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1/ On yesterday’s @lastweektonight about USAID, John Oliver cited several of our investigations. First up was our reporting about how DOGE operatives had arbitrarily cut aid programs, in some cases by literally clicking through a spreadsheet: propub.li/4bbPEXl

2/ In '21, @paulkiel, @JeffErnsthausen & I reported on billionaires' taxes. Jeff Bezos, when he was a billionaire many times over, paid *zero* in taxes in 2007 & 2011. He actually got a child tax credit in '11. $4000. Not sure how he spent that.

This summer, we followed Rose, a single mom inside an enormous refugee camp, as she struggled to feed her three sons after the Trump admin cut funding to the World Food Program. We kept in touch after leaving Africa and just learned how their story ends. propublica.org/article/trump-…

NEW: Inside the Trump administration’s man-made hunger crisis in the world’s third largest refugee camp. After the U.S. failed to fund WFP in Kenya, we went to the Kakuma camp and this is what we found 1/

1/ As the Trump administration destroyed USAID this year, Marco Rubio and his aides said over and over: 1. Lifesaving operations would continue around the world and 2. Nobody had died because of the cuts

NEW: There’s a dire situation in Vietnam, at the largest Agent Orange spill in the country. When Trump and Marco Rubio cancelled foreign aid, froze funding and began dismantling USAID, those who were cleaning up the Bien Hoa air base had to halt work. 1/

ProPublica just obtained a remarkable directive to those remaining at USAID: Empty the safes with the classified and personnel records and then ... "Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break."

One of the smallest federal agencies in government, the African Development Foundation (budget ~$40 million) is putting up a fight and denying DOGE + Pete Marocco — the State Dept official dismantling USAID — access to their building. Here's the letter ADF sent to DOGE

NEW: Explosive memos circulating inside USAID detail how Trump appointees ignored and thwarted the agency's senior leaders who tried to make good on the administration's public promises to keep lifesaving aid operations online. 1/

Here's our story about several key moments and players from the past month of destruction and chaos inside USAID. What people knew and when they knew it. w/@annabarryjester propublica.org/article/trump-…

This is the first time we are hearing from senior leadership at USAID in this way, how impeded from continuing life-saving programs, and who did it.

USAID's acting asst administrator, Nick Enrich, has been placed on leave after sharing a memo with bureau staff detailing how political appointees have "wholly prevented" staff from continuing life saving aid.

Then, on Feb 26, Secretary of State Marco Rubio terminated 5,000 USAID programs all at once, including care for malaria, TB and HIV. Shortly after political appointees told Enrich that they'd made some mistakes. "There is an acknowledgement some may have been sent out in error."

In the weeks that followed, USAID received conflicting information on a near daily basis about whether waivers could continue and how. On Feb 24, political leadership said to deprioritize programs for mpox, polio, and Ebola, noting waivers for that work would not be approved.

NEW STORY: When the Trump Admin abruptly cancelled almost all USAID programs, it also refused to pay $2bln the U.S. govt owes **for work that’s been done.** One of the cut-off programs in Syria couldn’t afford security and was robbed by masked men.

NEW: The Trump administration promised to take months to carefully review all foreign aid. But less than four weeks later, they cancelled 10,000 programs at once — including those they had already deemed to be critical, lifesaving operations. 1/