Robert Faturechi

Reporter

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Robert Faturechi is a reporter at ProPublica. He has written about how the rich avoid taxes, industry lobbying campaigns to block safety standards, conflicts of interest within government, self-dealing by political consultants and corporate donors targeting state elections officials. He broke stories on Sen. Richard Burr selling stock before the coronavirus market crash.

In 2020, he and two colleagues won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for a series of stories about avoidable deaths in the Navy and Marine Corps, and the failure of top commanders to heed warnings that could have saved lives.

His reporting has resulted in congressional hearings, new legislation, federal indictments and widespread reforms.

Before joining ProPublica, he was a reporter at The Los Angeles Times, where his work exposed inmate abuse, cronyism, secret cop cliques and wrongful jailings at the LA County Sheriff’s Department. He obtained an unprecedented cache of confidential personnel records that showed the agency knowingly hired dozens of cops with histories of serious misconduct. His stories helped lead to sweeping reforms at the nation’s largest jail system, criminal convictions of sheriff’s deputies and the resignation of the sheriff.

You can send him story tips and documents through email at [email protected] or on Signal/WhatsApp at (213) 271-7217.

Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Tax Cut”

Billionaire business owners deployed lobbyists to make sure Trump’s 2017 tax bill was tailored to their benefit. Confidential IRS records show the windfall that followed.

The Billionaire Playbook: How Sports Owners Use Their Teams to Avoid Millions in Taxes

Owners like Steve Ballmer can take the kinds of deductions on team assets — everything from media deals to player contracts — that industrialists take on factory equipment. That helps them pay lower tax rates than players and even stadium workers.

Leading Manhattan DA Candidate Has Repeatedly Paid Virtually No Federal Income Taxes

Tali Farhadian Weinstein, who donated $8 million to her own campaign, and her hedge fund manager husband paid nothing (or almost nothing) to the IRS four times in six years.

ProPublica’s Tax Revelations Lead to Calls for Reforms — and Investigation

The Secret IRS Files series has already sparked a conversation about the fairness of the U.S. tax code and raised privacy concerns.

Sen. David Perdue Sold His Home to a Finance Industry Official Whose Organization Was Lobbying the Senate

The same year FINRA was lobbying the Senate on a bill, one of its board governors paid Perdue $1.8 million for his D.C. townhouse. Perdue sits on the Senate Banking Committee, which oversaw the bill.

Georgia Senator David Perdue Privately Pushed for a Tax Break for Rich Sports Teamowners

It’s unclear why Senator Perdue was interested in tax regulation that would impact only a tiny set of the richest Americans. The effort, which wasn’t successful, could have helped several of his donors, including fellow senator Kelly Loeffler.

DOJ Frees Federal Prosecutors to Take Steps That Could Interfere With Elections, Weakening Long-standing Policy

In an internal announcement, the Justice Department created an exception to a decadeslong policy meant to prevent prosecutors from taking overt investigative steps that might affect the outcome of the vote.

The Justice Department May Have Violated Attorney General Barr’s Own Policy Memo

In a memo from May, the attorney general reminded Justice Dept. prosecutors to avoid partisan politics. Then a U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania announced an election investigation that had partisan overtones.

The Obama Justice Department Had a Plan to Hold Police Accountable for Abuses. The Trump DOJ Has Undermined It.

The Trump administration has not aggressively enforced existing agreements to monitor abusive law enforcement agencies, emboldening them to fight reforms.

Billionaire T. Denny Sanford Was Under Investigation for Child Pornography

The richest man in South Dakota, T. Denny Sanford, was investigated for possible possession of child pornography, according to four people familiar with the matter. Sanford is a major donor to children’s charities and Republican politicians.

How a Key Federal Civil Rights Agency Was Sidelined as Historic Protests Erupted

Launched by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, the Community Relations Service has been without a director and short-staffed during recent unrest. The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to eliminate the agency.

U.S. Marine Corps Concludes Its Investigation Into a Fatal 2018 Midair Crash Was Inaccurate

A new review reexamined the December 2018 crash after a ProPublica investigation revealed that Marines had been deprived of adequate training and equipment, and that their repeated pleas for help from superiors before the crash went unaddressed.

This Treasury Official Is Running the Bailout. It’s Been Great for His Family.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinich has an increasingly prominent role. He still has ties to his family’s investment firm, which is a major beneficiary of the Treasury’s bailout actions.

Richard Burr Steps Down From Chairmanship of Senate Intelligence Committee

Burr’s resignation comes after the FBI seized his cellphone Wednesday. The Republican from North Carolina is being investigated for selling stock ahead of the market crash due to coronavirus fears.

On the Same Day Sen. Richard Burr Dumped Stock, So Did His Brother-in-Law. Then the Market Crashed.

The brother-in-law, a Trump appointee, sold between $97,000 and $280,000 worth of stock. Burr is under federal investigation over whether he traded on non-public information gathered through his work in the Senate.

Sen. Richard Burr Is Not Just a Friend to the Health Care Industry. He’s Also a Stockholder.

The Republican of North Carolina, who is under investigation for his stock trading, regularly flips health care stocks even as he pushes for legislation to help the industry.

Senator Richard Burr Sold D.C. Townhouse to Donor at a Rich Price

In a private transaction, Richard Burr, Republican of North Carolina, sold the townhouse to lobbyists who had business before his committees.

Senate Intel Chair Sold Dutch Fertilizer Stock in 2018, Right Before a Collapse

The newly identified trades come as Sen. Richard Burr is under federal investigation for selling stocks ahead of the coronavirus stock market crash.

Sen. Burr Faces DOJ Investigation for Selling a Fortune in Stocks Right Before the Market Crashed

The investigation comes after ProPublica reported that the North Carolina lawmaker unloaded a significant portion of his total stock holdings before the coronavirus sell-off in the stock market.

The Senator Who Dumped His Stocks Before the Coronavirus Crash Has Asked Ethics Officials for a “Complete Review”

After ProPublica’s report that Richard Burr dumped stocks after reassuring the public about coronavirus readiness, he said he welcomed an ethics investigation.

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