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26 May, 14 tweets, 4 min read
A grand jury has reportedly been empaneled in the NYC probe of Trump Org’s potentially criminal business practices.

We previously detailed how Trump’s businesses told different stories to tax officials and lenders about key Manhattan buildings. (THREAD)
2/ It began in Oct. 2019 when we looked at never-before-seen tax documents showing that the numbers Trump Org gave to lenders about its buildings didn't always match what it told city tax officials:
propublica.org/article/trump-…
3/ For instance, Trump Org told a lender that it took in twice as much rent from one building in 2017 as it reported to tax authorities during the same year. It also gave conflicting occupancy figures for one of its signature skyscrapers, located at 40 Wall Street.
4/ “It really feels like there’s two sets of books — it feels like a set of books for the tax guy and a set for the lender,” said one real estate finance expert who reviewed the records at the time. “It’s hard to argue numbers. That’s black and white.”
5/ Here's a helpful video explainer we made at the time to go along with this report:
6/ Neither Trump Org nor its affiliated legal and accounting firms responded to our questions for that story.
7/ One month later, in Nov. 2019, we reported on additional apparent discrepancies at a Trump property — this time for Trump Tower itself:
propublica.org/article/trump-…
8/ In that case, we found that for 3 consecutive years, Trump Org reported occupancy rates to a lender that were as much as 16 percentage points higher than what it reported to city tax officials.
9/ For example, in 2012, the lender was told the tower's commercial space was 98.7% occupied, while the city was given the figure of 83% occupancy for tax purposes.
10/ Trump Org had much to gain by showing a high occupancy rate to lenders in 2012: It refinanced its share of Trump Tower that year and obtained a $100 million loan on favorable terms.
11/ In 2019, a Trump Organization spokesperson stated that “comparing the various reports is comparing apples to oranges” because reporting requirements differ.
12/ In Jan. 2020, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed that, in the wake of the reporting from @ProPublica & @WNYC, he'd referred the matter to Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance “because there is a possibility of a criminal act having been committed.”

propublica.org/article/trump-…
13/ A Trump Org spokesperson said de Blasio's actions were politically motivated.
14/ For a more in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at this investigation, check out this 2019 thread from reporter @hvogell:

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1 May
Remember the big push to vaccinate people with preexisting conditions?

A @ProPublica analysis of CDC data shows how that faltered big time.

Vaccination rates are generally much lower in counties w/ high rates of comorbidities than in healthier (usually wealthier) ones 👇👇
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Columnist @errollouis pleaded today to “watch the troubling video of the final moments of Kawaski Trawick’s life,” which is “every bit as sad and outrageous” as the videos of Eric Garner or George Floyd.

We agree: You need to know about it. Here's why👇

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The Federal Reserve got praise for what it did to stabilize the economy during the pandemic. But journalists @Cezary and Allan Sloan revealed an unintended consequence of its actions:

The Fed accelerated wealth inequality. Here’s how. (THREAD)
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The moves helped the stock market. A lot.
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1/ We are *still* hearing from people fighting vaccine bills and getting turned away from appointments.

Getting a free vaccine shouldn’t require a call from a journalist.👇
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Here are some of the situations we’ve encountered over the last two weeks:
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19 Apr
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