Investigations Read the latest from NPR's investigative team. If you have solid tips or documents on stories we should probe, please send them to us.
Investigations
NPR used social media and news reports to track four key men spreading misinformation about the 2020 election (from left to right): MyPillow CEO and longtime Trump supporter Mike Lindell, former high school math and science teacher Douglas Frank, former law professor David Clements, and former U.S. Army Captain Seth Keshel. Chet Strange/Getty Images; David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP; Jonathan Drake and Brian Snyder/Reuters hide caption
"This will help a lot of single parents out there," Daisy Hohman, a Minnesota mother whose tax refunds were garnished after her three children were placed in foster care, says of the change in federal guidance. Meg Anderson/NPR hide caption
The federal government will allow states to stop charging families for foster care
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Bobby Everson and a letter he wrote to his family while he was incarcerated in the Special Management Unit at the new U.S. penitentiary in Thomson, Ill. Aaron Marin for NPR hide caption
The federal Bureau of Prisons announced in 2018 that it was moving a special unit that had been plagued with violence to a new federal prison complex in Illinois. Some hoped it would be a fresh start and a chance to improve conditions. But things only got worse. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP hide caption
Timothy Hale-Cusanelli of New Jersey was found guilty on all five criminal counts he was charged with. Hale-Cusanelli breached the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, though he did not assault police or commit property damage that day. Julio Cortez/AP hide caption
Prosecutors allege that Timothy Hale-Cusanelli is a white supremacist who breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 intent on causing a second "civil war." His defense attorney contends that Hale-Cusanelli frequently makes "bombastic" statements and uses "offensive" language, but that he entered the Capitol as a result of "groupthink." Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption
Dinesh D'Souza, seen here at a premiere of one of his films in 2018, has released a new film alleging voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Fact checkers have cast doubt on many of the film's claims. Shannon Finney/Getty Images hide caption
A pro-Trump film suggests its data are so accurate, it solved a murder. That's false
The office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced it is investigating oil and gas companies for allegedly deceiving the public into believing most plastic could be recycled. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
The exterior of the Washington, D.C., jail where a group of defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are detained. The atmosphere has grown tense as they await their trials. Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption
In a D.C. jail, Jan. 6 defendants awaiting trial are forming bitter factions
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 6: Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption
A new study provides the first evidence of its kind that silica dust is responsible for the rising tide of severe black lung disease, including among coal miners in Appalachia. Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Then-President Donald Trump speaks to supporters near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021. Hundreds of Trump supporters later stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the certification of President Biden's victory. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Couy Griffin, a commissioner in Otero County, N.M., speaks to journalists as he leaves the federal court in Washington, D.C., on March 21, 2022. Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP hide caption
After 20 years of setbacks, the U.S. military court in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, is exploring the idea of settlement talks for the 9/11 detainees. If that happens, the defendants could plead guilty, serve life in prison and avoid the death penalty. Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Guantánamo prosecutors are exploring plea deals in 9/11 case after years of setbacks
Courtney Gramm waited seven months to receive her nurse practitioner license in California. Nursing boards, meant as a safeguard, have become an obstacle, preventing qualified nurses from getting into the workforce for months when basic vetting should take only weeks. Alyssa Schukar for NPR hide caption
New York City officials announced the city will no longer take Social Security checks from children to pay for foster care. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images hide caption
New York City will stop collecting Social Security money from children in foster care
This sketch depicts Guy Wesley Reffitt (left) and his lawyer, William Welch, in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28. A jury found Reffitt guilty on all counts for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Dana Verkouteren/AP hide caption
In the first Jan. 6 trial, a jury found Capitol riot defendant Guy Reffitt guilty
Ron Shehee had been at the federal prison complex in Lompoc, Calif., only a few months when the pandemic struck. Meron Menghistab for NPR hide caption
As COVID spread in federal prisons, many at-risk inmates tried and failed to get out
This artist sketch depicts Judge Dabney Friedrich looking out from the bench during proceedings in the trial against Guy Wesley Reffitt, joined by his lawyer William Welch, top right, in federal court in Washington. Dana Verkourteren/AP hide caption
Jan. 6 riot defendant was 'tip of this mob's spear,' prosecutor tells jury
Federal lawmakers are pushing for a "do-over" of a contract, awarded by the Interior Department, to a former administrator to review deaths at tribal jails. Nearly half of those deaths happened on his watch. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption
Cynthia Hughes, seen here wearing a "Due Process Denied" shirt, has become a regular on Steve Bannon's show, where she has described the Jan. 6 defendants as "political prisoners." On a recent episode, Hughes announced changes to the Patriot Freedom Project after receiving criticism. War Room/Screenshot by NPR hide caption
At least 19 men and women have died since 2016 in tribal detention centers overseen by the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, including the Shiprock District Department of Corrections facility, according to an investigation by NPR and the Mountain West News Bureau. Sharon Chischilly for NPR hide caption
Interior Department hires former top cop to review jail deaths on his watch
A pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Now, a nonprofit group said it has raised around $900,000 for the alleged rioters, but some of their families are raising questions about how the money is being spent. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption