Fiscal Responses to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.In March, as lawmakers raced to put together a massive stimulus package to cope with the pandemic-related shutdowns sweeping the country, a New York company that invests in hotels deployed a Washington lobbyist for the first time. The lobbyist’s mission was to secure an exception in the emerging relief program for small businesses so that hotel chains would become eligible.The company, EOS Investors, had more than 500 employees, putting it above...…Fiscal Responses to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.In March, as lawmakers raced to put together a massive stimulus package to cope with the pandemic-related shutdowns sweeping the country, a New York company that invests in hotels deployed a Washington lobbyist for the first time. The lobbyist’s mission was to secure an exception in the emerging relief program for small businesses so that hotel chains would become eligible.The company, EOS Investors, had more than 500 employees, putting it above...WW…

Hispanic residents in the Houston region, including Valery Martinez and her family, have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.The U.S. Response to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues. It was also produced in partnership with NBC News.HOUSTON — Two weeks after Valery Martinez’s 41-year-old cousin...…Hispanic residents in the Houston region, including Valery Martinez and her family, have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.The U.S. Response to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues. It was also produced in partnership with NBC News.HOUSTON — Two weeks after Valery Martinez’s 41-year-old cousin...WW…

Enforcing Trump’s CrackdownProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Brian Hastings, a top Border Patrol official, stared grimly at the television cameras.It was July 1, 2019, and Hastings was facing down a scandal: News reports had revealed that Border Patrol agents were posting wildly offensive comments and memes in a secret Facebook group.Agents had shared crudely manipulated images of men sexually assaulting , a New York Democrat and frequent antagonist of the Border Patrol; joked about migrants who died while...…Enforcing Trump’s CrackdownProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Brian Hastings, a top Border Patrol official, stared grimly at the television cameras.It was July 1, 2019, and Hastings was facing down a scandal: News reports had revealed that Border Patrol agents were posting wildly offensive comments and memes in a secret Facebook group.Agents had shared crudely manipulated images of men sexually assaulting , a New York Democrat and frequent antagonist of the Border Patrol; joked about migrants who died while...WW…

This story was co-published with the Kansas City Star.Kris Kobach likes to tout his work for Valley Park, Missouri. He has boasted on cable TV about crafting and defending the town’s hardline anti-immigration ordinance. He discussed his “victory” there at length on his old radio show. He still lists it on his resume.But “victory” isn’t the word most Valley Park residents would use to describe the results of Kobach’s work. With his help, the town of 7,000 passed an ordinance in 2006 that punished employers for hiring illegal immigrants and landlords for renting to them. But after two years...…This story was co-published with the Kansas City Star.Kris Kobach likes to tout his work for Valley Park, Missouri. He has boasted on cable TV about crafting and defending the town’s hardline anti-immigration ordinance. He discussed his “victory” there at length on his old radio show. He still lists it on his resume.But “victory” isn’t the word most Valley Park residents would use to describe the results of Kobach’s work. With his help, the town of 7,000 passed an ordinance in 2006 that punished employers for hiring illegal immigrants and landlords for renting to them. But after two years...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.A teenage girl carrying her baby arrived at the U.S. border this summer and begged for help. She told federal agents that she feared returning to Guatemala. The man who raped her she said had threatened to make her “disappear.”Then, advocates say, the child briefly...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This article is co-published with The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan local newsroom that informs and engages with Texans. Sign up for to get up to speed on their essential coverage of Texas issues.A teenage girl carrying her baby arrived at the U.S. border this summer and begged for help. She told federal agents that she feared returning to Guatemala. The man who raped her she said had threatened to make her “disappear.”Then, advocates say, the child briefly...WW…

Investigating America’s Largest Police ForceProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This story is co-published with THE CITY.ProPublica is working with , / and to report on how allegations of misconduct by law enforcement officers in New York are investigated and to examine and analyze police disciplinary records that have recently been made public.Cops in an unmarked van allegedly stop a driver and invasively search him in the middle of a Staten Island street.Officers, guns drawn, ransack a Brooklyn apartment —...…Investigating America’s Largest Police ForceProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.This story is co-published with THE CITY.ProPublica is working with , / and to report on how allegations of misconduct by law enforcement officers in New York are investigated and to examine and analyze police disciplinary records that have recently been made public.Cops in an unmarked van allegedly stop a driver and invasively search him in the middle of a Staten Island street.Officers, guns drawn, ransack a Brooklyn apartment —...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.It has been almost two months since a Los Angeles Police Department patrol car accelerated into Brooke Fortson during a protest over police violence. She still doesn’t know the name of the officer who hit her or whether that person is still policing the city’s streets. The officer did not stop after hitting Fortson and instead turned around, nearly hitting other demonstrators in the process, and sped off.The LAPD almost surely knows who the officer is. The squad car’s number...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.It has been almost two months since a Los Angeles Police Department patrol car accelerated into Brooke Fortson during a protest over police violence. She still doesn’t know the name of the officer who hit her or whether that person is still policing the city’s streets. The officer did not stop after hitting Fortson and instead turned around, nearly hitting other demonstrators in the process, and sped off.The LAPD almost surely knows who the officer is. The squad car’s number...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Federal authorities are using a new tactic in their battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon: arrest them on offenses as minor as “failing to obey” an order to get off a sidewalk on federal property — and then tell them they can’t protest anymore as a condition for release from jail.Legal experts describe the move as a blatant violation of the constitutional right to free assembly, but at least 12 protesters arrested in recent weeks have been specifically barred from...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.Federal authorities are using a new tactic in their battle against protesters in Portland, Oregon: arrest them on offenses as minor as “failing to obey” an order to get off a sidewalk on federal property — and then tell them they can’t protest anymore as a condition for release from jail.Legal experts describe the move as a blatant violation of the constitutional right to free assembly, but at least 12 protesters arrested in recent weeks have been specifically barred from...WW…

Fiscal Responses to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.As tenants across Florida lost their jobs and incomes during the coronavirus pandemic, executives at Axiom Realty Partners LLC, whose portfolio includes at least nine apartment buildings throughout the Southeast, applied pressure on some tenants to either pay rent or move out.One Axiom tenant, who asked that her name not be used for fear of retribution from her landlord, told ProPublica that she fell behind on rent in early April when her...…Fiscal Responses to COVID-19ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.As tenants across Florida lost their jobs and incomes during the coronavirus pandemic, executives at Axiom Realty Partners LLC, whose portfolio includes at least nine apartment buildings throughout the Southeast, applied pressure on some tenants to either pay rent or move out.One Axiom tenant, who asked that her name not be used for fear of retribution from her landlord, told ProPublica that she fell behind on rent in early April when her...WW…

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.In the midst of a billion-dollar road-building program last year, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice fired his transportation secretary. The two had disagreed about how to best spend the money.A year earlier, while the state worked to recover from a major flood, Justice ousted his commerce secretary, the cabinet member who was leading much of the effort. The governor blamed him for delays in helping flood victims.And as the COVID-19 pandemic raged this summer, Justice forced out...…ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive as soon as they’re published.In the midst of a billion-dollar road-building program last year, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice fired his transportation secretary. The two had disagreed about how to best spend the money.A year earlier, while the state worked to recover from a major flood, Justice ousted his commerce secretary, the cabinet member who was leading much of the effort. The governor blamed him for delays in helping flood victims.And as the COVID-19 pandemic raged this summer, Justice forced out...WW…