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Jake Swearingen

@jakeswearingen.bsky.social
875 followers 479 following 73 posts

Sr Editor at ProPublica

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Reposted by Jake Swearingen
Molly Redden @mtredden.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Exclusive: In late 2024, FBI agents were looking at Sen. Susan Collins’ role in a massive illegal bribery scheme alleged by a former federal contractor. Then Trump gutted the FBI and DOJ, leaving no one to carry on the investigation – it’s dead. 🧵
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
What happens when regulators stop being real and start being polite
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Andy Kroll @andykroll.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
We're still tracking Russ Vought, Trump's "shadow president," at @propublica.org. Here's my latest on Vought and what he's done to the CFPB after courts stopped him from killing it. Think less watchdog, more golden retriever: www.propublica.org/article/bilt...
propublica.org
The Trump Administration’s Plan for Protecting Consumers? Politely Ask Companies to Behave.
Rather than investigate a buzzy fintech startup for throwing users’ accounts into chaos, the Russell Vought-led Consumer Financial Protection Bureau trusted that the company was “back on track.” Custo...
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kalibomeli.bsky.social @kalibomeli.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
1/ This is Nick Adams. He’s a big deal in MAGA world. He’s got 638K followers on X and 2.1M on Facebook. President Trump even appointed him to a role at the State Dept. But when I started digging into Adams' nonprofit for "civics" education, something didn't look right ... 🧵
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
sure inflation caused purely by AI boom isn’t great but it’s in order for to advance humanity
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 10/07/2026
Your retirement could be at risk. Why? Donald Trump and his Administration are granting private equity’s wish to weaken the protections for YOUR 401(k).
Wall Street Wants to Change the Rule for Your 401(k). It Could Put Your Retirement at Risk.
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Melody Joy Kramer @mkramer.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Send ProPublica Your 401(k) Plan to Help Us Report on Retirement Fees www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...
propublica.org
Have a 401(k)? Help ProPublica Investigate What’s Really Happening to Your Money.
Some retirement plans are stuck in investments with bloated fees and costly add-ons. Help ProPublica investigate the financial products companies are pushing and what they’re charging workers.
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Reposted by Jake Swearingen
ProPublica @propublica.org · 08/07/2026
NEW: Financial firms want a bigger piece of the $10 trillion in America’s 401(k) plans, and the Trump administration is planning a regulatory rollback to encourage less-regulated — and often riskier — investments.
propublica.org
Wall Street Wants to Change the Rules for Your 401(k). It Could Put Your Retirement at Risk.
Financial firms want a bigger piece of the $10 trillion in America’s 401(k) plans, and the Trump administration is planning a regulatory rollback to encourage  less-regulated — and often riskier — inv...
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
We hired three stone-cold killers @benfoldy.bsky.social @kendalltaggart.bsky.social & @ceodonovan.bsky.social for the biz desk at @propublica.org and I could not be more excited to get started with em www.propublica.org/atpropublica...
propublica.org
ProPublica Hires Caroline O’Donovan, Ben Foldy and Kendall Taggart to Expand Business Coverage
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 26/05/2026
NEW: She Faced a Life-Threatening Miscarriage. Under Arkansas’ Abortion Ban, Even Calls to the Governor’s Office Didn’t Help. Emily Waldorf’s case shows how abortion bans have left hospital lawyers, not doctors, deciding who gets care — and how lawmakers and regulators have failed to change that.
propublica.org
She Faced a Life-Threatening Miscarriage. Under Arkansas’ Abortion Ban, Even Calls to the Governor’s Office Didn’t Help.
Her case shows how abortion bans have left hospital lawyers, not doctors, deciding who gets care — and how lawmakers and regulators have failed to change that.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Six years at Business Insider, and now onto something new. Excited to be joining ProPublica to build a business accountability desk with Jesse — it's the right place to be doing this work right now. We're hiring reporters. Link and some good advice in Jesse's post.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Business Insider just won its first George Polk Award for "The True Cost of Data Centers," a very fun sentence to type. Incredibly proud of the reporters and editors who spent 16 months on the hard, unglamorous work that makes investigations like this happen.
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Reposted by Jake Swearingen
Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Oh whadya know. Eric Adams' alleged rug pull is linked to one of New York's most notorious landlords. www.businessinsider.com/eric-adams-c...
businessinsider.com
Eric Adams' crypto-token that soared and then plunged in value connected to a controversial Brooklyn landlord
A crypto token promoted by Eric Adams is linked to Sefi Zvieli, a landlord whose Brooklyn property became a city-backed homeless shelter.
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Sam Fellman @samfellman.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
1/ Anti-'woke' veterans who wield leaked screenshots are thrusting cancel culture deep into the US military, adding to strains at an unprecedented moment. www.businessinsider.com/inside-anti-...
businessinsider.com
Inside the anti-'woke' revolt that has American troops in its crosshairs
Trump vowed to banish 'woke.' Now, the culture wars are infiltrating the military and spreading paranoia among American troops
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
Friday night massacre: Scoop from Grace Kay that Elon Musk's xAI just laid off hundreds of workers tasked with training Grok late today, after asking many to take tests Thursday evening www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-xa...
businessinsider.com
Elon Musk's xAI lays off hundreds of workers tasked with training Grok
XAI laid off at least 500 of the workers on its data annotation team on Friday night.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Fun spot from @thenewsham.bsky.social while he was deep into looking thru Tesla's filings: In the proxy filing laying out Elon's trillion dollar comp, Tesla said xAI's name stood for "eXploratory Artificial Intelligence" which uhh, nobody has ever said before www.businessinsider.com/tesla-xai-ex...
businessinsider.com
Tesla said xAI stands for "eXploratory Artificial Intelligence." It's not clear where it got that.
In a recent proxy statement about Elon Musk's compensation package, Tesla said xAI's name stood for "eXploratory Artificial Intelligence." Huh?
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Reposted by Jake Swearingen
Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Great story, showing yet again that many of the stars of the "news" business are, in fact, bullshitters. www.businessinsider.com/daniella-pie...
businessinsider.com
A founder said her $200 million newsletter empire had over a million subscribers. Her own records tell a different story.
Daniella Pierson is a darling of the business press and made Forbes 30 Under 30. But do her company's subscription numbers add up?
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Jamie Heller @jamiehellerbi.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
We read -- and write -- a lot about the law firms that did deals with the Trump administration. This week, hundreds of lawyers met to talk about what they should -- and could -- do about the president's posture. @litaliano.bsky.social and @thenewsham.bsky.social report for @businessinsider.com.
businessinsider.com
We sat with 350 lawyers as they strategized against Trump. Big Law was absent — but Smaller Law is itching to fight.
Hundreds of lawyers brainstormed ways to stand up to Trump — and how to stiffen the spines of lawyers facing pressure from his administration.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Loved editing this from @thenewsham.bsky.social and Laura Italiano where 350 NYC lawyers libbed out hard over Trump resistance and swapped Signal tips over passed apps. Small(er) Law rebellion was in full force — Big Law's capitulators mostly absent. www.businessinsider.com/new-york-cit...
It's a staid and stately room, the New York City Bar Association meeting hall in Midtown Manhattan. The century-old walls are trimmed with red velvet and high Corinthian columns, and famous alumni, including Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, look down from their oil portraits.

The hall was far from staid on Monday night, though, as Business Insider sat with 350 New York City lawyers for a program called "Defending Justice."

Instead, there were calls for protests, op-ed writing, and lawsuits.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Fun look at @businessinsider.com on Tesla's Cybertruck rebrand from space-age oddity to blue-collar work truck — including Tesla using almost 1:1 remakes of Ford F-150 glamour shots. www.businessinsider.com/tesla-cybert...
Side-by-side comparison showing a Ford F-150 towing an Airstream trailer on a tree-lined road (top) and Tesla's Cybertruck towing a similar Airstream trailer on a desert road.Comparison of truck beds showing a Ford F-150 carrying secured equipment including fencing and tools on a dirt road (top) and the Tesla Cybertruck bed carrying similar construction materials and equipment on rocky terrain (bottom)
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
New from @julianakaplan.bsky.social and @thenewsham.bsky.social: DOGE may be coming for the system that lets you file your taxes for free, and Treasury tells us they consider it a "failed program." (Users, meanwhile, gave it almost universally high marks) www.businessinsider.com/irs-direct-f...
businessinsider.com
The Treasury Department says IRS Direct File is a failed program. Its creators are worried DOGE is going to kill it.
IRS Direct File is the nation's first free tax filing system. A Treasury Department official told BI it was a failed program with an uncertain future.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Great scoop from @thenewsham.bsky.social and @jayshams.bsky.social — Trump says Paul Weiss banned DEI. The firm's internal memo doesn't. www.businessinsider.com/paul-weiss-t...
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ryan @cybreco.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
they made an ai game where you can talk to the patients but forgot to add in prompt safety controls
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Jack Newsham @thenewsham.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
New: I found a doge staffer whose google calendar was public, including an onboarding event with the GSA that included the names of other DOGE staff on the invite www.businessinsider.com/doge-nasa-go...
businessinsider.com
We found a DOGE guy at NASA because his Google Calendar was public
DOGE staffer Riley Sennott's Google Calendar wasn't private, exposing his interactions with DOGE and firms like Tesla and Palantir.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
When Jack slacked me this scoop, I laughed so hard DOGE staffer found at NASA with public Google Calendar showing DOGE interviews and meetings with Palantir (went private after we contacted) Read @thenewsham.bsky.social and @alicetecotzky.bsky.social scoop: www.businessinsider.com/doge-nasa-go...
businessinsider.com
We found a DOGE guy at NASA because his Google Calendar was public
DOGE staffer Riley Sennott's Google Calendar wasn't private, exposing his interactions with DOGE and firms like Tesla and Palantir.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Grace Kay with a scoop: Internal documents reveal Marko Elez, who left DOGE after posts like "I was racist before it was cool" were found and then was rehired by Elon, was on the org chart at xAI, meaning Elez worked at 3 out of 6 of Musk's companies www.businessinsider.com/marko-elez-d...
businessinsider.com
Marko Elez, who left DOGE amid social media controversy, worked for xAI
Internal documents reveal Elon Musk's xAI startup employed Marko Elez, who resigned from DOGE after being linked to inflammatory social media posts.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
We got a list of workers at the White House’s DOGE office, including some new names previously unreported. Among them, a McKinsey alum and a lawyer who clerked for Clarence Thomas www.businessinsider.com/doge-staff-l...
businessinsider.com
We got a DOGE staff list. From a McKinsey alum to a former Clarence Thomas clerk, here are the workers powering Elon Musk's cost-cutting squad.
A list showing White House DOGE staffers reveals around 30 young tech, finance and legal professionals remaking federal government.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Last year @thenewsham.bsky.social and @klong.bsky.social found a COVID relief fund meant for struggling arts venues gave $200M+ to rich musicians. We didn't know HOW they spent it—until now. After reviewing thousands of pages of receipts & internal accounting docs, oh boy... 🧵
businessinsider.com
How rich musicians billed American taxpayers for luxury hotels, shopping sprees, and million-dollar bonuses
Pop stars took advantage of the SVOG grant, using COVID relief funds for luxury spending. Lil Wayne bought Balenciaga and flew private.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Cork Haik now presided over death of 3 media companies — not many who can say that! www.axios.com/2024/12/17/r...
axios.com
Scoop: Refinery29 lays off staff, CEO exits
Owner Sundial Media Group named Cory Haik as CEO in April.
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Jack Newsham @thenewsham.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
NEW: MyPillow is using high-interest merchant cash advances, essentially payday loans for businesses. And they're winding up in court. www.businessinsider.com/cash-strappe...
businessinsider.com
Mike Lindell says 'cash-strapped' MyPillow took $1.6 million loan from payday lender at 409% interest
MyPillow and its owner Mike Lindell have sued a payday lender. It's at least the third lawsuit with other high-rate advance companies.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
It's not 1:1 but the Gen Z cohort are largely products of parents who had kids around the time when Gini coefficient jumped like crazy
Gini coefficient from 1978 to present for USA
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Grammarly you are cancelled
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Katie Notopoulos @katienotopoulos.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
The Forbes 30 Under 30 to prison pipeline remains undefeated www.businessinsider.com/joanna-smith...
businessinsider.com
An AI startup CEO on a Forbes '30 Under 30' list has been charged with defrauding investors out of $10 million
Joanna Smith-Griffin is latest Forbes '30 Under 30' alum facing criminal charges, joining Sam Bankman-Fried, Charlie Javice, and Martin Shkreli.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
as said by @thenewsham.bsky.social after pubbing, "More like Forbes '30 Under 30 to Life'" www.businessinsider.com/joanna-smith...
businessinsider.com
An AI startup CEO on a Forbes '30 Under 30' list has been charged with defrauding investors out of $10 million
Joanna Smith-Griffin is latest Forbes '30 Under 30' alum facing criminal charges, joining Sam Bankman-Fried, Charlie Javice, and Martin Shkreli.
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Steven Kelly @stevenkelly49.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
This was a great episode. One thing to tack on: Solving for 0 fraud actually makes government quite *inefficient*. Particularly for crisis-time programs (eg, the PPP), the socially optimal strategy should have some fraud in expectation. Priority is speed, w/ fraud mopped up later.
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Jesse Hirsch @jessehirsch.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Free idea: A dark spinoff of Charlotte's Web called Templeton Awakes
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
print media is still going strong
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Wildfire smoke is back and the weather is going back to unseasonably warm, but at least there's this video of people dressing up in a bear costume and messing up the interiors of cards to commit insurance fraud vimeo.com/1029340693/2...
vimeo.com
Department of Insurance - Operation Bear Claw
Four Los Angeles area residents were arrested today after a Department of Insurance investigation found the suspects allegedly committed insurance fraud by claiming…
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Very fun piece on just how much AI slop is proliferating on Amazon's Haul, its answer to Temu (my own take on it is that the products on Amazon Haul are also very boring overall, without the pure chaos of Temu that makes it compelling at times to browse) www.modernretail.co/technology/a...
modernretail.co
Amazon's Temu competitor Haul is an AI image wasteland
Modern Retail reviewed many product listings on Amazon Haul and found numerous instances of seemingly AI-induced image issues.
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Seems like everyone wants to talk politics right now, so here’s my hot take: no more personalized license plates. Not something the gov should do. If you want to say something, buy a bumpier sticker. (We would tax bumper stickers at 200% of sale price to make up for lost revenue)
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Tesla workers we spoke to were mixed post-election. As you'd expect from people with Tesla stock, they enjoyed the stock price going up. Some were worried Elon is losing focus. And some worry Trump could hamper Tesla's mission to move away from fossil fuels www.businessinsider.com/tesla-trump-...
businessinsider.com
At Tesla, some are celebrating stock gains — others worry Elon will lose focus
"We sell cars," one worker said. "Anywhere else you'd expect the CEO to be focused on that."
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
no matter what happens, we have to keep living
Axios Alerts: Trump picks Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general
Jake, your Levi's order is on its way! 
Axios Alerts: Trump taps Tulsi Gabbard as head of National Intelligence
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
this is so deeply unhinged, god bless whatever weird degenerate gambling cabal is making this happen
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
will add - and this is pure tinfoil conspiracy theory - but beyond no traffic i believe X/Twitter depresses algorithmic spread of stuff about elon/tesla
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Jake Swearingen @jakeswearingen.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
If you are a publisher, Google is really not your friend anymore (this is from a story we published 10 hours ago)
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