What We’re Watching
A first look at the kind of conduct we are investigating.
Public corruption
Bribes, kickbacks, and the collapse of enforcement.
News
GOP donor accuses U.S. ambassador to Greece of offering access for payment
Former Republican congressional candidate and Trump donor Eric Deters says Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle offered him access to top administration officials if he paid off her $100,000 credit card debt. He says he never sent the money. The claims draw on text messages published by the Wall Street Journal; Guilfoyle’s attorney disputes their authenticity.
Common Dreams · October 2026
Reporting
FBI reportedly recorded Tom Homan taking $50,000 from undercover agents. Trump’s DOJ closed the case.
MS NOW reported that agents posing as contractors recorded Homan accepting cash in a 2024 sting, and that the case stalled once Trump returned to office. The White House says Homan has not been involved in contract award decisions and that there was no illegal activity; the FBI and Justice Department say they found no credible evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
MS NOW · September 2025
Video
Reporting
Ethics experts say Qatar’s reported $400 million jet violates the Emoluments Clause
Experts told NPR that accepting the luxury plane from Qatar, which industry groups say could be worth around $400 million, appears to violate the Constitution’s ban on gifts from foreign governments. Trump says the plane is a gift to the Department of Defense, not to him.
NPR · May 2025
Investigation
The FBI anti-corruption squad was circling Susan Collins — until Trump got in the way
ProPublica reports that FBI agents were examining whether campaign donations were tied to defense contracts, and that the work stalled after the administration took office. The senator it names disputes the account.
ProPublica · September 2026
Video
Reporting
Democrats say millions in Trump library settlement money can’t be accounted for
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Melanie Stansbury say between $6.5 million and $14.5 million of corporate settlement money meant for the library doesn’t reconcile with the foundation’s filings. The White House and the foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
MS NOW · July 2026
Investigation
White House adviser pushed a $620 million Pentagon loan for a firm backed by Trump Jr.’s fund
ProPublica reports that trade adviser Peter Navarro requested the loan for Vulcan Elements, months after Donald Trump Jr.’s venture firm took an undisclosed stake in it. Trump Jr.’s spokesperson says he never discussed Vulcan with Navarro, and the Pentagon says outside ties play no role in its decisions.
ProPublica · May 2026
Reporting
Leaked list shows who is paying for Trump’s $330 million ballroom
The Washington Post obtained an internal donor list. It includes contributors that have received government contracts and, in one case, a pardon for a family member. The Post did not establish that the gifts bought favorable treatment; the White House says the donors are generous individuals.
The Washington Post · October 2026
Analysis
What’s behind the pardons of people convicted of public corruption?
NPR examines the pattern of clemency for officials convicted of, or charged with, corruption offenses.
NPR · May 2026
Reporting
Trump-family crypto firm wins conditional federal approval for a trust bank
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave conditional approval to World Liberty’s trust company, which an entity tied to Trump and his family partly owns. Sen. Elizabeth Warren called it self-dealing; the OCC says the Comptroller and staff acted consistently with their statutory duties and established procedures. Final approval is still pending.
ABC News · August 2026
Investigation
DHS awarded $220 million in ad contracts without competitive bidding
ProPublica reports that DHS skipped competitive bidding and that a Republican consulting firm tied to Secretary Kristi Noem and her senior aides secretly received money from the contracts. DHS says it does its contracting “by the book.”
ProPublica · November 2025
Reporting
TikTok investors reportedly paying the administration about $10 billion
The Wall Street Journal reported that investors in the new U.S. TikTok venture will pay the administration roughly $10 billion, with about $2.5 billion reportedly already paid. Sen. Mark Warner has asked what legal authority supports the payment and whether Trump sought anything for himself.
Variety · March 2026
Court ruling
Judge finds Trump’s IRS lawsuit was a vehicle for a collusive settlement
A federal judge in Florida ruled that Trump’s $10 billion suit against his own IRS was never a genuine dispute, but a way to lend court legitimacy to a settlement that would have funded a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and shielded him from audits. She sanctioned Trump’s attorneys and flagged other lawyers to their state bars. The Justice Department says it is not moving forward with the fund.
The Hill · July 2026
Congressional report
House Judiciary Democrats’ staff report on crypto and corruption
A minority-staff report. Partisan in origin; cited here as a document, not as a finding.
House Judiciary Committee Democrats · November 2025
Reporting
Trump’s IRS suit may end with a $1.7 billion compensation fund, as DOJ settles with Flynn and Page
After changing its stance in court, the Justice Department reached $1.25 million settlements with Michael Flynn and Carter Page. Trump reportedly also has two pending administrative claims over past investigations into him and his campaign.
Fortune (Bloomberg) · May 2026
Video
200 → 20
Open investigations and charged cases at the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, before the cuts versus today, according to NPR reporting.
NPR · May 2026
Reporting
First Venezuelan oil deals went to firms with past foreign-bribery cases
The Project On Government Oversight reports that Vitol and Trafigura won the first U.S. deals involving Venezuelan oil, and that both have resolved foreign-bribery cases with the Justice Department. It also reports that a senior Vitol employee, who attended a Jan. 9 White House meeting, gave millions to Trump-aligned PACs. Vitol says the employee has since retired.
Project On Government Oversight · April 2026
Reporting
Pardons forgive financial crimes that came with hundreds of millions in punishments
NBC News on clemency that erased more than $298 million in fines and restitution so far in Trump’s second term. NBC says it is unclear whether the government or victims ever received that money.
NBC News · January 2026
Investigation
Kushner’s firm is top shareholder in an Israeli financial group with stakes in military suppliers
CNN reports that Affinity Partners, Jared Kushner’s investment firm, is the largest shareholder in Phoenix Financial while Kushner serves as Trump’s envoy on Gaza. His attorney says he has never directed Phoenix’s investments, and CNN found no sign his diplomacy affected them.
CNN · October 2026
Video
Reporting
60 Minutes: Binance’s ties to a Trump-family crypto venture before its founder’s pardon
Sources told 60 Minutes that Binance donated software to World Liberty Financial before Changpeng Zhao applied for a pardon, and an Emirati fund later put $2 billion into Binance using World Liberty’s crypto. Zhao says he has no business relationship with President Trump’s sons and Binance’s attorney denies providing technical support; World Liberty says the software was freely available and denies any role in the pardon.
CBS News (60 Minutes) · November 2025
Reporting
Trump’s overseas licensing income hit $59.5 million in 2025, mostly from the Gulf
CNBC found the income rose 71% in a year, with most of it coming from Gulf projects. Ethics groups say such deals give foreign interests a direct way to pay the president. The Trump Organization says its overseas business is separate from the presidency.
CNBC · August 2026
Video
Court ruling
Judge: dropping the Adams case “smacks of a bargain” over immigration
Dismissing the bribery case against New York Mayor Eric Adams with prejudice, Judge Dale Ho wrote that “everything here smacks of a bargain”: dismissal in exchange for immigration-policy concessions. He also found no evidence that the career prosecutors acted with improper motives. Adams’s attorney rejects the allegation of a deal.
NPR · April 2025
Investigation
Reuters: 96% of Trump’s second-term clemency grants missed Justice Department guidelines
Reuters found that 96% of clemency grants since Trump returned to office did not meet longstanding Justice Department guidelines for such requests. The White House says the pardons help Americans unjustly prosecuted by a “weaponized” Justice Department.
Reuters · June 2026
State violence
Excessive force, abusive detention, and a culture of impunity.
Some linked footage is graphic.
1,000+
Credible reports of human rights abuses in immigration detention, documented by a Senate investigation.
Sen. Jon Ossoff’s office · January 2026
Reporting
Immigration enforcement officers shot more than a dozen people between September 2025 and February 2026
NBC News compiled the shootings, with what is known about each.
NBC News
Reporting
ICE agents tackled and tased a U.S. citizen on an e-bike in Long Beach, according to witnesses and video
Long Beach’s mayor has asked for a formal investigation. The piece also describes agents driving a father off the road as he held his toddlers, a raid on Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home, and a planned $100 million domestic surveillance program.
The Bulwark · October 2026
Records
Internal ICE records reveal widespread use of force in detention centers
The Washington Post · May 2026
Court ruling
A federal judge found agents used excessive force on Chicago protesters and reporters
Judge Sara Ellis found that Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino and his agents used force that was unjustified, and that their accounts were at times untrue. An appeals court later put her injunction on hold, calling it overbroad, and in March 2026 vacated it after the plaintiffs dropped the suit.
CBS Chicago · Operation Midway Blitz
Reporting
An ICE agent fired into a car in the Bronx with a child inside
Oscar Belgal was shot on Oct. 8, 2026, while his child was in the vehicle. DHS says he accelerated into ICE vehicles; a witness says she did not see that, and public videos do not show the shots.
CNN · October 2026
Interview
An investigative journalist on abuse inside ICE’s largest detention facility
NPR · July 2026
Video
Human rights report
“You’re only getting out deported or dead”
Human Rights Watch documents conditions at Fort Bliss, the nation’s largest immigration detention facility.
Human Rights Watch · July 2026
Reporting
A detainee’s death at Camp East Montana was ruled a homicide
Geraldo Lunas Campos died in ICE custody at the El Paso facility after what DHS described as a struggle with security staff. A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. NPR found that ICE’s account of what happened changed over time.
NPR · March 2026
Court ruling
A judge said Broadview’s ICE holding site had “become a prison”
In a temporary restraining order, Judge Robert Gettleman ordered clean bedding, showers, regular meals, water and free, private attorney calls at the Illinois facility. Justice Department attorneys did not object to the order.
Capitol News Illinois · November 2025
Reporting
A five-year-old was taken into ICE custody in a Minneapolis suburb
Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were detained in Minnesota on Jan. 20, 2026 and taken to a detention facility in Texas. DHS says the father fled on foot and left the boy; neighbors and school officials dispute that. A federal judge ordered them released, and they were back home on Feb. 1.
PBS News · February 2026
52
Deaths in ICE custody in the first 500 days of the administration’s second term, through June 4, 2026. HRW calls this a record number of annual detainee deaths.
Human Rights Watch · June 2026
Video
500+
U.S. citizens documented as detained during immigration operations, including at least 70 children and teens. Roughly a dozen, mostly children, were deported. DHS says it has significant protections against arresting citizens.
ProPublica · October 2026
Reporting
Marimar Martinez was shot five times. The case against her collapsed.
A Border Patrol agent shot Martinez, a U.S. citizen, in Chicago on Oct. 4, 2025, and prosecutors charged her with assault. Prosecutors later dropped the charges after her lawyer argued body-camera footage contradicted Border Patrol’s account. No one has been charged for the shooting.
WBEZ · September 2026
Video
Reporting
Survivors of a Caribbean boat strike were reportedly killed in a follow-up attack
The Washington Post reported that a second strike on Sept. 2, 2025 killed survivors clinging to a burning boat, after an order to “kill everybody.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the report “fake news” and denied giving that order; he has since said Adm. Frank Bradley made the call on the second strike.
The Washington Post · November 2025
Reporting
Minneapolis video puts focus on ICE shooting after charges against two men were dropped
NBC News
Video
By the numbers
What impunity looks like, based on public reporting.
52
Deaths in ICE custody in the 500 days between January 20, 2025 and June 4, 2026.
1,000+
Credible reports of human rights abuses in immigration detention.
200 → 20
Open investigations at the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, from then to now.
85+
Public officials charged with or convicted of corruption who have received presidential clemency since 2017.
Figures are drawn from the linked public sources and are not our own findings.