if it conflicts; a ‘test’ used in such fashion inevitably becomes more dangerous than useful,” the authors wrote. The paper follows a 2023 investigation by ProPublica into the use of the lung float test in cases where women were charged with murder despite their claims that they had a stillbirth. ProPublica found that the test was deeply flawed, lacked the basic standardization of trusted forensic disciplines and did not have full support from any of the country’s 12 largest medical examiners’ offices. The test is typically used where someone gives birth outside of a hospital or without medical supervision. But the paper cautioned that the distinction between a liveborn and stillborn infant can be very difficult to discern. Other than food in the stomach, the authors wrote, there is no diagnostic tool or finding that can “stand alone as the sole determinant of whether an infant was liveborn or stillborn.” Because a determination of livebirth or stillbirth may result in criminal charges, the paper’s authors wrote that a high degree of certainty is required. They concluded that if the autopsy and investigative findings do not provide “clear and convincing evidence of live birth, it is recommended to default to a designation of fetal death (stillbirth).” Dr. Reade Quinton, the president of National Association of Medical Examiners and an associate professor of pathology at the Mayo Clinic, said he thinks this is the first time in the association’s nearly 60 years that it has issued a position paper that includes a statement on the lung float test. The paper is expected to be published next year in the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. “We hope that this paper will provide guidance on how to address these complex cases,” he said. In another response to ProPublica’s investigation, a group of medical and legal experts convened a study group to examine the lung float test and determine whether it should be used in court. That effort is ongoing. At the time of ProPublica’s investigation, Dr. Odey Ukpo, the chief medical examiner in Los Angeles County, said his department did not use the lung float test because it was “unreliable and inaccurate.” He said this month that his office remains committed to “evidence-based medicine” and that the position paper “exemplifies that forensic medicine is aligned with those practices.” Some medical examiners who use the test have said they worry they will be criticized for not doing it since it is often included in forensic pathology training. The paper makes clear that there is “no reason to mandate its performance.” It also underscores the lack of data around the test and the wide variation in how it is performed. The paper’s findings are particularly relevant in the wake of a growing concern around criminalizing pregnancy loss following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate a constitutional right to abortion. In September, the New York-based nonprofit Pregnancy Justice released a report that examined prosecutions in the two years after the Dobbs decision. During that time, more than 400 people were charged with pregnancy-related crimes, including 31 who had a pregnancy loss. That, according to a release about the report, treated “miscarriage and stillbirth as suspicious events rather than personal, medical experiences.” ProPublica’s 2023 investigation examined the case of Moira Akers, a Maryland mother who was charged with murder and child abuse. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison after prosecutors cited a lung float test as part of the evidence against her. Akers had insisted that her baby was stillborn. “These lungs floated,” the prosecutor said during closing arguments. “They floated because this child had breathed and was alive after he was delivered at home that day.” In February, the Maryland Supreme Court granted Akers a new trial, though it didn’t rule on the use of the lung float test and instead focused on Akers’ abortion search history and lack of prenatal care. A spokesperson for the Howard County state’s attorney’s office did not answer questions about the position paper or whether prosecutors plan to use the results of the lung float test at Akers’ new trial, which is scheduled for June. ProPublica also wrote about Latice Fisher, who had delivered her baby in the toilet and told her husband, who then called 911. The medical examiner in Fisher’s case performed the lung float test. Parts of the lungs floated and parts didn’t. The medical examiner ruled that the baby was born alive and died from asphyxiation. A grand jury indicted Fisher on second-degree murder charges. Fisher’s attorneys wrote to Scott Colom, district attorney for the 16th Circuit Court of Mississippi, about the test’s shortcomings, prompting Colom to do more research. He dismissed the charges against Fisher in 2019 and then presented the case and details about the lung float test to another grand jury, which chose not to indict her. The position paper, Colom said, provides much-needed guidance around the test, especially in areas like his, where people have been wrongfully prosecuted and medical examiners are not always forensic experts. “It’s important that we now have clarity on it,” he said. “Once the momentum gets towards a prosecution, it does take a bit of courage to stop that train and go back in another direction.” The post Medical Examiners Warn That Controversial Lung Float Test Could Be Dangerous appeared first on ProPublica.
How GOP Lawmakers’ Power Transfers Are Reshaping Everything From Utilities to Environmental Regulation in North Carolina
The post How GOP Lawmakers’ Power Transfers Are Reshaping Everything From Utilities to Environmental Regulation in North Carolina appeared first on ProPublica.
North Carolina voters have chosen Democrats in three straight elections for governor; the state’s Republican-led legislature has countered by siphoning off some of the powers that traditionally came with the job. These power grabs have had a profound effect on both democracy in the state and on the everyday lives of North Carolina residents, Democrats argue. The changes are “weakening environmental protections, raising energy costs, and politicizing election administration,” Josh Stein, North Carolina’s governor, said in a text message responding to questions from ProPublica. Republican leaders in the General Assembly did not respond to requests for comment or emailed questions about the power shifts. In the past, they have defended these actions as reflecting the will of voters, with the senate president describing one key bill as balancing “appointment power between the legislative and executive branches.” Read More Inside the North Carolina GOP’s Decade-Long Push to Seize Power From the State’s Democratic Governors Former state Sen. Bob Rucho, a Republican picked to sit on the state elections board after lawmakers shifted control from Stein to the Republican state auditor, said the changes would fix problems created by Democrats. “Republicans are very proud of what’s been accomplished,” Rucho said. Shifting authority over the elections board, he argued, would “reestablish a level of confidence in the electoral process” that Democrats had lost. ProPublica recently chronicled the nearly 10-year push to take over the board, which sets rules and settles disputes in elections in the closely divided swing state. Decisions made by the board’s new leadership — particularly on the locations and numbers of early voting sites — could affect outcomes in the 2026 midterms. Below, we examine how other power transfers driven by North Carolina’s Republican legislature are reshaping everything from the regulations that protect residents’ drinking water to the rates they pay for electricity to the culture of their state university system. How North Carolina’s Governor Got Weaker Over the Past Decade ProPublica tracked 29 executive powers and prerogatives traditionally held by North Carolina’s governor and other Democrats that have been targeted by its Republican-majority legislature since the end of 2016. We found many have been stripped away, leaving the governor the nation’s weakest. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="698" height="806" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nc-gov-fallback_40971f.png" alt="A list of 29 North Carolina governmental entities and powers controlled by the governor or other Democrats that Republican lawmakers have tried to take away. " class="wp-image-62266" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nc-gov-fallback_40971f.png 698w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nc-gov-fallback_40971f.png?resize=260,300 260w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nc-gov-fallback_40971f.png?resize=422,487 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nc-gov-fallback_40971f.png?resize=552,637 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nc-gov-fallback_40971f.png?resize=558,644 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/nc-gov-fallback_40971f.png?resize=527,609 527w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px" /> Note: Data covers December 2016 to December 2025. Sources: ProPublica review of North Carolina legislation and court cases; expert interviews. Chris Alcantara/ProPublica Environmental Management Commission What it is: The Environmental Management Commission adopts rules that protect the state’s air and water, such as those that regulate industries discharging potentially carcinogenic chemicals in rivers. Power transfer: In October 2023, Republican legislators passed a law shifting the power to appoint the majority of the commission’s members from the governor to themselves and the state’s commissioner of agriculture, who is a Republican. What’s happened since: The new Republican-led commission has stymied several efforts by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality to regulate a potentially harmful chemical, 1,4-dioxane, in drinking water. Advocates for businesses, including the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, had criticized some regulations and urged the commission to intervene. “Clean water is worth the cost, but regulators should not arbitrarily establish a level that is low for the sake of being low,” the chamber said in a press release. The Southern Environmental Law Center, which has pressed the state to regulate the chemical, has said the commission’s rulings are “crippling the state’s ability to protect its waterways, drinking water sources, and communities from harmful pollution.” Utilities Commission What it is: The North Carolina Utilities Commission regulates the rates and services of the state’s public utilities, which include providers of electricity, natural gas, water and telephone service. The commission also oversees movers, brokers, ferryboats and wastewater. Power transfer: In June 2025, a trial court sided with the General Assembly in allowing a law passed in 2024 to take effect, removing the governor’s power to appoint a majority of the commission’s members and transferring that power to legislative leaders and the state treasurer, who is a Republican. What’s happened since: The state’s primary utility, Duke Energy, has backed off from some plans to rely more on clean energy and retire coal-fired power plants. In November, the company said it would seek the commission’s approval to raise rates by 15%. In response to a new resource plan the company filed in October, the executive director of NC WARN, a climate and environmental justice nonprofit, said in a statement that Duke’s actions would cause “power bills to double or triple over time” and increase carbon emissions. The state’s governor and attorney general, both Democrats, have said they oppose the rate hike. Garrett Poorman, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, said that the company is “focused on keeping costs as low as possible while meeting growing energy needs across our footprint” and that the company had recently lowered its forecasted costs. The commission will decide whether to approve the proposed rate hikes in 2026. University of North Carolina System What it is: The University of North Carolina System encompasses 17 institutions and more than 250,000 students, including at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, considered one of best in the nation. Power transfer: Though the legislature has traditionally appointed the majority of the trustees for individual schools, the governor also made a share of these appointments. In 2016, the legislature passed a law that eliminated the governor’s ability to make university trustee appointments. In 2023, changes inserted into the state budget bill gave the legislature power to appoint all of the members of the state board that oversees community colleges and most of those colleges’ trustees. The governor had previously chosen some board members and trustees. What’s happened since: The system has created a center for conservative thought, repealed racial equity initiatives, suspended a left-leaning professor, gutted a civil rights center led by a professor long critical of Republican lawmakers and appointed politically connected Republicans to the boards. Republicans say the moves are reversing the system’s long-term leftward drift. “Ultimately, the board stays in for a while, and you change administrators, and then start to moderate the culture of the UNC schools,” said David Lewis, a former Republican House member who helped drive the changes to the university system. Democrats, including former Gov. Roy Cooper, have criticized the board changes as partisan meddling. “These actions will ultimately hurt our state’s economy and reputation,” Cooper said in a 2023 press release. The post How GOP Lawmakers’ Power Transfers Are Reshaping Everything From Utilities to Environmental Regulation in North Carolina appeared first on ProPublica.
Our Reporters Reached Out for Comment. They Were Accused of Stalking and Intimidation.
The post Our Reporters Reached Out for Comment. They Were Accused of Stalking and Intimidation. appeared first on ProPublica.
This summer, my colleagues were reporting out a story about the Department of Education’s “final mission,” its effort to undermine public education even as the Trump administration worked feverishly to close the agency. As we do with all stories, the reporters reached out to those who would be featured in the article for comment. And so began a journey that showed both the emphasis we place on giving the subjects of our stories an opportunity to comment, as well as the aggressively unhelpful pushback we’ve faced this year as we’ve sought information and responses to questions. Megan O’Matz, a reporter based in Wisconsin on ProPublica’s Midwest team, first asked the department’s press office for an interview in mid-August. At the same time, we emailed top administration officials who were making crucial decisions within the agency, including Lindsey Burke, deputy chief of staff for policy and programs, and Meg Kilgannon, director of strategic partnerships. In response to the outreach to Kilgannon, department spokesperson Madison Biedermann told O’Matz to “Please direct all media inquiries to press@ed.gov.” Reached on her cellphone that day, Biedermann said she was happy to look into the request. We asked for a response within a week. At that time, the published press phone number for the department appeared, at all hours, to be a black hole, with a recorded message saying it was “temporarily closed.” (It still indicates that.) Hearing nothing more, O’Matz emailed the press office again Aug. 18. And again Aug. 28 with detailed questions. She left follow-up messages on Biedermann’s cell. And on Burke’s cell, including once on her husband’s cell as ProPublica tried to find a direct way to contact Burke. To ensure fairness and accuracy, it is our long-standing practice to try to reach those who are part of our stories so that they have an opportunity to respond to them. We’d rather get responses before we publish an article than after. Reached on her cell Aug. 29, Kilgannon said she had no comment and hung up before O’Matz could explain what we planned to publish about her and her work. She did not respond to a subsequent email with those details. On Sept. 8, still hearing nothing from Burke, O’Matz reached out to the department’s chief of staff, writing: “We have been seeking to talk to the secretary and to Dr. Burke. … Can you help us arrange that?” A week later, ProPublica arranged for a letter to be delivered via FedEx to Burke’s home outlining what our reporting had found so far and to let us know if anything was inaccurate or required additional context. We invited her again to talk with us, to comment or provide any additional information. Finally, on Sept. 17, Biedermann wrote: “Just heard from an ED (Education Department) colleague that you sent these inquiries in writing to their home address. This is highly inappropriate and unprofessional. You have also reached out to employees on their personal cell phones, emails, and even reached out to employee’s family members. This is disturbing. Do not use an employee’s home addresses or relatives to contact them.” (The emphasis was hers.) ProPublica replied the following day that it’s common practice for journalists to reach out to people we are writing about. “In fact, it’s our professional obligation,” O’Matz wrote. Biedermann responded: “Reaching out to individuals about a work matter at their private address is not journalism — it is borderline intimidation. In today’s political climate it is particularly unacceptable. We received your inquiries (via email, phone calls, text messages, both on work and personal email address) and made a conscious decision not to respond, as we have every right to do.” “You are not entitled to a response from us, or anyone, ever,” Biedermann wrote. To be clear, at no time prior to this email did the department tell O’Matz that it had received her inquiries and would not comment. The article ran on Oct. 8, about two months after we first contacted the department. (I would highly encourage you to read it.) The world has come a long way since the days of “All the President’s Men” and “Spotlight,” movies that favorably portrayed journalists knocking on doors and trying to reach sources to tell important stories — in those cases, about the Watergate break-in that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation and the abuse scandal that enveloped the Roman Catholic Church in Boston and beyond. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3000" height="2385" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg" alt="A black-and-white archival photo of two men sitting at a desk covered in papers, underneath a ceiling covered in fluorescent lights. One holds a corded telephone to his ear, the other looks on." class="wp-image-62440" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,239 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,611 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,814 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1221 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1628 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,686 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,335 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,439 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,444 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,419 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,598 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,913 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-97983221_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1590 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /> Bob Woodward, left, and Carl Bernstein in the Washington Post newsroom in April 1973. More than 50 years later, reporters have gone from venerated to vilified. Ken Feil/The The Washington Post via Getty Images President Donald Trump has labeled his administration the most transparent in history, but at the same time, agencies in the executive branch have taken down datasets and pulled down public information. Trump has called the press “fake news” and called individual reporters derogatory terms. In this environment, our journalists have found that their efforts to get the real story and be fair were vilified rather than appreciated. Condemned, not commended. Take what happened with Doug Bock Clark, a reporter in ProPublica’s South office. Clark was working on a story about North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, who has remade the court to make it more partisan. Newby wouldn’t talk to Clark, so Clark interviewed over 70 people who know Newby professionally or personally, including former North Carolina justices and judges, lawmakers, longtime friends and family members. Clark reached out to Newby’s daughter, Sarah, who is the finance director of the North Carolina GOP. When ProPublica emailed questions to Sarah Newby, the North Carolina Republican Party’s communications director, Matt Mercer, responded, writing that ProPublica was waging a “jihad” against “NC Republicans,” which would “not be met with dignifying any comments whatsoever.” “I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration and I’m sure they would be interested in this matter,” Mercer said in his email. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.” (The emphasis was Mercer’s.) Or consider what happened to Vernal Coleman, a reporter in our Midwest office who has been reporting on the Department of Veterans Affairs this year as part of a team. They’ve reported how doctors and others at VA hospitals and clinics have sent sometimes desperate messages to headquarters explaining how the Trump administration’s cuts would harm veterans’ care. (The VA provides health care to roughly 9 million veterans.) And they’ve reported how nearly 40% of the doctors offered jobs at the VA from January through March of this year turned them down. Coleman was pursuing a story of interest and identified a potential source in Michigan. In an effort to contact them, Coleman visited the person’s home. He introduced himself as a reporter and explained his reasons for being there. They had a pleasant conversation, but the person ultimately declined to speak about the VA without prior authorization from their superiors. A few days later, VA Secretary Doug Collins sent out a tweet that accused Coleman of trying to “stalk” the employee. Door-knocking is not stalking, as reporter Gina Barton explains in this 2023 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel column. Indeed, federal employees have a First Amendment right to talk to the press, courts have ruled as they’ve invalidated policies preventing it. Just as my colleagues did, I reached out to those featured in this article to give them an opportunity to comment. Biedermann wrote, “Sincerely hope you print the entire back and forth so that readers understand the ProPublica method of ‘journalism.’” Mercer wrote: “Doug Bock Clark needs a hobby besides his weird obsession with North Carolina’s judges. Maybe knitting or surfing. Have a nice day!” And VA spokesperson Peter Kasperowicz wrote: “Vernal’s uninvited visit to the home of a VA employee was rude, creepy and stalker-like. No VA employee should have to worry about being accosted at home by an uninvited reporter whose sole mission is to make their employer look bad.” When told that Coleman had received threatening notes after Collins tweeted about him, Kasperowicz wrote: “We condemn all violence and threats of violence, but the secretary simply publicly highlighted Vernal’s actions. ProPublica literally does the exact same thing in every story it writes. ProPublica’s website says it wants to ‘spur reform through the sustained spotlighting of wrongdoing.’ The fact that you are whining about the spotlight being turned on one of your reporters proves you’re nothing but a bunch of hypocrites.” To be clear, Coleman did nothing wrong. The same is true of O’Matz and Clark. I am proud to call them my colleagues. They exemplify what fairness in journalism looks like. As 2026 approaches, ProPublica remains committed to telling stories of public interest and continuing to offer the subjects of our stories an opportunity to comment. As members of the public who rely on accurate reporting, you should expect no less. The post Our Reporters Reached Out for Comment. They Were Accused of Stalking and Intimidation. appeared first on ProPublica.
Someone Is Getting Away With Eunice Whitman’s Killing. Alaska’s Slow Justice System Let It Happen.
The post Someone Is Getting Away With Eunice Whitman’s Killing. Alaska’s Slow Justice System Let It Happen. appeared first on ProPublica.
Marcy McDannel slid a photograph across the steel jailhouse table to the convicted killer and watched his face for a reaction. Samuel Atchak, 27 at the time, was serving 115 years for an unusual killing. One August morning in 2014, a young woman was found stabbed in the throat and chest, her body displayed nude on the tundra at the center of the coastal Alaska village of Chevak and her clothes placed nearby. Atchak pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted sexual assault in Roxanne Smart’s death. McDannel was interested in the death of a second young woman, less than nine months later, in another Alaska coastal community that neighbors Chevak. Eunice Whitman too was found stabbed in the throat and chest, her clothes placed nearby and her body displayed nude on the tundra in a well-trafficked area of Bethel. No one had been convicted in her death. “If you don’t want to see it,” McDannel said gently, “I won’t show it to you,” according to a recording she made. Atchak didn’t mind looking at the pictures, he assured her. “I’m all right.” Second of two parts. Previously: A man spends seven years in jail as the flawed evidence against him falls apart. Today: The unfinished search for justice in the murder of Eunice Whitman. McDannel recalls he did not flinch as he stared at a redacted printout of the crime scene photo. Over the course of two hours, McDannel coaxed responses from him bit by bit. He speculated that based on the position of the body, the killer likely caught the woman off guard. Maybe surprised her from behind and strangled her, he said, with a “rear naked chokehold,” using a martial arts term. He offered thoughts about why Whitman’s body was arranged just so, what the killer’s motive might have been, even the height of the murderer. Could be someone around 5’8” judging from how the attack seemed to go down, suggested Atchak, 5’6”. A former state prosecutor turned defense attorney, McDannel thanked him for the insight and headed home. Although she didn’t ask directly, what she really wanted to know, of course, was if the man across the table had committed both killings. Atchak, one of more than a dozen people McDannel portrayed as viable suspects in court filings or in communications with state police, said in their interview that he thought he remembered passing through Bethel around the date Whitman’s body was found. State troopers later told McDannel that records placed him elsewhere. Two months before the October 2022 prison visit, McDannel had helped win freedom for her former client, Justine Paul, whom police arrested in Whitman’s murder. Like so much in Alaska’s justice system, the victory came at a glacial pace, even after physical evidence used to link Paul to the crime fell apart. He spent seven years in jail. Though McDannel’s work as Paul’s attorney was done, she found she couldn’t let the case go. Someone had killed Whitman. If not Paul, she wondered, who? <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="501" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg" alt="A hand holds a phone with a photo of a smiling girl overlaid with an image of Jesus Christ and the words “Rest in Peace Eunice.”" class="wp-image-60517" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-29_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Heather Whitman shows a social media post memorializing her sister, Eunice. Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News Police questioned many people after Paul’s arrest, asking about their whereabouts, sometimes requesting DNA samples, but also seeking in most cases to learn about Paul’s relationship with Whitman and his movements the night she was killed. The investigation left unresolved clues, such as male DNA on Whitman’s body that came from someone other than Paul. The lab found no match for him, the four men who reported finding the body or a registered sex offender captured on security video nearby. As for Atchak, records from state troopers and Bethel police do not show anyone asked him about the case during the investigation, despite striking similarities between the Smart and Whitman murders and despite media attention they each received locally. Atchak declined two requests for an interview sent through prison officials and did not respond to written questions delivered to him this month. His last known attorney also did not respond. Bethel police announced Paul’s arrest to the news media the day after the body was found. The state went to the grand jury 11 days after the investigation began. McDannel said police and prosecutors could have waited until testing was done on the key physical evidence. Other attorneys said Alaska’s legal system could move cases like Paul’s far more swiftly to trial, where the validity of evidence can be judged. Either of these possibilities might have kept Paul from spending years in jail on an indictment that prosecutors ultimately admitted they could no longer support. It could have saved the victim’s family from going years without anyone being tried for her murder. It could have led investigators to pursue more leads while the case was relatively fresh. The former lead Bethel police investigator said she continues to believe Paul is guilty and defended the efforts of law enforcement. Prosecutors have said that they and the police acted properly during the investigation. The Alaska Department of Law, which oversees prosecutors, said the state changed course after new information came to light. But the department also acknowledged that the time the case took was “unacceptable” and said multiple factors contributed to delays, including prosecutor turnover. Today, Alaska state police are back at square one. They reopened the investigation of Whitman’s death this year, three years after Paul’s charges were dismissed. They said they couldn’t discuss whether they have ruled out anyone as a suspect. Whitman’s sister Heather said she remains firmly convinced that Paul is responsible, possibly with an accomplice. Paul could come under renewed scrutiny if police were to find new evidence that’s stronger than what prosecutors showed grand jurors. In response to questions, the Law Department left open the possibility a court might allow him to be charged again. The department has noted that the dismissal of charges is not the same as a declaration of a defendant’s innocence. But as with any potential suspect, in any cold case, the passage of time has made the task more challenging. This is a story of a state legal system that failed every person it touched — especially Eunice Whitman. Eunice Whitman Eunice Whitman was the youngest of six siblings. Her sister Heather called her “the light to everyone’s life.” She was happy, a lover of heavy metal and house parties. She grew up in Bethel, attending a local school where the Indigenous Yup’ik language was taught. Heather named her daughter after Eunice. Now 8, the girl reminds everyone of her namesake for her silliness. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3000" height="2000" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg" alt="A girl with brown bangs and a tie-dyed sweatshirt with the word “Happy” sits next to a woman with short black hair and a black jacket. They are sitting in a diner and the woman is holding an open menu." class="wp-image-60503" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251103-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-28_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /> Heather Whitman and her 8-year-old daughter, Eunice. Heather’s daughter never got to meet her namesake. Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News “Oooh la la,” said little Eunice, as a server placed a glass of Dr Pepper on the table of a Bethel pizza parlor one recent afternoon. She sat attentively as her mother recounted the family’s history for a reporter. Eunice ordered a burger, heavy on the ketchup. Heather Whitman sat beside her, her long hair recently cut. So many split ends, she said. No one has been able to braid it as tightly as she likes since her sister died. Heather and Eunice’s other surviving sister, Sarah, work at a convenience store at the end of the boardwalk where Eunice’s body was found, a busy footpath crisscrossing a wetland at the center of town. Heather said her bedroom faces that same marshy tundra. She said she keeps the window closed and avoids the boardwalk. When the city finally placed streetlights along its wooden planks last year, she said, she hugged one of the construction workers. Eunice’s father declined an interview request. Sarah Whitman said she wasn’t ready to talk about her sister’s murder. Details of how Eunice met Justine Paul, her boyfriend of five months when she died, come from Paul’s mother. Joann Paul Carl said her son had known Whitman since they were kids. The two met when Whitman visited Kipnuk, a neighboring village where Carl and Paul lived, for the Native Youth Olympics. They started dating in January 2015. Carl said her son was soon talking about proposing. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="570" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?w=752" alt="A map of southwest Alaska shows the towns of Kipnuk, Bethel and Chevak clustered near the west coast. The city of Anchorage is located hundreds of miles to the east." class="wp-image-62782" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg 1080w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=300,228 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=768,582 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=1024,777 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=863,654 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=422,320 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=552,419 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=558,423 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=527,400 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251215-pretrial-map-applenews_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_quality_95_embedColorProfile_true.jpg?resize=752,570 752w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> The Alaska Native villages of Kipnuk and Chevak are both a short plane ride from Bethel, a regional hub of 6,000 people in southwest Alaska. Lucas Waldron/ProPublica The day before the murder in May 2015, Paul was visiting Bethel. A video recovered from Paul’s phone would show her on the boardwalk arguing with the person behind the camera at 12:11 a.m., according to state troopers. Paul told police the couple went separate directions at 1 a.m. About three hours after that, a group of young men reported finding her body as they looked for a place to get high. The case quickly made headlines. Radio stations and newspapers ran stories quoting police saying they found Whitman’s blood on Paul’s clothes. As the years wore on, police and prosecutors released no updates to the public on why a case presented as open-and-shut was taking so long to reach a jury. Nothing about how the state crime lab found that the blood was consistent with DNA from Paul, not Whitman. No word on the state dropping the charges. Heather Whitman said she didn’t know the reason for the dismissal until told recently by a reporter. She said she and her family feel he has gotten away with murder. The void of coverage in the local news media left an aspect of the case unknown to the general public, at least to anyone who wasn’t scouring the red case folder at the Bethel courthouse. Paul’s attorneys submitted court filings that listed others they said could have killed Whitman. McDannel, who took over the case in 2018, said she came to believe the police had gone after the wrong man. An Alleged Confession <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3000" height="2000" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg" alt="A man with a goatee wearing an orange shirt stares off camera." class="wp-image-60504" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251113-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-38_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /> Kyle Jones says he never killed anyone, including Eunice Whitman. Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News In the days after Whitman’s killing in 2015, the chief investigator in the case spoke with a man named Kyle Jones, who’d known the victim since childhood. Paul had told police he ran into Jones the night of the killing — on the boardwalk, around 3 or 4 a.m. It was after Paul last saw Whitman, based on what Paul told police, but before dispatchers took the call reporting the body. Speaking to the lead detective, Bethel Sgt. Amy Davis, Jones confirmed Paul’s account of what happened when they crossed paths. Jones said Paul told him he was out looking for his girlfriend, the investigator’s write-up shows. Both men were in the vicinity of the crime scene around the presumed time of Whitman’s death. Davis said she treated only one, Paul, as a suspect because she saw nothing further to indicate Jones did something wrong. Paul had blood on his clothing and shoes with a tread that Davis thought resembled prints at the crime scene. In 2019, McDannel filed a court motion saying Jones had “admitted to killing Eunice Whitman to another individual while crying and intoxicated.” McDannel told the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica that the person was Jones’ aunt, who’d approached her with the information. The newsrooms’ attempts to contact the aunt by phone and email were unsuccessful. Jones had a documented history of violence on the boardwalk by the time of the filing. In 2011, Jones was charged with felony assault in the beating of a woman he encountered on the walkway. He eventually pleaded guilty. Five years later, almost exactly a year after Whitman’s death and in nearly the same spot, he was accused of stabbing a man twice in the side. Jones pleaded guilty to felony assault in that case too. In two recent interviews at an Anchorage jail, Jones admitted to prior violence like the attacks in 2011 and 2016 on the boardwalk. But he never killed anyone, including Whitman, he said. “If I have a body, I will claim it,” Jones said from behind thick glass. During the first interview, he was awaiting trial on charges of violating a protective order filed by his ex-wife and of illegal contact with a victim. He had pleaded not guilty. By the time of the second interview, two weeks later, he’d been charged with an additional 20 counts of illegally contacting a victim. He pleaded not guilty to those charges as well. Jones said the drunken “confession” that Paul’s attorney wrote about in court wasn’t about murder at all. Jones said he told his aunt during a car ride that he felt responsible for Whitman’s death. He told a reporter he believed at the time that Paul killed Whitman out of jealousy of her longtime friendship with Jones. By coincidence, Jones and Paul shared a cell in Bethel’s small-town jail for a few weeks in 2016. Paul was awaiting trial for Whitman’s murder, Jones for the recent stabbing in the same location. Jones noticed that Paul had drawn a picture of his girlfriend and written “R.I.P.,” which he hung in the cell. One day, as the men played cards, Paul stood up and quietly set about making coffee. There was something about the way Paul moved. The way he didn’t want to fight. Jones said a realization struck him: “This guy, I don’t think he did it.” <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="501" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg" alt="A man with a goatee and gages holds the back of his head and cries." class="wp-image-60502" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250425-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-07_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Alaska locked up Justine Paul, Whitman’s boyfriend, for seven years without trial. Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News After McDannel filed her court motion saying Jones confessed, Bethel police reexamined the old evidence that had never been explained: the unidentified male DNA recovered from Whitman’s body. The state crime lab compared it with Jones’ DNA. Like other samples before, it was not a match. But Jones wasn’t the only person McDannel had listed as a potential suspect in court filings. (The court did not rule on the validity of the filings because the case didn’t go to trial.) Police should have treated no fewer than 12 people as suspects of “higher interest” than Paul, according to a report written by defense witness Gregory Cooper. The founder of the Cold Case Foundation, Cooper is listed on the nonprofit’s website as a former acting unit chief for the FBI’s behavioral science unit. All the people described in the report were seen in the vicinity or had encountered the victim earlier, he wrote. These included an ex-boyfriend Whitman had named in a restraining order the year before. He told police he had an alibi. He has since died. Another man managed the nearby convenience store and told police Whitman texted him around 2:30 a.m., which was 90 minutes before her body was reported found. He told police he overheard the couple arguing, a statement he repeated to the grand jury. He too is now dead. The defense later added one more name to the persons-of-interest list: a man who fought with Paul days before Whitman’s murder. A week after she died, he had her phone in his possession and a bandage on his hand, according to police reports. The man told police his girlfriend, who was friends with Whitman, found the phone at the couple’s home “the other day.” His girlfriend corroborated finding it to the police. The man handed it over to Davis. He told her the bandage was because a dog bit him. The man did not respond to texts and phone calls from the newsrooms or to an email asking to discuss the homicide case and his interactions with police. Davis, in discussions with the Daily News and ProPublica this year, rejected the possibility that anyone other than Paul could have killed Whitman. “We had the right person in jail,” she said. It’s the defense’s job, she added later by email, to “present alternative theories no matter how ridiculous they are. They want to present doubt.” The Earlier Killing In the end, Paul’s defense attorneys didn’t need to show a jury alternative suspects. Prosecutors allowed the charges to be dropped in 2022 after the defense noted in court that the key physical evidence had not delivered on what prosecutors promised. Yet McDannel, who said she believed in his innocence, wasn’t finished. She said she wanted to clear her former client’s name. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3000" height="2000" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg" alt="A woman with short gray hair, black glasses, a brown leather jacket and polka-dot blouse stands in front of a dark, snow covered landscape." class="wp-image-60500" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/251120MarcyMcDannel2_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /> Marcy McDannel, a former state prosecutor turned defense attorney, helped win freedom for her former client, Paul. Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News Just two weeks after his release, an investigator working for McDannel ran across a newspaper story that stopped her cold. It described a stabbing case that involved a young woman in the village of Chevak nine months before Whitman died. The body of 19-year-old Roxanne Smart was found by a passerby the morning of Aug. 27, 2014, according to Alaska State Troopers. She had been sexually assaulted, strangled and stabbed in the groin, abdomen and throat. In addition to having her bloody clothes removed and set nearby like Whitman’s, her body was also found with legs outstretched. People had seen a young man named Samuel Atchak behaving strangely near the murder scene. Troopers obtained a DNA sample from him a month later after he tried overdosing on pain pills and was placed in a jail cell for his own protection. Six months after that, on March 31, 2015, the state crime lab linked Atchak’s DNA to evidence at the scene. Atchak confessed when troopers confronted him on July 24, 2015, according to their report. “I surprised her from behind,” he explained to the troopers. “Her last words were, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ and then she blacked out.” McDannel’s investigator placed Atchak’s movements on her timeline: The date of Whitman’s killing in nearby Bethel came while Atchak was under investigation but still walking free. What’s more, the investigator was able to trace Atchak’s whereabouts to Anchorage just five days after Whitman died, and she knew the only flight from Chevak to Anchorage stops in Bethel. The similarities seemed to have eluded police. Davis, the Bethel sergeant who led the Whitman murder investigation, told ProPublica and the Daily News she was unfamiliar with Smart’s murder. State troopers declined to say whether they considered the two murders possibly connected back then. McDannel’s investigator told her boss about Atchak. They agreed they needed to hear from the man. The pair drove two hours to the state prison in Seward, beating the first snowstorm of 2022. McDannel took her time after Atchak walked into the room. She began by telling him about Paul and the killing he was accused of committing in Bethel. She made small talk about people Atchak knew in Bethel, how often he traveled there. The young man described his life before Smart’s murder. A difficult childhood with a skin condition that made him a target for teasing. Anger at his parents. McDannel slowly steered the discussion to Whitman’s murder, exploring what sounded to the attorney like echoes of Smart’s killing. She asked Atchak what happened with Smart. Atchak said he thought they were going to have sex, and then she turned him down. Based on his own experience, did Atchak think Whitman’s killer might have had the same motive? Was the man angry? There were so many stab wounds, including to the neck. “It’s the best, like quickest way to let someone die,” Atchak responded. “That’s what I think. Like a slit throat. That’s what I’m thinking. The other stabs to the body, probably the anger that was probably in their mind.” <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="766" width="1149" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg" alt="Bare tree branches blur in and out from motion." class="wp-image-60499" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-15_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px" /> Brush moves in the wind near the place where Eunice Whitman was stabbed to death. Katie Baldwin Basile for ProPublica Although McDannel never asked Atchak during the interview whether he killed Whitman, the attorney hinted at it. Atchak said he thought he remembered stopping in Bethel on May 23 or 24, which was the weekend of Whitman’s death, but said he never left the airport. McDannel said she and her investigator had their doubts. They came away with an odd decision for a defense team. They approached law enforcement with the information they had obtained. They hoped it might prompt the state crime lab to check the unidentified male DNA on Whitman’s body against Atchak’s. Troopers thanked them for the tip. But on Dec. 11, 2023, Trooper Investigator Dugger Cook wrote McDannel to say the state had taken a look and ruled out Atchak based on “search warrants for travel and medical records.” Troopers didn’t provide her with the documents they said supported their conclusion. The agency told the Daily News and ProPublica it can’t talk about potential suspects or evidence that might exist in the case. Without seeing the records, McDannel said, she didn’t believe the alibi. Atchak’s own description of his travels during his interview with her put him potentially in town, at least briefly, near when Whitman was killed. But she was out of options. She was officially off the case. New Eyes on the Investigation Another year passed. Then, this past January, something changed. Antonia Commack, an advocate for murdered and missing Indigenous people, posted a video to TikTok and Facebook reviving questions about Whitman’s unsolved murder. Viewers flooded the Bethel Police Department afterward with phone calls urging action. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="790" width="527" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg" alt="A woman wearing a black hat, black jacket, jeans and boots stands beside and looks down on a small child wearing a neon snowsuit. They are standing near snow covered vegetation." class="wp-image-60505" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg 2001w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=200,300 200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=768,1151 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=683,1024 683w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1025,1536 1025w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1366,2048 1366w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=863,1294 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=422,633 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=552,828 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=558,837 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=527,790 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=752,1127 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1149,1723 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20251130-Basile-AK-Pretrial-Delays-10_preview_maxWidth_3000_maxHeight_3000_ppi_72_embedColorProfile_true_quality_95.jpg?resize=1067,1600 1067w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 527px) 100vw, 527px" /> Sarah Whitman and her 5-year-old child, Harvie Mattie Whitman-Aliralria, stand near the place where Sarah’s sister, Eunice, was found dead in 2015. Katie Baldwin Basile for ProPublica For many people, it wasn’t about finding a new suspect. In the absence of media coverage about the reasons prosecutors dropped charges against Paul, the public wanted to know why he was walking free. In March, Bethel police asked the state troopers’ Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons unit to take over the investigation. The head of the unit, Lawrence Piscoya, said in a May interview that detectives had begun their work fresh. Whitman’s murder was one of six cold cases the unit was working on at the time. “We have to start on Page 1 and go to the end, and there’s quite a bit in this case,” Piscoya said. “There’s a lot to understand and a lot to analyze before we begin getting boots on the ground.” The Department of Public Safety wouldn’t comment on past email exchanges in which McDannel urged further investigation of Atchak. The missing and murdered persons unit has not solved a cold case homicide since its creation in 2022. Davis, the former Bethel detective who investigated Whitman’s homicide, now works in Fairbanks. She called it “one of those cases where I will forever lose sleep about.” Davis remains convinced that tests beyond those done on Paul’s bloody jeans and shirt would have connected him to the victim. But there is one thing that she and Paul’s defense team would agree about. It took far too long. “Maybe it’s like no single person’s fault that this happened,” Davis said. “But this case just sat on so many people’s desks and nobody really looked at it. The DA’s office there gets so much turnover. Every time I turned around it was going to a different attorney.” The state Law Department conceded in a statement that “retaining experienced prosecutors, particularly in rural Alaska, has long been a significant and ongoing challenge.” The agency said it is taking steps to stabilize staffing. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3000" height="2000" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg" alt="A man with gray hair and a gray moustache and goatee, wearing a black vest with embroidered accents and black framed glasses, raises his hands palm up." class="wp-image-62332" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Roth-MMIPInvestigatorLonnyPiscoya-01_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /> Lawrence Piscoya, head of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons unit, which has taken over the investigation of Whitman’s murder. “We have to start on Page 1 and go to the end, and there’s quite a bit in this case,” he said in May. “There’s a lot to understand and a lot to analyze before we begin getting boots on the ground.” Bill Roth/Anchorage Daily News Asked whether officials have a system to ensure defendants don’t wait years for resolution when big holes appear in the evidence, the Law Department said it continuously reevaluates every case for proof beyond reasonable doubt. It cited as an example the eventual decision to let Paul’s prosecution come to an end. Heather Whitman said if troopers are actively investigating the murder again, that is news to the family. She said no one has interviewed her, Sarah or their father, George Whitman Jr., about their last conversations with Eunice. In response, the agency said in a statement: “We recognize the profound loss experienced by Eunice Whitman’s family and understand their desire for answers. Out of respect for the family and the integrity of the investigation, we will not publicly discuss the timing or substance of communications with family members while this investigation remains active.” After Whitman died, the family left her bite-sized cupcakes at the former crime scene, Heather Whitman said. Vanilla and chocolate. “Really don’t want to forget you,” her father wrote on her Facebook page, a day after the seventh anniversary of her death. Her birthday was Dec. 14. This year, she would have turned 34. Her daughters baked an extra chocolatey cake in her memory. Half they ate that afternoon, her sister said, and half they saved for later. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1707" width="2560" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=2560" alt="A row of graves with white crosses, piles of dirt and snow in the pathways. On the grave marked Eunice Whitman, bouquets of flowers lay on top of the soil." class="wp-image-62765" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250426-Lester-AK-Pretrial-Delays-27_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /> Whitman’s grave. Her family is still waiting for justice for her murder. Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News The post Someone Is Getting Away With Eunice Whitman’s Killing. Alaska’s Slow Justice System Let It Happen. appeared first on ProPublica.
Medical License Revoked for Montana Doctor Linked to Suspicious Deaths
The post Medical License Revoked for Montana Doctor Linked to Suspicious Deaths appeared first on ProPublica.
Dr. Thomas C. Weiner, the oncologist who was the subject of a 2024 ProPublica investigation, will never again practice medicine in the state of Montana. Last week, medical board members revoked Weiner’s license, citing seven cases of malpractice. The board concluded that he had violated rules of professional conduct and provided substandard care. By law, it must report Weiner to a federal database that tracks doctors who’ve been disciplined — which will make it extremely difficult for him to practice medicine. That decision comes more than a year after ProPublica exposed how, for years, Weiner had been suspected of hurting patients, including some who died, at St. Peter’s Health, the only major hospital serving the state capital of Helena. The story, built on court and medical records, showed Weiner subjected patients who didn’t have cancer to chemotherapy and other dangerous treatments, neglected to properly treat patients who were seriously ill, overprescribed addictive narcotics and was suspected by colleagues to have hastened the deaths of more than a half dozen people. Weiner, 62, has denied mistreating patients. He did not respond to a request for comment about the board’s decision to revoke his license. St. Peter’s Health, which fired him in 2020, accusing him of malpractice, did not provide comment. The hospital has previously attributed the mistreatment of patients to a rogue doctor and says it provides high-quality care. Weiner sued St. Peter’s for wrongful termination, a case the hospital ultimately won. Weiner also filed a defamation claim against Dr. Randy Sasich, a former St. Peter’s colleague who lodged complaints about his care. Sasich remains a defendant in that lawsuit. According to an order by the Montana Board of Medical Examiners, Weiner agreed to never again seek a medical license in the state and said he no longer intended to practice there. Before his termination, Weiner was the highest paid doctor at St. Peter’s. Over the years, he made tens of millions of dollars and wielded his influence in the community to drive out hospital leaders who questioned his judgment. Colleagues feared him, and few challenged him. His firing prompted a public outcry, led by his nursing staff and former patients, many of whom continue to support him in a “We stand with Dr. Tom Weiner” Facebook group and on billboards expressing their support. The ProPublica investigation identified scores of problematic cases. The medical board, though, focused on just seven. Among them was the case of Scot Warwick, whose death and subsequent autopsy was the catalyst for Weiner’s downfall. As ProPublica reported, Weiner diagnosed Warwick in 2009 with Stage 4 lung cancer, a disease that kills most people in months. For the next 11 years, Weiner subjected his patient to round after round of debilitating therapies including chemo. In 2020, he started to decline rapidly, gaining the notice of Sasich, who couldn’t make sense of his original diagnosis and improbable survival span. But before Sasich could find answers, Warwick died an agonizing death. His widow, Lisa Warwick, ordered an autopsy. It came back negative for cancer — a finding Weiner has repeatedly dismissed — and concluded he likely died from the chemotherapy that Weiner had ordered. Medical board members confirmed the autopsy’s findings. In its written order, the board concluded that Warwick died “due to gemcitabine-associated pulmonary toxicity.” In other words, the chemotherapy killed him. The board noted that “Weiner disagrees with this finding and does not admit to it.” In response to the board’s decision, Lisa Warwick said, “It’s definitely welcomed news — very happy to hear it — but with the caveat that this whole thing took way too long.” For five years, a board that’s supposed to protect patients, she added, “blatantly turned a blind eye.” <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="502" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A woman stands in between two younger people. They are posing in front of a poster covered in family photos." class="wp-image-62694" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,576 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,352 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,502 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20231206-Johns-Montana-Doctor-005_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1334 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Lisa Warwick and her children, Peyton, left, and Brady, stand next to a collage of photographs of their late father, Scot. Louise Johns, special to ProPublica According to a hospital spokesperson, after St. Peter’s fired Weiner in 2020, it provided the medical board with thousands of pages of documents detailing its allegations, including that Weiner took over complete control of his patients’ care, which made it difficult for other doctors to see or question his treatment. Those documents, many later obtained by ProPublica, languished for years without review by the board, a mystery its spokespeople have declined to explain. The board renewed Weiner’s license in 2021 and 2023. After ProPublica’s investigation publicly revealed the hospital’s allegations against Weiner, the board renewed his license for a third time this year. Weiner’s troubles extend beyond losing his license. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice sued him, accusing him of prescribing needless treatments, double billing, seeing patients more frequently than necessary and “upcoding” — billing for more expensive treatments than he delivered. Weiner has denied the charges. For its part, St. Peter’s already agreed to a $10.8 million settlement for numerous violations of the False Claims Act related to Weiner’s billing of federal insurance programs. Read More “Eat What You Kill” Separately, the parents of a deceased 16-year-old girl whose case was prominently featured in the ProPublica investigation have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Weiner, the hospital and other staff, accusing them of substandard care and fraud, which is ongoing. In a lengthy interview with ProPublica, Weiner denied that his treatment led to her death. A criminal investigation is also underway, led by the Montana Department of Justice with help from federal investigators, according to several people who’ve been interviewed by law enforcement. That office did not respond to a request for comment. Weiner has not provided comment on the ongoing criminal investigation. Weiner sold his home in Helena this year, leaving behind a city deeply divided over his legacy and many people who still believe he was a world-class doctor who has been unfairly targeted by the hospital and the media. Anthony Olson, a former patient whom Weiner prescribed nine years of chemotherapy for a cancer that never existed, was among that group of supporters until doctors at St. Peter’s helped him accept what had happened to him. His body is still recovering from being poisoned for so long. He has thought about joining the Weiner Facebook group to share his story. But, he said: “I assume there is nothing I can say to them that will bring them around to reason. I’m just glad that no one else is going to be injured.” The post Medical License Revoked for Montana Doctor Linked to Suspicious Deaths appeared first on ProPublica.
What I Saw at a Maternity Ward in Kenya After the U.S. Cut Off Food and Foreign Aid
The post What I Saw at a Maternity Ward in Kenya After the U.S. Cut Off Food and Foreign Aid appeared first on ProPublica.
In August, I traveled to Kakuma, Kenya, to try to understand what happened when the U.S. cut off food to the world’s third-largest refugee camp. Soon after President Donald Trump froze foreign aid on his first day in office, my colleague Brett Murphy and I began hearing from government experts. We learned that despite explicit promises from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that food and other life-saving care would continue during the administration’s review of foreign aid, programs were shutting down, putting millions of lives at risk. I’ve covered health in the U.S. and abroad for 15 years, and Brett has covered both the State Department and public health in the U.S. Brett and I teamed up, interviewing dozens of government officials and aid workers, and pouring over reams of internal government documents. Then, we traveled to Kakuma (and South Sudan) to see for ourselves how these policies were affecting people. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1668" width="2560" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?w=752" alt="An illustration showing an aerial view of a refugee camp in the desert, with numerous small, simple huts, shrubs and dirt paths. In the foreground, a bird soars over the camp." class="wp-image-62360" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=300,196 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=768,500 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=1024,667 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=1536,1001 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=2048,1335 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=863,562 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=422,275 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=552,360 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=558,364 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=527,343 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=752,490 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=1149,749 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/1.Aerial-view-of-Kakuma-Camp-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=2000,1303 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /> In an investigation we published last week, we wrote about how food rations were slashed throughout the camp of more than 308,000 people. We learned first-hand how the Trump administration’s decision to withhold funding for the World Food Program’s operations in Kenya led children to starve and forced thousands of families to make impossible decisions. One of the groups hit hardest by the cuts was pregnant women. We arrived on a hot, dry day in August with Kenyan photographer Brian Otieno and went straight to the camp’s only hospital, which is run by the International Rescue Committee. The only physician working the hospital’s wards at the time, Dr. Kefa Otieno (no relation to the photographer), gave us a tour. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3000" height="2000" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg" alt="A photograph of several people hovering around a computer monitor and paperwork in a hospital setting. One of them stands as if to leave." class="wp-image-61606" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-536_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px" /> Dr. Kefa Otieno, right, was the only physician working at the hospital in Kakuma through much of August. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of a man leaning over an infant, listening to the child’s chest with a stethoscope. A woman stands behind him and looks on. They are in a hospital room with numerous hospital beds made up of simple metal frames and thin mattresses, each with a mosquito net hanging overhead." class="wp-image-62378" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-265-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Otieno tends to an infant in the maternity ward. As we entered the maternity unit, a large yellow room with around 45 beds, the majority of them occupied, the doctor explained that the aid cuts were causing an epidemic of life-threatening pregnancy complications. Starving women were giving birth to premature babies. Even those who made it to term were often dangerously underweight. The hospital was understaffed, and people in the camp were so anemic that they couldn’t get enough blood donations. Otieno had twice donated himself while he was midsurgery in order to save a pregnant woman’s life. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of two women holding each other in front of a building that says Maternity Unit in faded letters. They are on a crumbling sidewalk in the midst of dirt. The building has visible cracks and fading paint." class="wp-image-62381" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250807-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-444-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Two women embrace in front of the maternity unit. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="501" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of a dark hospital room in which several people wearing surgical gowns, caps, gloves and masks hover over a woman who is completely covered in surgical sheets. The hands of the person in the center are covered in blood." class="wp-image-62384" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-578_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Otieno performs a cesarean section. Off one side of the maternity ward was a small, stark room with a bench along one wall and two wheeled, metal beds. Otieno called it the kangaroo room. Inside were moms and premature babies too small to safely return home. The hospital had no functional incubators, so medical staff ascribe to a method called kangaroo mother care, where moms hold their babies against their skin to keep them warm and help them grow. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of a man with a stethoscope around his neck reaching his arm out to the shoulder of a woman sitting on a hospital bed." class="wp-image-62389" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250808-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-554-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Otieno speaks to a patient. There, we met Monica and her baby Mary, and Binti and her son Nuru. Both women had difficult pregnancies that the medical staff ascribed to malnourishment. Both had given birth prematurely to underweight babies. And when we visited, both had been trapped in the room for weeks, desperately trying to help their babies gain weight. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of a woman holding a device with a tube leading down to the mouth of a tiny, malnourished infant." class="wp-image-62394" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-193-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Monica feeds Mary. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of a man and a woman sitting on a hospital bed smiling at each other. A blanket-wrapped infant lies on the bed between them." class="wp-image-62399" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-058-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Monica and her husband, Ramazani. They met at church, when she was singing in the choir. Monica, 21, is funny, with a dry, sharp wit. She met her husband Ramazani at church, when she was singing in the choir. They’d dated for a couple of years before she found out she was pregnant in December last year. They were both scared and excited to be parents, but the timing of the pregnancy was unlucky: As Monica’s belly grew, food rations shrank. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="804" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?w=752" alt="An illustration of a woman and a man sitting on a bench, holding hands and smiling at each other. A cross is on the wall behind them." class="wp-image-62279" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png 2618w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=281,300 281w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=768,821 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=957,1024 957w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1436,1536 1436w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1915,2048 1915w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=863,923 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=422,451 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=552,590 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=558,597 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=527,564 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=752,804 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1149,1229 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.Monica-Ramazani-Meet-In-Church-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1496,1600 1496w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Monica began struggling with anemia and high blood pressure. Otieno told me the roots of these complications were undernourishment. Monica doesn’t remember going into labor. Ramazani found her collapsed on the floor when he returned from one of the camp’s community showers. She was having seizures, and it took a few hours before they got her to the hospital. Medical staff rushed her in for an emergency cesarean section; she was in such dire shape that staff thought they were going to lose both Monica and her baby. When we met three weeks later, Monica still struggled to speak, her tongue contorted and swollen from biting on it for so long during the seizures. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="612" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?w=752" alt="An illustration of a woman lying on a hospital bed. A man sits next to her, resting his hand on her and looking down at her." class="wp-image-62281" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=300,244 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=768,625 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1024,834 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1536,1250 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=2048,1667 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=863,702 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=422,344 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=552,449 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=558,454 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=527,429 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=752,612 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1149,935 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.Close-up-of-Monica-Ramazani-at-the-Hospital-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1966,1600 1966w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Still, she was able to tell me about her pregnancy, including a time when she was about five months along and hadn’t eaten for two days. She went to a nearby vendor to beg for a samosa on loan, promising to pay him back later in the day. She then hid in her house for several days, pretending no one was home when he came by to collect the few cents she owed. (Ramazani eventually paid him back.) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="727" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?w=752" alt="An illustration of a hand holding a samosa." class="wp-image-62280" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png 2900w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=300,290 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=768,743 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1024,990 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1536,1486 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=2048,1981 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=863,835 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=422,408 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=552,534 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=558,540 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=527,510 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=752,727 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1149,1111 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.Close-up-of-Samosa-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1654,1600 1654w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> At age 28, Nuru was Binti’s third child. She’d had no complications with her previous pregnancies, but with Nuru, she barely gained weight. Binti had come to Kakuma in 2016 after fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. When she first arrived at the camp, there was always food. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of a woman holding a blanket-wrapped infant, looking at the camera. She sits on a bench in a simple hospital room, with yellow walls covered in scratches and pieces of tape." class="wp-image-62404" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250803-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-001-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Binti and her son, Nuru. The child, her third, barely gained weight. “I had other kinds of stress, but never with food,” she said one afternoon while sitting on the floor sewing curtains for the sparse hospital room. But during this pregnancy, she said, food was all she thought about. She was so anemic and hungry that she resorted to eating clay, digging out the top layer of earth to get to the cleaner soil below, and charcoal. Her chart showed she gained fewer than 10 pounds during her entire pregnancy. Her baby, Nuru, was born at 33 weeks, weighing about 3.5 pounds. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="704" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?w=752" alt="An illustration of two hands digging into the dirt." class="wp-image-62282" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png 2800w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=300,281 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=768,719 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1024,959 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1536,1438 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=2048,1918 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=863,808 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=422,395 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=552,517 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=558,523 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=527,493 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=752,704 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1149,1076 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/5.Bintis-hands-digging-for-clay-Transparent-PDcrop.png?resize=1709,1600 1709w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Otieno wanted the babies to weigh 4 pounds before they went home, enough that they’d have a fighting chance against infection. Hospital staff put the babies on a scale every two days, and before each weigh in, Binti would get herself hyped up: “I can feel it, today is the day we are going home,” she said one afternoon. Monica tried not to think about what the scale would say. Both she and Mary had dropped weight in the preceding weeks. After so much loss, she didn’t want to get her hopes up. Monica feeds Mary. Anna Maria Barry-Jester But, while Binti and Monica were desperate to get out of the hospital and home to their families — Binti to her other children and Monica to her two younger siblings — leaving would come at a cost. If and when they went, they’d be cut off from food again. At the hospital, staff brought around three simple meals every day, typically lentils and rice or sorghum porridge. Outside the hospital, they’d have almost nothing. Facing dwindling supplies, WFP, which provides food for the camp, made the dramatic decision to only give rations to about half the camp’s residents in August. Families were placed into groups based on rough estimates of need. Even though Monica and Binti were stuck in the hospital precisely because they didn’t have enough to eat, Binti and Ramazani had both been placed in categories that meant they would get no food. Monica and her younger siblings were set to receive just 420 calories a day each. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of a man pouring porridge into a mug that a woman is holding. The two of them are in a hospital room, with simple beds and mosquito nets in the background. The porridge is in a large purple barrel, resting in a wheelbarrow." class="wp-image-62415" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250804-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-268-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Women receive porridge for breakfast at the maternity unit. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="766" width="1149" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of dozens of people sitting, on jerricans or on the ground, in two rows." class="wp-image-62418" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 3000w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,575 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,281 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,368 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,372 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,351 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,501 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,766 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250811-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-777_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=2000,1333 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1149px) 100vw, 1149px" /> Refugees line up at a World Food Program distribution point in Kakuma in August. In the meantime, Binti and Monica bonded: They told stories and held one another’s babies while they showered or went to the bathroom. They took turns sleeping on the bench so the babies could have one of the beds. Monica and Ramazani, who spent almost every night at the hospital, made sure that a tiny copy of the Bible was always placed next to baby Mary’s head. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="1887" width="2560" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?w=752" alt="An illustration of a woman sitting on a hospital bed, holding an infant, while a standing woman hands her another infant." class="wp-image-62365" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png 3667w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=300,221 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=768,566 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=1024,755 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=1536,1132 1536w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=2048,1510 2048w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=863,636 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=422,311 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=552,407 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=558,411 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=527,388 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=752,554 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=1149,847 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/6.Binti-handing-Monica-her-baby-Transparent-PDcropMOBILE.png?resize=2000,1474 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A photograph of an infant wrapped in blankets, lying on a bed with baseball-theme sheets. A woman’s hand reaches over the baby to pick up the Bible lying on the bed." class="wp-image-62423" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250802-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-051-1-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Monica places a Bible next to Mary. One Saturday morning, Otieno came in to weigh the babies. Binti bounced back and forth on her feet like a boxer preparing for a bout. Nuru weighed in at just under 4 pounds. Binti raised her arms in victory: They could go home. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A woman smiles as she holds a small infant. Behind her, a man with a stethoscope and medical gloves has a concerned look on his face." class="wp-image-62428" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-583-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Binti holds Nuru after Otieno weighs her. Then it was baby Mary’s turn. “This baby is refusing to gain weight,” Otieno mumbled, trying to still her wiggly legs to get an accurate measurement. Mary had gained 10 grams, equivalent to two-thirds of a tablespoon of water. After days of losing weight, it was perhaps a small victory, but not one that Monica would celebrate. She picked up Mary, held her against her chest, and sat back down on the bench. I asked Monica about her hopes for the future. She said all she wanted was to be resettled in the U.S. with her siblings and Mary, so they could all go to school and have enough to eat. “Fill your notebook with that,” she said. “It’s the only thing I want.” <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" height="752" width="752" src="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?w=752" alt="A woman cradles a tiny infant in one hand while holding the baby’s hand with her other hand. They are in a hospital room. In the background, a man with a stethoscope around his neck prepares medical equipment." class="wp-image-62433" srcset="https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg 1200w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=863,863 863w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=80,80 80w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=422,422 422w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=552,552 552w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=558,558 558w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=527,527 527w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=752,752 752w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=1149,1149 1149w, https://www.propublica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/20250809-Otieno-Foreign-Aid-Kenya-577-MOBILE-1x1_maxHeight_3000_maxWidth_3000.jpg?resize=400,400 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px" /> Monica and Otieno weigh Mary. At the end of September, the administration gave WFP’s Kenya operations $66 million, 40% less than the U.S. gave in 2024 and nine months into the year. WFP has said the funds will be enough to provide food to the camp through March, though rations are still far below what humanitarians consider the daily minimum of calories. In response to a series of questions, a senior State Department official told us that the U.S. still gives WFP hundreds of millions a year and the administration is shifting to investments that will better serve both the U.S. and key allies like Kenya over time. The official also said that the Office of Management and Budget, not the State Department, has ultimate authority to approve new foreign aid money. When we asked OMB about the delays, communications director Rachel Cauley told us: “That’s absolutely false. And that’s not even how this process works.” She did not clarify what was false. The post What I Saw at a Maternity Ward in Kenya After the U.S. Cut Off Food and Foreign Aid appeared first on ProPublica.