Robert Faturechi
I am a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at ProPublica.
Have a Tip for a Story?
Contact me, by email or securely on Signal, with tips about the federal government and Trump’s businesses.
What I Cover
Currently I am reporting on President Donald Trump’s business interests, including Trump Media. I’m also examining the Trump administration’s trade policies.
My Background
My reporting has resulted in widespread reforms, criminal convictions, congressional hearings and new legislation.
In the past, I have written about how the rich avoid taxes, questionable stock trades by top executives, lobbying campaigns to block safety standards, conflicts of interest within government and self-dealing by political consultants. I broke stories on Sen. Richard Burr selling stock before the coronavirus market crash, helping lead to a wave of scrutiny of congressional stock trading.
In 2020, along with two colleagues, I won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for a series about avoidable deaths in the Navy and Marine Corps, and the failure of top commanders to heed warnings that could have saved lives.
Before joining ProPublica, I was at the Los Angeles Times, where my work exposed inmate abuse, cronyism, secret cop cliques and wrongful jailings at the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. I obtained a cache of confidential personnel records that showed the agency knowingly hired dozens of cops with histories of serious misconduct. The 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.
Commitment to Sources
I know how to navigate delicate stories that require sources to take extraordinary risks. I have a track record of earning the trust of people who are generally distrustful of the media. Keeping my word and protecting those sources is one of my bedrock principles.
Court Records Show That Emails and Phone Data Were Searched in Child Porn Probe of Billionaire Denny Sanford
ProPublica won access to search warrants showing a child pornography investigation of South Dakota’s richest man, confirming our reporting from last year.
How These Ultrawealthy Politicians Avoided Paying Taxes
IRS records reveal how Gov. Jim Justice, Gov. Jared Polis, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and other wealthy political figures slashed their taxes using strategies unavailable to most of their constituents.
Burr’s Brother-in-Law Called His Broker to Start Dumping Stock One Minute After a Call With the Senator
According to the SEC, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, then chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had material nonpublic information about coronavirus impact. He and his brother-in-law dumped stock before the market dropped in March 2020.
How the Trump Tax Law Created a Loophole That Lets Top Executives Net Millions by Slashing Their Own Salaries
The 2017 tax cuts made it more attractive for certain company owners to be paid in profits instead of wages. Some cut their own wages, expanding a loophole that was already costing the U.S. billions.
Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much 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.
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.
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.