Paper Trail

When the Trump administration shut down an elite FBI anti-corruption unit, investigations in progress got shelved. ProPublica reporters learned details of one of these: The CEO of a naval technology company alleged that he had bribed politicians, including Sen. Susan Collins. If he was telling the truth, his story provided a road map to how corruption really works in Washington, D.C. But the CEO was in prison for fraud, and Collins claimed she’d been cleared by the FBI. Could anything he said be true?
 
Read the original reporting here: https://www.propublica.org/article/fbi-susan-collins-navatek-campaign-donations-investigation
Contact the reporters here: Molly Redden, William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro
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Reporter Andy Kroll got his hands on secret tapes of a low-profile bureaucrat named Russell Vought. Turns out, as director of the Office of Management and Budget, he’s been quietly reshaping the federal government and commanding many of the second Trump administration’s biggest moves. 
Read the reporting here: https://www.propublica.org/article/russ-vought-trump-shadow-president-omb 
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While investigating the personal wealth of the president’s oldest son, investigative reporters Justin Elliott and Brett Murphy learned something almost too strange to be true: that a Russian oligarch closely allied with Vladimir Putin might have attended Donald Trump Jr.’s recent wedding in the Bahamas. Using a combination of social media and shoe-leather reporting, a team of ProPublica reporters soon realized that the guest list was just the tip of the iceberg.

Read the reporting here: https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-wedding-bankrolled-russian-oligarch-umar-kremlev-putin
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Major League Baseball has built a pipeline in the Dominican Republic to scoop up young players with the potential of superstars like Red Sox hero David “Big Papi” Ortiz. But reporter Gus Garcia-Roberts uncovered how MLB has allowed a shadow industry to flourish — one that exploits young players and their families. In this episode, Gus brings us the story of Belfi Rivera, a supernaturally talented young Dominican player who experienced firsthand how the system is broken.
 
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We now know harmful “forever chemicals” are likely in the bodies of most people on Earth. Decades ago, 3M knew that these chemicals had seeped into the public’s blood, but they kept that a secret. One 3M scientist helped reporter Sharon Lerner understand how they kept it quiet for so long.

Reporter: Sharon Lerner
Read More: https://www.propublica.org/article/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-inside-story
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