Vivek Ramaswamy’s Axovant Sciences announced its Alzheimer’s drug intepirdine failed clinical trials, causing the stock to crash 75% in one day from $200 to eventually 40 cents. Ramaswamy had sold $40 million of his personal stake at the peak while hyping the drug in media. The drug had …
Vivek RamaswamyAxovant SciencesRoivant SciencesGlaxoSmithKlinevivek-ramaswamyfinancial-fraudpump-and-dumpaxovantroivant+2 more
Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, knocking out the entire electrical grid, leaving thousands without shelter, and causing thousands of deaths directly or indirectly—exposing catastrophic infrastructure failures resulting from decades of austerity and debt service …
McKinsey & CompanyFinancial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto RicoPuerto Rico Electric Power AuthorityNaomi Kleinhurricane-mariapuerto-ricodisaster-capitalismshock-doctrinemckinsey+5 more
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin requested use of a government jet to take him and his wife Louise Linton on their honeymoon to Scotland, France, and Italy in summer 2017, sparking an inquiry by the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General. The highly unusual request for a U.S. Air …
Steve MnuchinLouise Lintoncabinet corruptionethics violationssteve mnuchinlouise lintonmisuse of funds+1 more
Amazon announced in September 2017 that it would build a second headquarters (HQ2) equal to its Seattle campus, sparking a bidding war among 238 North American cities desperate to win 50,000 promised jobs. Cities competed to offer the largest subsidy packages—with bids averaging $6.75 billion from …
Facebook reveals to Congress that Russian operatives bought $100,000 in political ads reaching millions of Americans, first admission of platform weaponization for foreign election interference, detailed in multiple congressional hearings and investigations throughout late 2017
FacebookInternet Research AgencyU.S. CongressRussian GovernmentMark Zuckerbergrussian-interferencefacebook-adselection-manipulationforeign-influenceplatform-weaponization+1 more
Wells Fargo announces that its fake accounts scandal affected approximately 3.5 million accounts—a 67% increase from the initial estimate of 2.1 million accounts disclosed during the 2016 settlement. The revised analysis covers January 2009 to September 2016, nearly twice the timeframe of the …
Facebook’s engagement-maximizing algorithm proactively amplifies Myanmar military’s anti-Rohingya hate speech and genocide propaganda, directly contributing to systematic ethnic cleansing that kills thousands and displaces over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims. The platform’s surveillance …
FacebookMark ZuckerbergMyanmar MilitaryRohingya MuslimsUnited Nations+1 morefacebookgenocidemyanmarrohingyaalgorithm-harm+6 more
The Federal Trade Commission approved Amazon’s $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market on August 23, 2017, without an in-depth investigation. This decision demonstrated regulatory challenges in addressing 21st-century tech monopolies, as the FTC did not find substantial anticompetitive …
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and his wife Louise Linton took a government plane to Louisville and Fort Knox, Kentucky on August 21, 2017, ostensibly for official business but coinciding with viewing the total solar eclipse. Mnuchin viewed the eclipse from the lawn of Fort Knox alongside Senate …
Steve MnuchinLouise LintonMitch McConnellcabinet corruptionethics violationssteve mnuchinmisuse of fundsmilitary aircraft
Three days after a white supremacist murdered Heather Heyer at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, President Trump held a press conference that shocked the nation by equating neo-Nazis with anti-racism protesters and defending Confederate statue defenders as “very fine …
Donald TrumpHeather HeyerJames Alex Fields Jr.white nationalismextremismdomestic terrorismalt-rightpresidential-misconduct
The “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia brought together neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and far-right extremists to protest the removal of a Confederate statue of Robert E. Lee. The rally descended into violence, culminating in a deadly terror attack when James Alex …
James Alex Fields Jr.Heather HeyerDonald Trumpwhite nationalismextremismdomestic terrorismalt-righthate-crimes
Federal courts strike down North Carolina’s 2011 legislative redistricting as unconstitutional racial gerrymandering, finding that Republican lawmakers illegally packed African American voters into 28 districts. In response, the Republican-controlled legislature redraws the maps with explicit …
North Carolina General AssemblyDavid LewisRobert RuchoRepublican Partygerrymanderingracial-discriminationnorth-carolinavoting-rightsrepublican-party
On July 31, 2017, SCANA Corporation and South Carolina’s state-owned utility Santee Cooper abandoned the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project after a decade of construction, $9 billion in expenditures, and massive cost overruns. Despite the complete failure to deliver any functioning nuclear …
SCANA CorporationSantee CooperKevin MarshStephen ByrneWestinghouse Electric Company+2 morecorporate-fraudinstitutional-captureregulatory-captureutility-corruptionconsumer-exploitation
President Trump traveled to Long Island to deliver a speech linking MS-13 gang violence to immigration policy, using the gang to justify harsh deportation policies. In his 2018 State of the Union, Trump highlighted the murders of teenagers Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, stating ‘Six members of …
Donald TrumpMS-13racial-politicsdog-whistle-politicsimmigrationrepublican-partyxenophobia+2 more
On July 21, 2017, the Senate confirmed Mark Esper as Secretary of the Army, installing a former Raytheon weapons lobbyist in a senior Pentagon position overseeing billions of dollars in defense contracts. Esper had served as Raytheon’s vice president of government relations from July 2010 …
Mark EsperRaytheonDonald TrumpElizabeth Warrenrevolving-doorraytheondefense-contractorspentagonlobbying+1 more
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosts the first summit meeting between Israel and the Visegrad Group (V4) countries in Budapest on July 19, 2017, meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło (later Mateusz Morawiecki), and leaders from Czech Republic and …
Benjamin NetanyahuViktor OrbanBeata SzydłoMateusz MorawieckiNSO Group+2 morenso-grouppegasus-spywarehungarypolandbenjamin-netanyahu+2 more
On a single day in late July 2017, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office removes 560,000 Georgians—8% of the state’s registered voters—from the voter rolls in what may be the largest mass purge in U.S. history. The purge uses Georgia’s aggressive “use it or lose …
Brian KempGeorgia Secretary of Statevoter-suppressiongeorgiabrian-kempvoter-purgeracial-discrimination
On June 27, 2017, the European Commission imposed a record-breaking €2.42 billion ($2.7 billion) fine on Google for abusing its dominance in general internet search by systematically favoring its own comparison shopping service over those of competitors. The decision concluded a 7-year investigation …
GoogleEuropean CommissionMargrethe VestagerSundar PichaiComparison shopping competitorsgoogleantitrusteugoogle-shoppingsearch-manipulation+3 more
Citizen Lab publishes “Reckless Exploit,” documenting that at least 22 members of Mexican civil society were targeted with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware between 2015-2017, including lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders, politicians, anti-corruption advocates, and public …
Citizen LabNSO GroupMexican GovernmentCarmen AristeguiR3D+1 morenso-grouppegasus-spywaremexicojournalist-targetingcitizen-lab+1 more
Trump called White House Counsel Don McGahn at home and directed him to call Acting Attorney General and say Special Counsel had conflicts of interest and must be removed. McGahn refused, deciding he would resign rather than trigger what he viewed as potential “Saturday Night Massacre” …
Donald TrumpDon McGahnRod RosensteinRob Porterobstruction-of-justicemueller-investigationsaturday-night-massacrewitness-tamperingdocument-falsification+2 more
Anduril Industries was incorporated on June 16, 2017, by Palmer Luckey (Oculus VR founder), Trae Stephens (Founders Fund partner and former Palantir executive), Matt Grimm, Joe Chen, and Brian Schimpf (CEO). The company was seeded by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and pitched low-cost border …
On June 15, 2017, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City initially denied Reserve Trust Company’s application for a master account, one month after former Fed Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin joined the fintech’s board. Subsequent investigations revealed that Raskin allegedly made direct …
Sarah Bloom RaskinReserve Trust CompanyFederal Reserve Bank of Kansas CityEsther GeorgePat Toomey+1 morefederal-reservecorruptionrevolving-doorsarah-bloom-raskinkansas-city-fed+4 more
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced on June 14, 2017, that she would delay implementation of Obama-era “borrower defense to repayment” regulations scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2017—rules designed to help students defrauded by predatory colleges like Corinthian and ITT Tech …
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel determined that White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino violated the Hatch Act when he used his position to call on Trump supporters to defeat Republican Congressman Justin Amash in a primary election. Although Scavino posted the tweet from his personal …
Dan ScavinoDonald TrumpJustin AmashOffice of Special Counsel (OSC)hatch actethics violationsdan scavinosocial mediatrump administration+1 more
On June 6, 2017, the Republican-controlled Kansas legislature voted to override Governor Sam Brownback’s veto and repeal the massive tax cuts enacted in May 2012, marking one of the most decisive rejections of supply-side economics in modern American history. The veto override passed with …
Sam BrownbackKansas LegislatureArthur LafferAmerican Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Kansas Republican Party+1 morekansastax-policysupply-side-economicsalecfiscal-crisis+7 more
Former Air Force veteran and NSA contractor Reality Leigh Winner was arrested for leaking a classified intelligence report documenting Russian cyberattacks on U.S. election infrastructure. Her case would result in the longest prison sentence ever imposed for an unauthorized release of government …
Reality WinnerNSAThe InterceptDepartment of JusticeTrump Administrationwhistleblower-prosecutionespionage-actrussiaelection-interferencepress-freedom
President Trump announced U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, making America the only nation to reject the accord after Syria and Nicaragua joined. Trump falsely claimed the agreement would cost America $3 trillion and 6.5 million jobs while allowing China and India to increase …
Donald TrumpParis AgreementFossil Fuel IndustryUnited StatesScott Pruittclimate-changeparis-agreementenvironmental-destructioninternational-isolationfossil-fuels
The Supreme Court unanimously rules in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (581 U.S. 258) that for patent infringement suits, a domestic corporation ‘resides’ only in its state of incorporation under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), overturning nearly 30 years of Federal Circuit …
Supreme CourtClarence ThomasTC HeartlandKraft FoodsRodney Gilstrap+1 moreintellectual-propertypatent-abusepatent-trollssupreme-courtjudicial-reform+2 more
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III as Special Counsel on May 17, 2017, to oversee the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links between the Trump campaign and Russia—just 8 days after Trump fired FBI Director …
Robert MuellerRod RosensteinDonald TrumpJames ComeyJeff Sessionsmueller-investigationobstruction-of-justicerussia-investigationspecial-counselrosenstein
Boeing delivered its first 737 MAX 8 aircraft to Malaysian carrier Malindo Air on May 16, 2017, entering revenue service on May 22. The delivery occurred despite internal Boeing communications showing employees knew the aircraft had serious safety problems, including design flaws in the MCAS system …
BoeingMalindo AirSouthwest AirlinesFederal Aviation AdministrationBoeing test pilots+1 moreboeing737-maxmcasfirst-deliveryregulatory-fraud+1 more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched an investigation into the unprecedented manipulation of its public comment system during the net neutrality repeal process. An estimated 18 million out of 22 million comments were found to be fake, generated through coordinated campaigns by …
Ajit PaiFederal Communications Commission (FCC)New York Attorney General's Officedigital-democracyregulatory-capturetelecommunicationscorporate-manipulationtechnology-policy
Hackers begin systematically exfiltrating personal data of 147.9 million Americans from Equifax systems through an unpatched Apache Struts vulnerability (CVE-2017-5638). The breach, which Equifax would not disclose until September 7, 2017, represents one of the largest cybercrimes related to …
EquifaxRichard SmithApache Software FoundationConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)corruptionregulatory-capturetechcybersecuritydata-breach+2 more
President Trump signed an executive order creating the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach as vice chair and day-to-day administrator. The commission was established after Trump made unsubstantiated …
Donald TrumpKris KobachMike PenceMatthew Dunlapvoter suppressiondisinformationtrump administrationrepublican party
The day after firing FBI Director James Comey, President Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office and revealed highly classified code-word intelligence provided by Israel about an ISIS laptop bomb plot, jeopardizing a critical …
Donald TrumpSergei LavrovSergey KislyakH.R. McMasterBenjamin Netanyahuclassified-intelligencerussiaisraelnational-security-risklavrov+1 more
Trump fired FBI Director James Comey while under FBI investigation for Russian connections. Day after firing, Trump told Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and Ambassador Kislyak in Oval Office that he had “faced great pressure because of Russia” which had been “taken off” by …
Donald TrumpJames ComeySergey LavrovSergey KislyakRod Rosensteinobstruction-of-justicereferee-neutralizationrussia-investigationfbiinstitutional-capture+1 more
Ed Feulner, who had retired as Heritage Foundation president in 2013 after 36 years of leadership, returned as interim president and CEO on May 2, 2017, after Heritage’s Board of Trustees unanimously forced out Jim DeMint due to “significant and worsening management issues” that …
Edwin FeulnerJim DeMintHeritage FoundationHeritage Foundation Board of TrusteesKay Coles James+1 moreheritage-foundationconservative-movementinstitutional-transitionleadership-crisistrump-administration+1 more
McKinsey’s influence at ICE grows to such an extent that McKinsey staff ghostwrite a government contracting document that defines the consulting team’s own responsibilities and justifies the firm’s retention—a contract extension worth $2.2 million. When an ICE official discovers …
McKinsey & CompanyImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)ICE contracting officersmckinseyconsulting-scandalgovernment-captureprocurement-abuseconflict-of-interest+2 more
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin announces that Braidy Industries, a new venture led by metals industry veteran Craig Bouchard, will build what is described as “the most sophisticated aluminum mill in the world” in Greenup County near Ashland, promising 600 well-paying jobs. One week later, …
Matt BevinCraig BouchardBraidy IndustriesKentucky LegislatureMitch McConnell+1 morecrony-capitalismkentuckycorporate-welfarestate-capturekleptocracy+2 more
DarkMatter, the UAE-based private intelligence company employing former U.S. intelligence operatives, signed a Global Strategic Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei for “Big Data” systems and “Smart City” surveillance solutions. The …
DarkMatterHuaweiErik PrincePegasusUnited Arab Emiratessurveillance-technologytechnology-transferchinauaeprivate-intelligence+1 more
Fox News fired its top-rated host Bill O’Reilly on April 19, 2017, after The New York Times revealed O’Reilly and 21st Century Fox had paid approximately $13 million to settle sexual harassment claims from at least five women over more than a decade. The women, who either worked for …
Bill O'ReillyDonald TrumpRupert MurdochJames MurdochLachlan Murdoch+1 morefox-newssexual-harassmenttrump-defensebill-oreillymedia-corruption
In mid-April 2017, just weeks after quietly departing the Trump White House in March, Boris Epshteyn was hired by Sinclair Broadcast Group as “chief political analyst,” creating a direct propaganda pipeline from the Trump administration to 173 local television stations in 81 markets …
Boris EpshteynSinclair Broadcast GroupDonald TrumpWhite House Office of CommunicationsTrump Administrationsinclair-broadcastingpropagandamedia-consolidationtrump-coordinationrevolving-door+3 more
Gorsuch sells Colorado property for up to $500,000 to Brian Duffy, CEO of Greenberg Traurig, nine days after confirmation without disclosing buyer’s identity, raising conflict concerns
Neil GorsuchBrian DuffyGreenberg Traurigjudicial-capturesupreme-courtreal-estateconflict-of-interestdisclosure-failures+1 more
The Trump Justice Department initiated a systematic surveillance operation targeting Washington Post journalists Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and Adam Entous between April 15 and July 31, 2017. The operation was part of an aggressive effort to identify sources and suppress national security …
A federal judge rules that Texas’s voter ID law, widely considered the strictest in the nation, was intentionally designed to discriminate against Black and Latino voters. The ruling finds “a pattern of conduct unexplainable on grounds other than the race factor” and marks the …
Trump Model Management quietly closes operations after 18 years, amid ongoing investigations into visa fraud and labor violations. The shutdown comes as multiple former models speak publicly about being trafficked on fraudulent visas, forced to work illegally, and subjected to debt bondage through …
Trump Model ManagementDonald TrumpAlexia Palmerbusiness-dealingsexploitationinvestigationimmigration-fraud
On April 6, 2017, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invoked the “nuclear option”—a parliamentary procedure to change Senate rules by simple majority vote—to eliminate the 60-vote filibuster requirement for Supreme Court nominations, lowering the threshold to a simple 51-vote …
On April 6, 2017, President Trump ordered the first direct U.S. military action against the Assad regime—launching 59 Tomahawk missiles at Shayrat air base in Syria—from his private Mar-a-Lago club while hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state dinner. At approximately 8:40 PM, as Trump and …
Donald TrumpXi JinpingBashar al-AssadRex TillersonVladimir Putinmar-a-lagomilitary-actionsyriaconflicts-of-interestemoluments+1 more
President Trump removed chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council Principals Committee on April 5, 2017, ending an unprecedented three-month period during which a political operative with no national security experience—and a background running Breitbart News, the platform for …
Steve BannonDonald TrumpH.R. McMasterMichael FlynnDan Coats+1 moresteve-bannonnational-security-councilpoliticizationmichael-flynnmcmaster
In April 2017, McKinsey partners send a confidential final report to the New York City corrections commissioner after spending almost three years leading their project at Rikers Island. The contract, which ultimately cost $27.5 million, ends with violence at the jail complex having increased by …
McKinsey & CompanyNew York City Department of CorrectionBill de Blasiomckinseyprison-industrial-complexrikers-islandconsulting-scandalgovernment-waste+3 more
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel approved the $25 million Trump University settlement on March 31, 2017, clearing the way for approximately 3,730 victims to receive refunds of at least 90 percent of the money they spent on Trump University courses. The approval came four months after Trump agreed …