CDC officials have warned members of President-elect Biden's team that a COVID-19 tracker used by @HHSGov isn't accurate. The tracker was created by Palantir, a data-mining firm created by Peter Thiel — a close Trump ally. (via @thedailybeast) thedailybeast.com/cdc-officials-…
We were the first to reveal details about how the platform came to be and how it is now being used. The $20 million artificial intelligence system was known as a key example of President Trump’s willingness to sideline CDC scientists. publicintegrity.org/health/coronav…
“If there’s one major lesson we have from emergencies in the last 20 years… it’s not to try to create a new system but take the most robust system you have and scale it,” said @DrTomFrieden, head of @CDCgov under President Obama. publicintegrity.org/health/coronav…
We @publicintegrity and @columbiajourn partnered with newsrooms across the country to investigate how disasters affect mental health & what people are doing about it. We heard from more than 200 survivors & mental health experts. Here’s what we found: publicintegrity.org/environment/hi…
The U.S. has faced nearly 40 natural disasters costing at least a billion dollars each in the past decade. Mental health experts say that with the pandemic, the psychological toll could be unprecedented.
Every year, FEMA’s crisis counseling program distributes an average of $24 million to send mental-health workers to help disaster-stricken communities...that’s way less than the $850 million one defense agency lost track of in a single year. publicintegrity.org/environment/hi…
Trump pushed for the V.A. to adopt the controversial anti-suicide Johnson & Johnson drug Spravato. Some vets might have been helped—but so were a lot of Trump cronies, as our @PeterACary reported ahead of this @VanityFair wrapup. vanityfair.com/news/2020/02/i…
@PeterACary reported in @guardian last June the FDA managed to approve the drug despite serious questions about its efficacy, especially among men older than 65, a group that comprises the majority of V.A. patients. publicintegrity.org/politics/trump…
@williamcohan: Trump boosted J&J drug Spravato while maintaining cozy relationships with CEO Alex Gorsky, UK ambassador + major stockholder Woody Johnson.
As the House Judiciary Committee was voting on articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, @publicintegrity received documents related to Trump’s decision to withhold military aid from Ukraine. Every substantive exchange between officials was blacked out. #UkraineDocs
A lengthy email exchange between Elaine McCusker, deputy comptroller at the Defense Department and Michael Duffey, a political appointee and the associate director at OMB, and OMB General Counsel Mark Paoletta was also blacked out. publicintegrity.org/national-secur…
McCusker did email Duffey to say: “the funds go into the system today to initiate transactions and obligate,” which set off more emails from Duffey and Paoletta. The e-mails carried on to the next day when McCusker suggested they hop on a call. publicintegrity.org/national-secur…
1/ Since January, @publici reporters have been diving into the personal and political finances of presidential candidates. Here's what we've found, starting with the most recent candidate first: @BetoORourkepublicintegrity.org/federal-politi…
1/ Southwest Fresno residents together suffer from numerous problems: bad air, poor health, high crime, low income. Will California's high-speed rail project turn the community around? @davelevinthal reports in our latest Abandoned in America story. bit.ly/2Ondqs1
@davelevinthal 2/ Fresno Mayor Lee Brand believes economic development projects — particularly California high-speed rail — could significantly improve life in Southwest Fresno, a historically neglected part of the city.
@davelevinthal 3/ Supporters of the high-speed train say it could whisk Fresno residents to Silicon Valley and Los Angeles in about an hour, establishing California’s 5th most populous city as an essential connecting point for northern and southern California.