Amazon Web Services unveils a dedicated cloud computing region specifically designed to host classified government data at the “Secret” classification level, serving the CIA and all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies. This AWS Secret Region operates as an air-gapped, isolated infrastructure …
Amazon Web ServicesCIAIntelligence Communitysurveillance-infrastructurecloud-computingintelligence-agenciesgovernment-contractsclassified-operations+1 more
The Paradise Papers, a massive leak of 13.4 million documents from offshore law firm Appleby and corporate services provider Estera, exposed how global elites used legal loopholes to avoid taxes. The investigation revealed offshore interests of over 120 politicians and world leaders, including Queen …
ApplebyEsteraQueen Elizabeth IIWilbur RossRussian Oligarchs+2 moreparadise-papersoffshore-financetax-havensoligarchsfinancial-transparency
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed through the Paradise Papers investigation that U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr. maintained a stake in Navigator Holdings, a shipping firm that received millions of dollars annually from a Russian gas company whose …
Wilbur RossKirill ShamalovGennady TimchenkoVladimir PutinCabinet CorruptionEthics ViolationsWilbur RossRussiaParadise Papers+1 more
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the Paradise Papers, a massive leak of 13.4 million confidential documents revealing extensive offshore financial activities of global elites. The investigation exposed how powerful individuals and corporations systematically …
ApplebyEsteraQueen Elizabeth IIWilbur RossVladimir Putin+4 moreparadise-papersoffshore-financetax-havensoligarchsfinancial-manipulation+1 more
Jared Kushner made an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2017, staying up until 4 AM with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Days later, MBS launched mass arrests of 200+ Saudi royals and officials, seizing $100 billion in assets. MBS reportedly told confidants that Kushner was ‘in …
Jared KushnerMohammed bin SalmanSaudi ArabiaDonald TrumpJamal Khashoggiclassified-informationforeign-influencesaudi-arabiaintelligence-breachkhashoggi-murder
CBP awarded Accenture $297M contract to hire 7,500 border agents/officers to meet Trump’s executive order. Delivered only 2 agents first year, 22-58 total hires by termination. $40K per hire cost exceeded average officer salary. Contract terminated April 2019 ‘for convenience’ …
Accenture Federal ServicesCustoms and Border Protection (CBP)ICEDHS Office of Inspector GeneralTrump Administrationcontracting-fraudadministrative-failuretaxpayer-wasteimmigration-enforcement
Special Counsel Robert Mueller unsealed the first indictments in his Russia investigation, charging former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime business associate Rick Gates with 12 criminal counts. The charges include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder …
Paul ManafortRick GatesRobert MuellerMueller InvestigationPaul ManafortMoney LaunderingFARA ViolationsUkraine Lobbying+1 more
On October 26, 2017, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency—but the declaration provided no new funding and stopped short of the national emergency designation Trump had promised in August. The move was widely criticized as a hollow gesture that failed to match the …
Donald TrumpEric HarganDepartment of Health and Human Servicesopioid-crisishollow-gesturestrump-administrationpublic-healthunderfunding
George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, secretly pleaded guilty on October 5, 2017, to making false statements to FBI agents about his contacts with individuals connected to the Russian government. The guilty plea, which became public on …
George PapadopoulosJoseph MifsudRobert MuellerDonald TrumpMueller InvestigationRussia ContactsGuilty PleaCampaign OfficialsTrump Pardons+1 more
Whitefish Energy, a Montana company with only two full-time employees from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown, received a $300 million no-bid contract to restore Puerto Rico’s power grid after Hurricane Maria. The contract prohibited government auditing of costs while charging $462 …
A woman alleged Pete Hegseth sexually assaulted her at a California Federation of Republican Women conference in 2017. She told police she “remembered saying ’no’ a lot” and that Hegseth blocked her from leaving his hotel room and took her phone. Hegseth paid the woman …
Pete HegsethCalifornia Federation of Republican Womenpete-hegsethsexual-assaultscandalsettlementrepublican-conference
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned after revelations he spent
over $1 million in taxpayer funds on private jets and military aircraft for travel
that included personal business. Price took at least 26 private charter flights
costing over $400,000, often to places where he had …
Tom PriceDonald TrumpDepartment of Health and Human Servicescorruptionresignationmisuse-of-fundshealthcareinsider-trading+5 more
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
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 AgencyUS 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 Military (Tatmadaw)Rohingya 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
White nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes attended the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, just days before beginning his freshman year at Boston University. Fuentes later spoke positively about “a tidal wave of white identity” and defended the rally in Facebook …
Garrett Langley founds Flock Safety in Atlanta and presents at Y Combinator Demo Day in Mountain View. The company initially targets homeowners associations and neighborhoods with automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras, charging $25-50 per home annually to create surveillance networks …
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 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 CounselHatch ActEthics ViolationsDan ScavinoSocial MediaTrump Administration+1 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
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 CommissionNew York Attorney General's Officedigital-democracyregulatory-capturetelecommunicationscorporate-manipulationtechnology-policy
In a stunning May 11, 2017 NBC News interview with Lester Holt—just two days after firing FBI Director James Comey—President Trump explicitly admitted he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation, directly contradicting the White House’s initial explanation that the firing was based on …
Donald TrumpLester HoltJames ComeyRod Rosensteinobstruction-of-justicecomey-firingrussia-investigationmueller-investigationlester-holt
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
Jeffrey Epstein attempted to blackmail Bill Gates in 2017 by emailing him about reimbursement for a coding school course for Mila Antonova, a Russian bridge player with alleged intelligence connections. Epstein’s email implied knowledge of Gates’ extramarital affair with Antonova, who …
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
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