Reporter
Jake Pearson is covering the business interests of Trump Administration officials, including post-election business ventures pursued by the president's children and family company. His past investigative work has ranged from uncovering fraudulent business practices of a prominent political donor to exposing abuse and mismanagement inside New York City's jails. He previously worked for the New York Daily News, NBC News and The Associated Press.
Caroline Wren, a Trump fundraiser, is listed as a “VIP Advisor” in a National Park Service permit for the Jan. 6th rally at the Ellipse. Text messages and a planning memo show the title downplays the active role she played in organizing the event.
Here’s ProPublica’s running list of Joe Biden’s picks to run the federal government.
A top Federal Election Commission official, whose division regulates campaign cash, has shown support for President Trump and has close ties to his 2016 campaign attorney, Don McGahn. Experts said the actions raise questions about impartiality.
After Black union workers petitioned the state for more secure ballot drop boxes, top election officials called Hans von Spakovsky, a leading purveyor of discredited voting fraud claims, and then put a strict limit on the boxes instead.
Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky, whose work about voting fraud has been discredited, has been conducting private meetings for Republicans only.
Charlie Kirk’s nonprofit Turning Point USA has made misleading financial claims and gets its “independent” audits from its co-founder Bill Montgomery’s former business associate. It has enriched several of its top leaders as it pushes Trump’s message.
Beneficiaries of the PPP included a lettuce farming venture backed by Trump’s son, Kushner companies, and a dentist who golfs with the president. The figures were released after a lawsuit by several news organizations, including ProPublica.
A section of the HEROES Act championed by Virginia Democrat Gerry Connolly would cover executive compensation and other perks for defense and intel contractors. The legislation’s wording mirrors what an industry group proposed.
The two private jet companies are among the first 96 airline companies disclosed as recipients of taxpayer funds under the CARES Act.
The novel coronavirus, a respiratory illness, is damaging kidneys at an unexpectedly high rate, according to experts. A shortage of dialysis materials has forced New York doctors to directly lobby corporate executives for help.
A nonprofit started by the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot says plants are ready to produce the drug but for “red tape.” Experts caution it’s unproven and possibly dangerous.
The Republican National Committee’s conflict-of-interest policy says party contracts shouldn’t go to its employees’ family or financial associates. After Ronna McDaniel became chair, the RNC made questionable payments.
Three years after the Republican National Committee publicly sidelined the sullied firm, it paid an LLC with the same address $900,000 for “data services.” The RNC said it wouldn’t “waste any more breath explaining these innocuous issues.”
Amid the record-breaking flows of cash, the RNC is giving lucrative consulting work to a select group of political operatives with Trump campaign ties.
During a summer 2019 hunting trip, Donald Trump Jr. killed a rare argali sheep. The Mongolian government issued him a hunting permit retroactively and he met with the country’s president.
The president’s lawyer was negotiating a possible deal to co-produce a podcast with the publication — and The Hill’s John Solomon helped with the talks even as his articles were used in a disinformation campaign.
Lev Parnas, recently indicted for foreign influence in U.S. elections, collaborated closely with The Hill’s John Solomon to fuel spurious allegations involving the Bidens and Ukraine.
Shipping supplies billionaires Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein frequently back “America First” candidates and causes. When it comes to their own company, it’s a different matter.
Rudy Giuliani has been looking for “corruption” in Ukraine. It’s easy to find among the very people he’s befriended.
Tommy Hicks Jr. isn’t in government, but he’s a longtime pal of the president’s son. That has put him in the room when the administration talks China and 5G policy, and it lets him help others — including one friend who had $143 million riding on the outcome.
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