NEW: This is a thread about a political influence project you’ve never heard of.

It involves the man second in line for the presidency and an evangelical pastor who’s quietly forged close relationships with some of the most powerful men in the country. If you don’t follow evangelical news in Tennessee, you likely don’t know the name Steve Berger.

House Speaker Mike Johnson recently began living with Berger in D.C, we found. The $3.7 million townhouse they’re staying at is owned by a major GOP donor. propublica.org/article/mike-j…

THREAD: In 2023, I received an envelope with no return address. Inside was a flash drive containing tens of 1000s of secret files.

It came from a vigilante with a tumultuous past, who'd done a years-long undercover operation. He didn’t tell the FBI or his family. He only told me Outraged by Jan 6, he spent two years getting inside the top ranks of militias like the Oath Keepers. He was stunningly successful. He penetrated a new generation of militia leaders, which included doctors, cops & government attorneys.

This is his story. propublica.org/article/ap3-oa…

I covered Jan 6 as an investigative reporter back in 2021. Ever since, I’d wondered: After the Capitol riot, where does the militia movement go from here?

So I spent the last few months getting inside the turbulent, secretive world of one of the largest militias in the US... American Patriots 3% has expanded at a dramatic pace since Jan. 6, while keeping much of its activity underground.

I obtained more than 100,000 internal messages from the militia and talked to many current and former members. Here's what I found: propublica.org/article/inside…

NEW: Did you know that @GovRonDeSantis overruled Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature to push through a Congressional map that dismantled Black-held districts?

Here’s the inside story of how that happened.

It may have violated Florida’s constitution. First: The DeSantis plan wiped away half of the state’s Black-dominated congressional districts, dramatically curtailing Black voting power in America’s largest swing state.
propublica.org/article/ron-de…

Last week, Pelosi announced she would create a select committee to investigate Jan. 6.

@jbsapien and I talked to more than 50 people involved in Jan 6, from the Trump White House to far-right militants, and reviewed months of private texts. Here’s some of what we found. Before we get to the White House news, let’s start with the movement itself.

Even before Jan 6, something strange was happening in conservative grassroots politics.

How that happened and where it’s going from here could have implications well beyond the Capitol riot.

Last year, I started going to DC eviction court and was shocked by how many tenants lost their cases simply because they didn't show up. I started trying to understand why, and the answer was much stranger & more disturbing than I imagined. dcist.com/story/20/10/05… Tenants find out about their eviction cases in D.C. through private process servers, who are paid by landlords or their lawyers. And one man has come to dominate the process service industry in D.C.—Karl Stephens, operating out of his home in Silver Spring.

The allegations surrounding seclusion and restraint in D.C. schools are disturbing, and hard to summarize. The techniques are dangerous, but completely unregulated in D.C. public schools and charters. And they're exclusively used against children of color.
washingtoncitypaper.com/news/article/2… The many allegations in D.C. include a child with intellectual disabilities punched the face while she was being restrained, causing vomiting and loss of consciousness, and a nonverbal, autistic child grabbed by the throat and thrown into a bookcase.