All articles tagged with #investigations
Lawmakers are calling for investigations after a cluster of new Polymarket accounts placed very specific bets on a U.S.–Iran ceasefire, earning hundreds of thousands in profits and raising questions about market integrity amid the Iran war.
Partial remains found on Salmon Creek Beach in 2022 have been identified as Walter Kinney, a Santa Rosa banker who disappeared in 1999, after investigators used genetic genealogy and GEDmatch to link the bones to Kinney and to earlier remains washed ashore in 1999; the case is notable for resolving a missing-person mystery twice with breakthrough help from the DNA Doe Project.
A special House Ethics subcommittee, after a nearly seven-hour televised hearing, found Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of 25 ethics charges linked to a three-year probe into alleged misuse of federal relief funds; she denies the allegations and faces possible sanctions including censure, removal from committees, or expulsion, with a full House vote to follow after the spring recess. Democrats have urged her resignation or expulsion, and a separate federal case against her continues.
House Democrats confront a credibility test as the bipartisan House Ethics Committee opens a rare public trial to determine Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s fate amid federal charges and allegations of FEMA funds misuse and campaign-finance violations. A decision could range from reprimand to expulsion, with a summary-judgment motion guiding the process and a full hearing and House vote to follow, fueling debate over consistency with past cases like Santos and Cuellar and the need for fair due process.
ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting report that incoming Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon was a key driver in Santander Consumer USA’s 2013 push to waive income-verification (POI) for car loans, a move regulators later described as predatory and harmful in a 2020 multistate settlement. New records connect Dundon to these tactics even after leaving Santander in 2015, while Oregon lawmakers consider about $870 million in public funding to renovate the Moda Center, prompting questions about taxpayer exposure given his regulatory history; Dundon did not comment ahead of the deal closing.
Newly released records show Jack Smith’s team mapped a broad web of contacts between Trump-aligned GOP lawmakers and key aides involved in his bid to overturn the 2020 election, using the findings to justify subpoenas for phone logs of lawmakers such as McCarthy, Graham, Zeldin, and Perry. The materials also detail attention to Kash Patel, Pence backchanneling, and the ongoing debate over whether Smith acted with political motivation, with Democrats defending the probe and some Republicans accusing it of politicization.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C., accusing the Justice Department and Homeland Security of blocking state investigators from accessing evidence in the shootings of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, detailing refusals to share key evidence (including Good’s car), obstructed witness interviews, and shifts in investigation leadership that allegedly violate federal law and the 10th Amendment.
The New York Times presents multiple accounts and hundreds of documents suggesting Cesar Chavez groomed and sexually abused girls who worked in the United Farm Workers movement, including a 13-year-old, over several years, prompting a reexamination of his legacy as a civil rights hero.
The U.S. Trade Representative has initiated 60 Section 301(b) investigations to determine whether 60 economies failed to prohibit or effectively enforce bans on goods made with forced labor, assessing if their acts are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden U.S. commerce. USTR will seek consultations, hold hearings on April 28, 2026, and accept written comments by April 15, 2026. The economies under review include major partners such as Canada, the European Union, China, India, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Vietnam, among others.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg tossed two DOJ subpoenas served on the Federal Reserve Board in the criminal probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying the government acted with an improper, pretextual motive to pressure Powell to lower rates or resign. The subpoenas sought records on renovations to the Fed’s DC buildings and Powell’s June Senate testimony about them; US Attorney Pirro intends to appeal. The ruling grants Powell immunity from the investigation for now, while politics around his successor—Kevin Warsh—continue, with Sen. Tillis opposing Warsh’s confirmation until the inquiry ends, and Powell’s term ending in May.
The Washington Post reports a whistleblower alleges a former DOGE Service engineer had access to two highly sensitive Social Security Administration databases and planned to transfer the data to a private employer, prompting an inspector general investigation into a potential major security breach at SSA.
A whistleblower alleges a former DOGE Service employee had access to two highly sensitive Social Security Administration databases and intended to transfer the data to his private employer on a thumb drive, prompting the SSA inspector general to open an investigation into a potential unprecedented security breach at the agency serving tens of millions of Americans.
The Florida Bar says there is no ongoing or planned disciplinary investigation into Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump aide, clarifying that no inquiry has been opened against her.
President Trump fired Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary amid a string of controversies, with Senator Blumenthal signaling a possible perjury investigation over her testimony; separately, a lawsuit seeks to block the Kennedy Center’s two-year closure and rebuild. The live updates also note Vinay Prasad leaving the FDA over vaccine decision controversies and other related political developments in Washington.
Lindsey Halligan, the former interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, is under investigation by the Florida Bar for her role in pursuing criminal charges against two of President Trump’s prominent political foes, according to Washington Post documents.