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Jeff Kao

@jeffykao.bsky.social
919 followers 138 following 1 posts

Sr. Engineer for Data Journalism & Investigations @bloomberg.com. Prev. @propublica.org.

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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Devin Judge-Lord @judgelord.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Agencies often publish the number of supportive vs opposing comments in the final rule. What will the Employee Benefits Security Administration do now that Noah Buhayar & @jeffykao.bsky.social have exposed the support as mostly astroturf? www.bloomberg.com/news/feature... What can we do about it?🧵
bloomberg.com
Trump’s 401(k) Proposal Shows Evidence of Phony Public Support
A review of almost 12,000 comments in favor of the administration’s proposed rule found submissions in the names of dead people.
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Surya Mattu @suryamattu.com · 24/07/2026
NEW: We dug through the files released by DoJ to track how Epstein’s sex-trafficking network worked in practice. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202... w/ @peterguest.bsky.social @jeffykao.bsky.social Christopher Cannon and @maxharlow.bsky.social
bloomberg.com
The Flight Network Behind Jeffrey Epstein’s Trafficking Operation
Thousands of flights booked by the pedophile financier’s staff connected associates and victims to a global network of properties
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Surya Mattu @suryamattu.com · 08/06/2026
NEW: A tax loophole costs the US government $48 billion a year. That's more than the budget of NASA and the 2026 health subsidy cuts combined. The loophole allows ETFs to defer or avoid capital gains tax on winning stock picks.
bloomberg.com
The Top 1% Reap Most From Tax Loophole Costing $48 Billion
The ETF industry is exploiting the tax break at an unprecedented scale.
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
NEW: While Meta publicly said it was still deciding whether and how to deploy facial recognition in its smart glasses, the company was quietly distributing it to millions of users. WIRED found an unreleased facial-recognition system embedded in the Meta's AI companion app. w/ @dell.bsky.social
wired.com
Meta Silently Added Face-Recognition Code for Its Smart Glasses to Millions of Phones
Code reviewed by WIRED uncovered an unreleased face-recognition system embedded in Meta’s smart glasses platform. It’s designed to identify people via biometric data stored on users’ phones.
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Jason Leopold @jasonleopold.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
NEW/EXCLUSIVE: A French branch of HSBC closed a bank account maintained by Jeffrey Epstein in 2007 after compliance officers flagged transactions for suspicious activity, including payments tied to a modeling agent later accused of rape & sex trafficking 🧵 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
The letter says 

We hereby inform you that we do not intent to maintain our relationship and notify you this day, subject to a one-month notification period, the end of our banking contract for your account in existence since December 22", 2006. that is with effect on January 21", 2008.
Consequently, after this period is over, you should retumn all unused checks still in your possession and provide us with your new banking references, in order to enable us to wire the amount remaining on your account upon closing date. If not provided, we will issue a certified check for said amount,
Furthermore, we would like to have communication of the list of drawn checks which may still be presented for payment on your account, so as to keep sufficient and useful amount in order to avoid your account to become in debit. Failing that, your checks will be rejected.
The end of our banking contract occurring at HSBC's request, no charge will be invoiced for the closing down of your account.The letter says

We hereby inform you that we do not intent to maintain our relationship and notify you this day, subject to a one-month notification period, the end of our banking contract for your account in existence since December 22", 2006. that is with effect on January 21", 2008.
Consequently, after this period is over, you should retumn all unused checks still in your possession and provide us with your new banking references, in order to enable us to wire the amount remaining on your account upon closing date. If not provided, we will issue a certified check for said amount,
Furthermore, we would like to have communication of the list of drawn checks which may still be presented for payment on your account, so as to keep sufficient and useful amount in order to avoid your account to become in debit. Failing that, your checks will be rejected.
The end of our banking contract occurring at HSBC's request, no charge will be invoiced for the closing down of your account.
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Jason Leopold @jasonleopold.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
NEW: In Oct 2016, when a new book about Jeffrey Epstein came out, he bought 17 copies. In 2019, in Epstein’s last weeks of freedom, he made his final purchases: a guide to raising children, The Annotated Lolita & Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy 🧵 🎁 www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
Epstein’s Emails Reveal Book Purchases About Trump, Sex, Money and Power
TThe disgraced financier purchased books about making money, treating narcissism, negotiating with anyone, achieving ecstasy and understanding life
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
New from Epstein’s Inbox: In 2007, prosecutors moved to investigate Epstein for financial crimes as part of their sex-trafficking probe. He and his lawyers went to war to stop them.
bloomberg.com
Jeffrey Epstein Went to War Over Money Laundering Probe in 2007 Sex Case
Federal prosecutors opened a financial-crimes investigation into Jeffrey Epstein in 2007 amid their larger sex-trafficking probe. The financier and his legal team waged a war against them, his emails ...
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Surya Mattu @suryamattu.com · 25/09/2025
NEW: Jeffery Epstein's emails, obtained by Bloomberg news, shine a freshlight on how the disgraced financier's elite network supported him as investigators closed in. 🎁 LINK: www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
bloomberg.com
Jeffrey Epstein Leaned on His Elite Network for Help as Investigators Closed In
A cache of 18,000 messages shows the elite support the disgraced financier got in his “hour of terror.”
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
If you are curious how we vetted the emails, we have you covered: w/ @jeffykao.bsky.social and @suryamattu.com
bloomberg.com
How Bloomberg News Vetted the Epstein Emails
Methods included cryptographic analysis, metadata analysis and corroboration with external sources.
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
All of this is brought to you by a dream team of @jasonleopold.bsky.social , @jeffkao.bsky.social , @suryamattu.com, Ava Benny-Morrison , Harry Wilson, and Max Abelson. It’s also my first story for Bloomberg Tips: dmehro.89 on Signal or dmehrotra11@bloomberg.net
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
NEW: We got access to Jeffrey Epstein’s personal Yahoo inbox — more than 18,000 emails. It shows Epstein’s world in his own words: an unfiltered look at how his operation worked, who enabled it, and how Ghislaine Maxwell stayed at the center of it all.
bloomberg.com
Jeffrey Epstein Email Trove Reveals Ghislaine Maxwell’s Secrets
A cache of 18,000 messages obtained by Bloomberg News reveals Maxwell’s deep ties and involvement with the disgraced financier and sex offender.
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Friday was my last day at WIRED. Today I started a new job at Bloomberg on a dream desk with @suryamattu.com and @jeffykao.bsky.social. Got a tip? A dataset? Something we should look at? Find me on Signal at dmehro.89 In no particular order, here’s some stuff I’d like to continue to dig in to:
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Jeff Kao @jeffykao.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
🙌🙌🙌 Can’t wait to get started!
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Reposted by Jeff Kao
Marie Patino @mariepastora.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Hello congestion pricing is working (for now) - incredible analysis by @agordon.me @jeffykao.bsky.social and @acookiecrumbles.bsky.social, gfx with jason kao!! 🎁 link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
Is NYC’s Congestion Pricing Working? Fewer Private Cars Are On the Road (For Now)
NYC’s 2025 congestion pricing found fewer personal cars on Manhattan’s roads and more cabs over its first five days, a Bloomberg analysis of 75,000 cars show.
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