Saudi Arabia Launches Yemen Intervention Armed with Billions in Raytheon Weapons, Beginning Eight-Year Atrocity

On March 26, 2015, Saudi Arabia launched military intervention in Yemen’s civil war, beginning an eight-year bombing campaign that would kill over 19,000 civilians and create what the UN characterized as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The Saudi-led coalition initiated operations …

Rep. Aaron Schock Resigns Amid Luxury Spending and Mileage Fraud Scandal

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL), once considered one of the Republican Party’s rising stars, announced his resignation from Congress effective March 31, 2015, amid mounting allegations of misusing federal funds and campaign finance violations. The 33-year-old congressman, known for his camera-ready …

Wisconsin Becomes 25th Right-to-Work State, Completing ALEC's Union Destruction

Governor Scott Walker signs private sector right-to-work legislation at an invitation-only ceremony at Badger Meter in Brown Deer, making Wisconsin the 25th right-to-work state and completing the systematic destruction of union power in the state. After Act 10 (2011) eliminated collective bargaining …

FCC Votes 3-2 for Strong Net Neutrality Protections Through Title II Reclassification After Record Public Engagement

The Federal Communications Commission approves landmark net neutrality protections by a 3-2 party-line vote, reclassifying broadband internet service as a “telecommunications service” under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 to establish legally enforceable rules prohibiting …

"Corinthian 15" Launch First Student Debt Strike in U.S. History

Fifteen former students of Corinthian Colleges launched the first student debt strike in U.S. history on February 23, 2015, refusing to repay federal loans for what they characterized as fraudulent education that left them deeper in poverty with worthless degrees. Organized by the Debt Collective, …

LeeAnne Walters' Water Tests Show Lead at 104 ppb—Nearly 7 Times EPA Limit

The City of Flint tests water at the home of LeeAnne Walters, a mother of four who has been complaining about health problems since the water switch, and finds lead levels at 104 parts per billion (ppb)—nearly seven times greater than the EPA action level of 15 ppb. Walters had first informed the …

S&P Settles for $1.375 Billion Over Fraudulent AAA Ratings on Junk Mortgage Securities, While Moody's Pays $864 Million, Exposing 'Issuer-Pays' Conflict of Interest Model Where 73% of 2006 AAA-Rated Securities Were Downgraded to Junk by 2010

On February 3, 2015, the Department of Justice, 19 states, and the District of Columbia reached a $1.375 billion settlement with Standard & Poor’s (S&P) over allegations that the credit rating agency knowingly inflated ratings on risky mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt …

PredPol Predictive Policing Software Adopted by 60 U.S. Police Departments

PredPol’s predictive policing software reaches widespread adoption across the United States, with almost 60 police departments using the technology by early 2015. Major cities including Los Angeles, Atlanta, and numerous smaller jurisdictions have implemented the algorithmic crime prediction …

West Virginia Suffers Highest Per-Capita Opioid Rate, 67 Pills Per Person Annually

West Virginia emerged as the epicenter of the opioid crisis, with the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in 2015 at 41.5 deaths per 100,000 people—nearly three times the national average. From 2007 to 2012, drug wholesalers shipped 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to the state, …

Congress Appropriates $120 Million for Unwanted Abrams Tanks for Third Consecutive Year Despite Army Opposition

Congress included $120 million for Abrams tank upgrades in the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act, marking the third consecutive year lawmakers overrode Army leadership requests to suspend tank production—the first such production halt proposed since World War II. Representative Mike Turner …

Marco Rubio's Risk Corridor Amendment Triggers ACA Insurance Market Destabilization

Senator Marco Rubio successfully inserted a provision into the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 that prohibited the Department of Health and Human Services from using general appropriations to fund the ACA’s risk corridor program, limiting payments to only user …

Senate Report Documents CIA Torture Worse Than Disclosed - Rectal Feeding, Mock Executions, Deaths

The Senate Intelligence Committee report reveals that CIA torture was far more brutal and sadistic than the agency disclosed, documenting techniques that go beyond the authorized list to include rectal feeding and rehydration used as punishment, mock executions, threats to sexually assault …

Amazon Workers in Germany Strike During Black Friday for Union Recognition

Amazon Workers in Germany Strike During Black Friday for Union Recognition

In November 2014, Amazon workers in Germany organized by the Ver.di union launched strikes during Black Friday, one of Amazon’s most profitable shopping periods, as part of an escalating labor dispute that had begun in …

DaVita Pays $350 Million to Settle Doctor Kickback Allegations, Exposing Systematic Dialysis Profiteering Scheme

DaVita Healthcare Partners, the nation’s second-largest dialysis provider, agrees to pay $350 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it paid illegal kickbacks to physicians to induce patient referrals to its dialysis clinics from 2005-2014. The scheme involved DaVita offering …

Harlan Crow Purchases Clarence Thomas's Mother's House in Undisclosed Deal

Crow company purchases properties from Thomas and relatives for $133,363 including house where Thomas’s mother lives, marking first known direct money transfer from donor to justice

GM Plant Stops Using Flint Water After It Corrodes Car Parts—But Residents Must Keep Drinking It

General Motors’ engine plant in Flint stops using city water after discovering it is corroding engine parts, switching to Lake Huron water from a neighboring township at an anticipated cost to the city of $400,000. GM reports that the super-high levels of chloride in Flint River water are …

Chainalysis Founded to Provide Blockchain Forensics to Governments and Banks

Michael Gronager, Jonathan Levin, and Jan Møller found Chainalysis in late 2014, creating the first startup dedicated to Bitcoin tracing for government agencies and financial institutions. The company emerges from Gronager’s work investigating the Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange collapse, …

Apple Announces iOS 8 Encryption Makes iPhones Unlockable Even by Apple

Apple announced that iOS 8 implements encryption so strong that the company itself cannot unlock iPhones or iPads, even when presented with a valid search warrant. This represented a dramatic escalation in the encryption debate and a direct response to NSA surveillance revelations, fundamentally …

Eric Cantor Joins Wall Street Investment Bank for $3.4M After House Leadership

Moelis & Company, a Wall Street investment bank, announced the appointment of former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) as vice chairman and managing director just two weeks after his congressional career ended. According to SEC filings, Cantor’s compensation package included a …

Gamergate Begins: 4chan Harassment Campaign Becomes Political Mobilization Blueprint

On August 16, 2014, Eron Gjoni posted “The Zoe Post” attacking ex-girlfriend Zoe Quinn, sparking a coordinated 4chan harassment campaign that would become the blueprint for translating online radicalization into political action. Leaked IRC logs proved Gamergate participants manufactured …

European Court Rules Poland Violated Human Rights by Hosting CIA Torture Black Site

The European Court of Human Rights issues a landmark ruling finding that Poland violated the European Convention on Human Rights by allowing the CIA to operate a secret torture prison on its territory from December 2002 to September 2003. The court conclusively determines that Poland hosted a CIA …

Human Rights Watch Report - FBI Terrorism Prosecutions "Often An Illusion"

Human Rights Watch released a comprehensive 214-page report documenting that many high-profile FBI terrorism prosecutions were “an illusion” based on aggressive sting operations that entrapped vulnerable individuals who posed no genuine threat. The report analyzed decades of terrorism …

EU and US Impose Comprehensive Sectoral Sanctions on Russia

Following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, the European Union and United States imposed comprehensive sectoral sanctions targeting Russian financial, energy, and defense sectors. These sanctions represented a significant diplomatic and economic escalation, …

Former Utah Attorneys General Shurtleff and Swallow arrested on 23 corruption counts

Former Utah Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow were arrested by FBI and Utah Department of Public Safety agents on 23 combined felony and misdemeanor charges including bribery, accepting gifts, tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, and racketeering. Prosecutors alleged both …

Richard Mellon Scaife Dies After Investing $620 Million in Conservative Movement Infrastructure

Richard Mellon Scaife, the billionaire heir to the Mellon banking and aluminum fortune who became the most important financial architect of the modern conservative movement, died on July 4, 2014, one day after his 82nd birthday, after a battle with cancer. Scaife’s death marked the end of a …

Academi (formerly Blackwater) Merges with Triple Canopy to Form Constellis Holdings, Third Corporate Rebranding

Academi (the entity formerly known as Blackwater, then Xe Services) merged with rival private military contractor Triple Canopy to form Constellis Holdings, representing the third major corporate transformation of the Blackwater organization in seven years. The merger consolidated multiple private …

Facebook Emotional Contagion Experiment Revealed

Facebook conducted a massive psychological experiment on 689,003 users without explicit consent, manipulating their news feeds to study emotional contagion. Researchers Adam Kramer, Jamie Guillory, and Jeff Hancock published findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealing …

Supreme Court Rules Warrantless Cell Phone Searches Unconstitutional in Riley v. California

The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules in Riley v. California that police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital information on a cell phone seized from an individual who has been arrested. Chief Justice John Roberts writes the landmark opinion, declaring that “cell …

Trump: Central Park Five Still Guilty Despite DNA Exoneration

Twelve years after DNA evidence conclusively proved the innocence of the Central Park Five, Donald Trump published an opinion piece in the New York Daily News calling the city’s $41 million settlement with the wrongfully convicted men “a disgrace” and continuing to assert their …

Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank: Supreme Court Restricts Software Patents, Reducing Patent Troll Leverage Over Abstract Business Methods

The Supreme Court unanimously rules in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International (573 U.S. 208) that abstract ideas implemented on generic computers are not patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101, establishing a two-step framework for patent eligibility. Justice Thomas delivers the opinion holding that …

Supreme Court backs broad discovery in Argentina debt case (Alito joined majority); Singer's fund later benefited

In Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital (2014), the Supreme Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act does not bar post‑judgment discovery into a foreign sovereign’s assets, facilitating creditor collection efforts including by Paul Singer’s NML Capital. Justice Samuel Alito …

Federal Government Cuts Off Corinthian Colleges - 72,000 Students Trapped by Fraud

The U.S. Department of Education imposed a 21-day hold on all federal aid flowing to Corinthian Colleges on June 12, 2014, after the for-profit chain—operating as Everest College, WyoTech, and Heald College—refused to provide documentation substantiating falsified job placement rates. The action …

Germany Opens Criminal Investigation Into NSA Tapping of Merkel's Phone

Germany’s chief federal prosecutor Harald Range opened a formal criminal investigation into allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, marking the first time a major U.S. ally launched criminal proceedings against American intelligence …

SCL Elections Contracts with Kogan to Launch Cambridge Analytica Data Operation

Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) Group enters into contract with Aleksandr Kogan’s Global Science Research to acquire Facebook user data for Cambridge Analytica’s political targeting operations. This partnership transforms Kogan’s academic research into a commercial data …

FCC Approves Paid Prioritization "Fast Lanes" Proposal Despite Massive Public Backlash

The Federal Communications Commission votes 3-2 to advance Chairman Tom Wheeler’s controversial proposal that would permit internet service providers to charge content companies for priority “fast lane” access to consumers, fundamentally threatening net neutrality principles. The …

Hunter Biden Joins Burisma Board While Father Leads Ukraine Policy

Hunter Biden joined the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings, receiving up to $50,000 per month while his father Vice President Joe Biden led U.S. policy on Ukraine. State Department officials raised conflict of interest concerns in 2015. Devon Archer later testified to Congress that …

Eric Trump says all funding comes from Russia, not U.S. banks

Golf writer James Dodson reported that Eric Trump told him in 2014: “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” When asked about financing golf courses during the recession when banks weren’t lending, Eric allegedly added they had …

Flint Switches to Corrosive River Water to Save Money, Poisoning Entire City

Officials in Flint, Michigan switch the city’s water supply from treated Detroit water (sourced from Lake Huron) to the polluted Flint River as a cost-cutting measure, beginning one of the worst public health disasters in modern American history. The decision, made by state-appointed emergency …

Supreme Court Strikes Down Aggregate Campaign Contribution Limits in McCutcheon v. FEC

Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that aggregate limits on total contributions an individual can make to federal candidates, parties, and PACs over a two-year election cycle violate the First Amendment. Chief Justice Roberts authored the majority opinion, joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, and Alito, with …

Annexation of Crimea: Putin's Strategic Asset Seizure

Vladimir Putin orchestrated the illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, violating international law and multiple treaties. The operation involved deploying unmarked Russian special forces, conducting a disputed referendum, and subsequently integrating Crimean territories into Russian control. The …

Trump Foundation Buys $20,000 Portrait of Trump at Charity Auction, Hangs in Trump Golf Club

The Donald J. Trump Foundation spent $20,000 in charitable funds to purchase a portrait of Donald Trump painted by a speed-painter at a charity gala at Mar-a-Lago. The four-foot portrait, created during the event, was supposed to be sold with proceeds benefiting the charity hosting the auction. …

Ways and Means Chairman Proposes Carried Interest Reform That Private Equity Lobbying Defeats

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) released comprehensive tax reform draft legislation proposing to raise the tax on carried interest from 23.8% to 35%, effectively closing one of the most notorious tax loopholes benefiting private equity and hedge fund managers. Carried …

Oracle Acquires BlueKai Data Broker for $400 Million, Expands Surveillance Operations

Oracle Corporation acquired BlueKai, one of the world’s largest data brokerage and web tracking companies, on February 24, 2014, for approximately $400 million, significantly expanding Oracle’s commercial surveillance capabilities. The acquisition gave Oracle control of one of the …

Facebook Acquires WhatsApp for $19 Billion to Dominate Messaging Market

Facebook acquires WhatsApp for $19 billion, the largest tech acquisition to date, eliminating its primary competitor in mobile messaging and consolidating monopoly control over personal communications platforms. The FTC approves the acquisition without structural separation requirements despite …

Max Baucus Confirmed as Ambassador After Healthcare Industry Staffers Become Lobbyists

The Senate confirmed former Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) as U.S. Ambassador to China by a vote of 96-0, ending his 36-year congressional career. Baucus had served as chairman and ranking member of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, where he was the chief architect of the …

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and Wife Indicted on Federal Corruption Charges

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen were indicted on 14 counts of fraud and conspiracy by a federal grand jury, making McDonnell the first Virginia governor to be indicted or convicted of a felony. The charges stemmed from their acceptance of more than $175,000 in gifts, …

Obama Announces Limited NSA Reforms While Preserving Core Surveillance Programs

President Obama delivered a major address at the Department of Justice outlining reforms to NSA surveillance programs in response to Edward Snowden’s revelations, but the proposed changes left core bulk collection authorities largely intact while adding modest procedural safeguards. The speech …

NSA DISHFIRE Program Collects Nearly 200 Million Text Messages Daily Worldwide

The Guardian, citing documents leaked by Edward Snowden, revealed that the National Security Agency was collecting almost 200 million text messages per day from around the world through a program codenamed DISHFIRE. According to the leaked documents from 2011, the program collected “pretty …

Verizon Lawsuit Successfully Overturns FCC Net Neutrality Rules, Court Demands Title II Reclassification

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals delivers a landmark ruling in Verizon v. FCC, striking down the Federal Communications Commission’s anti-blocking and anti-discrimination net neutrality rules while paradoxically outlining the path to stronger protections through Title II reclassification. The …

Anonymous LLCs Enable $300B+ Annual Russian Money Flow into US Real Estate

By 2014, anonymous Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and shell companies had become the primary infrastructure enabling Russian oligarchs and other kleptocrats to launder an estimated $300 billion or more annually into US real estate. Unlike most developed nations, the United States imposed no …