Eric Umansky
@ericuman
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**Now at @ericumansky.bsky.social.** Editor-at-Large @ProPublica. Co-founder @DocumentCloud. Editor of Trump, Inc. podcast. (RIP) Hangs with @sarapekow.
Joined May 2008
A 16-yr-old boy died in Border Patrol custody. He had the flu. They didn't take him to the hospital.They didn't release him.They didn't even seem to check on him as he was dying on the floor of his cell, contrary to the govt's account. We have the video.
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NEW:. Harlan Crow paid Thomas for property. The law explicitly requires disclosure of property sales. Thomas didn't disclose anything. Here's Thomas' signature on the undisclosed deal. By @JustinElliott @js_kaplan & @Amierjeski
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So we got Trump Org tax documents. And you know what they seem to show? . Fraud.
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I want to tell you a story about body cameras and *Derek Chauvin*. What Chauvin did to George Floyd, kneeling on his neck, was his move. He had done to others. It was all recorded by body cams. But the footage was kept secret. And Chauvin was left unpunished. [short THREAD]
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BREAKING: Liberty University, founded by Jerry Falwell, threatened to punish students who reported being raped. An official told us he was just fired for raising concerns. He called it âconspiracy of silence.â. By @hannah_dreyfus.
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Republicans embraced the politically convenient line that Ford simply misremembered who attacked her. Except scientists say thatâs not a thing. One researcher âcould not recall a single case of a sexual assault victim misremembering a known attacker.â.
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In NYC, where adult vax rate in nearly 90%, there were zero COVID deaths yesterday. Across the US, there were 789.
NYC doesn't require vaccination, but makes it very hard to participate in public life without one. Hence the adult vax rate is nearing 90% and COVID mortality rate is very low.
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Washington Postâs West Africa bureau chief đđŒ. Senegal is testing people and giving results within 4 hours. Senegalâs per capita income is less than $3,000.
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I reported today that the NYPD has been *throwing out* cases of police misconduct *without even looking at the evidence*. Under the current commissioner--who just got his phone seized by the feds--they've been doing it even more. 400+ cases just this year.
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Israel dropped almost as many bombs in Gaza in one week as the U.S. did in Afghanistan in one year -- the heaviest year. Gaza is 141 sq miles. Afghanistan is 252,071 sq miles.
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A 11-year-old boy, whoâs Black, called 911. Police came to his house & shot him. âHis words were, âWhy did he shoot me? What did I do?ââ his mom said. Thereâs body-worn camera footage. But police wonât release it. They wonât even show it to the family.
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Jesus, the outbreak around Seattle was only found bc enterprising researchers found a way to *get.around the CDC.*.
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I dunno, I feel like this deserves more than page 15 treatment.
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An employee at one of the shelters for migrant children says theyâre not equipped to handle things: kids are running away, throwing furniture, and attempting suicide. He quit in disgust.
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A remarkable story: . A teenager decided he had to get away from his gang, MS-13. So he told police everything he knew. In return, the U.S. govt is deporting him to El Salvador. Where MS-13 is in control, and heâs marked for death.
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The White Houseâs chief security officer just had his leg amputated bc of COVID, and his family has had go to GoFundMe to help pay for it all. âThe White House declined to say whether Trump has contributed to the effort.â .
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Team Trump tried to kill this story. They sent us a cease-and-desist letter demanding the story not be published. Read it.
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The U.S. Park Police union just said those Australian journalists in Lafayette Park were "in the middle of violent protesters" and "may have fallen.". Here's the reality.
Australian PM calls for investigation after U.S. cops assault foreign journalists
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Three years ago, I got some footage that I couldnât get out of my mind. It showed the first police killing captured on body-worn cameras in NY. The NYPD didnât want anyone to see it. It eventually launched me on the biggest story Iâve ever done, w/ @NYTmag. [THREAD].
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1/ On Halloween, my family saw NYPD converge on a group of black teenagers in Brooklyn. My wife and our 6-year-old daughter saw an unmarked NYPD car going against traffic *hit one of the boys.* . I asked the police about it. They say it didnât happen.
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Last Halloween, my family saw an NYPD car racing the wrong way down a street *hit a teenager.* . The police said it didn't happen. We shouldn't believe what we saw. So I started reporting. What I learned: NYPD impunity is built into the system.
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We've just published secretly recorded audio from inside a govt facility where children are being separated from their parents. You can hear them screaming. by @gingerthomp1.
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Iâm sorry, this is a horrible headline. In what possible scenario is Kyle Rittenhouse a âheroâ?
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We journalists need to get comfortable real quick w/ idea of being seen as fighting for something. And that something is democratic values.
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My 12-year-old niece, telling @JuliaAngwin why she wants to be an investigative journalist: "I want to help the world, but I'm too mean to be a social worker." . đ„.
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Btw, you know those at-home COVID tests you just paid $25 for? . You can get them for a few bucks in Europe. Theyâre so $$ here bc the FDA basically gave two companies a duopoly. An FDA scientist told us he was so frustrated by review process he quit.
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âItâs a fucking baby! It doesnât know the difference between you and anyone else,â Bloomberg yelled at an employee trying to find childcare. âAll you need is some black who doesnât have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building.â.
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So the Bronx building that burned had no sprinklers. NYC once moved to require that older buildings get them. The push died. Developers killed it. You know which developer led the fight and called a dozen city council members? . Donald Trump.
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NEW: Clarence Thomas had a kid in private school. Harlan Crow paid the tuition. "Harlan picked up the tab," a frmr school admin told us. Thomas didnât disclose it. $6,200/month. Hereâs the wire transfer. By @js_kaplan @JustinElliott @Amierjeski
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Trump has made 31 claims about companies adding or saving American jobs thanks to his intervention -- adding up to 2.4 million jobs. We checked. More than *90 percent* of the jobs haven't materialized.
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"It's hard for me to describe the number of texts I've gotten from people close to the president who are *relieved.* Who did not want to live through another four years. In their words, literally, 'It has to end.'" - @maggieNYT on The Daily.
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Citizens have filed *2,600 complaints* against Minneapolis police in eight years. *12* cops have been disciplined. The most serious penalty was a *40-hour suspension*.
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A massive dam in Syria was on a U.S. no-strike list. Tens of thousands people lived downstream. When it was bombed, the Pentagon said the US didn't do it. A general dismissed even the possibility as "crazy reporting.". The U.S. did it.
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Trump campaign says it âdid not organize, operate or financeâ the Jan. 6 rally. Except multiple campaign officials are literally listed on the permit. One was paid $20k/month.
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1/ This article should be taught as a case study in the Cult of Both Sides & how poorly it serves journalism
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The federal government is confiscating orders from. the federal government!. FEMA hijacked 5 million masks from the VA, which is very short of supplies. The masks "disappeared," say VA hospital chief. Hospitals are now at âausterity levels.â.
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NEW: We got something you rarely see: internal investigation into police killing, w/ audio interviews of officers. They don't tell truth: A cop repeatedly told his partner not to fire. Police investigators never ask about that, even though it was on film.
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Fascinating study: Americans *vastly under-estimate inequality in the U.S., particularly racial disparities. They guess that black Americans are 80% as wealthy as white Americans. In fact, blacks are just 5% as wealthy as whites.
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1/ A couple of months ago, I discovered my health insurer was monitoring my sleep and using it to deny me benefits. So I told my colleague @marshall_allenâŠ.
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Ah, now I understand why Trump hasn't invoked the Defense Production Act (which would compel companies to make what's needed).
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In Minneapolis, as in almost all cities, itâs the police who decide who can see what and when. What the police decided in these cases was to release nothing. Nor was he punished. Chauvin had 22 complaints against him over the years. Resulting in discipline once.
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*That* footage â of Chauvin assaulting a boy and young woman years before he murdered Floyd â only came out this year *six years after the incidents* and only after a court order. This is what the lawyer, @RK4Justice, in those two cases told meâŠ
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Scoop from @JustinElliott & WNYC's @ilyamarritz -- who've found:. 1. The Trump inauguration paid the Trump hotel an "egregious" amount of $$. 2. The deal may violate the law against self-dealing.
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NEW: An MIT scientist created an inexpensive, at-home test in *March 2020* --just weeks into the pandemic. She had a factory read to churn them out. The tests were solid. We checked. But she couldn't get past FDA's constipated review. by @lydiadepillis.
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I didn't know this. "The United States provides the Israeli army with military and intelligence support, and is therefore required by the Geneva Conventions to ensure that bombing raids in Gaza do not breach international law.".
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See that test on left? . Thatâs what youâve been buying, from Abbott, for about $25/pack. After early approval from FDA & thus few competitors, it has 75% of market. See that test on right? . Itâs *the same test* by Abbott. Just packaged for Europeâwhere it sells for $4
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For decades, NY has kept copsâ records secret. You couldnât know an officerâs history, or even theyâve been displined. Police unions have gotten a judge to stop NYC from releasing most of the docs. But we have the records too. And now, so do you.
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Police investigations into police killings are usually a black box. But @michaelhayes & I found how NYPD investigated itself after an officer killed a man, Kawaski Trawick, who was home alone. We got audio interviews w/ the officers. Listen as the blue wall of silence is built.đđ».
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Three months later, Chauvin did it again. First, he hit a 14-year-old boy repeatedly with his flashlight. He choked him. Then Chauvin knelt on his neck for 15 minutes as the boyâs.mother, begged, ââPlease, please do not kill my son!ââ
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We asked @LibertyU detailed Qs about it threatening to punish students who report rape. Silence. ThenâŠ. @Hannah_Dreyfus heard from their VP of comms. Who told us heâd just been fired for trying to get Liberty to acknowledge the truth. He told us it all.
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1/ I know our capacity for outrage has been sapped, but the images coming from Gaza are truly shocking.
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In June, 2017, Chauvin arrested a young Black woman named Zoya Code. Chauvin dragged the handcuffed Code outside her home and slammed.her to the ground. Then pressed his knee into her neck for nearly five minutes. âDon't kill me," Code begged.
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FBI agent who led investigation of the Blackwater killings writes letter to the NYT saying "it was a massacre along the lines of My Lai in Vietnam.".
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Chauvinâs tale is part of a much larger one. It's about how police across the country have undermined the promise of body worn cameras. Itâs the cover story of this weekendâs @NYTMag:. Done with @umarfarooq_. Thank you.
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We got texts between the organizers of the Jan. 6, which the Trump campaign says they definitely, absolutely didnât organize. âGet the budget and vendors breakdown to me,â wrote a long-time Trump fundraising official. By @mikespiesnyc @JakePearsonProP.
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And here is what an expert said:. âThomas was hiding a financial relationship with Crow.â
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Yep, those are our reporters boating around Mar-a-Lago and picking up its tremendously crackable wifi.
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Republican congresswoman just tweeted that Democrats are "enemies to the American people" and said, "They will be held accountable.". That seems very. incitement-y.
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In Minneapolis, years before Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, he knelt on the neck of a 14-year-old. He choked and hit him. Chauvin's assault was captured on cameras. But supervisors cleared it. The police wouldn't release footage until a court stepped in 6 years later
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The CIA showed Trump video of a drone strike in which they had waited until the target wasnât at home with his family. The presidentâs response: âWhy did you wait?â.
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New from me:. Two years ago on Halloween, my wife @sarapekow saw an NYPD cop drive against traffic & hit a kid. NYPD told me it didnât happen. Now, NYPD is quashing a move to punish the officer. They call what my family saw an âalleged traffic accidentâ.
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So Chauvin was still a police officer on May 25, 2020 when he stopped George Floyd. Chauvin had his body-worn camera on then too. But the police didnât release it. Instead, they released this description.
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Things we noticed about inauguration:. * It raised nearly 2X previous record. It didn't have 2X the party.* Nobody can figure out where the $$ went.* Two members of Inaugural committee were convicted of fin crimes. Treasurer was unindicted co-conspirator.
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BREAKING from ProPublica:. Blinken Is Sitting on Staff Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Military Units Linked to Killings or Rapes. by @BrettMmurphy.
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Ivanka, while working at the White House, is getting paid $1.5 million annually by Trump companies, which in turn are doing biz with state-owned companies. Oh, and Ivanka wonât release her tax returns either.
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This is beyond nuts. The administration *still* hasn't given the Army Corps of Engineers any orders: . "We have not been assigned a mission.â.
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New: ProPublica and the @TexasTribune have made 70 records requests about police response to Uvalde. Weâve requested:. 911 calls.body cam videos.Comms between feds & locals.death records.ballistic reports. In response, officials have releasedâŠ. Nothing.
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In refusing to release footage, the police have pointed to a law that gives them the leeway to do just that. Where'd that law come from? . Well, three of the four legislators who wrote the final language had long been police officers themselves.
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Omg, Barr pushed Italian officials ***last week*** to undermine FBI/CIA conclusions about Russian interference in 2016 election.
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The world first saw Chauvinâs body-cam footage of him killing Floyd nearly a year later â at Chauvinâs murder trial. But even after Chauvinâs conviction, police and Minneapolis continued fighting the release of footage from the other incidents.
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An amazing but true fact:. "If Floyd had been killed in New York City, we would not have learned about the 18 previous misconduct complaints made against Chauvin.". It's *illegal* in New York to disclose complaints officers.
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*This* is what police unions have been fighting to keep secret: . -34 current NYPD officers have had *40 or more* abuse allegations against them. -303 officers have had *five or more* allegations substantiated. See for yourself: .
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1/ Trump is suing towns across the country to get breaks on taxes. We found nine suits his company has brought **since Trump became president.** .
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Worth noting, a *non-billionaire* buddy also gave Thomas $5k for the kid's education. Thomas *did* report that gift. So why didn't he report Crow's potentially $150,000++ contributions for the same? . Thomas hasn't answered that either.
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Reminder:. Florida did a voter reg drive in jail. Then Florida charged the inmates. for illegally registering . 8 of 10 are Black . They've been sentenced to years in prison. Also in FL: 2 white guys in The Villages voted 2x. They got community service.
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Remarkable. Cops in many cities have very low vaccinations rates:. NYC: 39%.Las Vegas: 38%.Atlanta: 36%. âI hate to sound like I donât care, but I really donât,â said one union rep. Citizens, obvi, don't get to choose whether they interact w/ cops.
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Disclosing that a reporter has had family in prison, shows among other things how deeply "objectivity" is intertwined w/ race & class. Which reinforces lack of diversity in journalism. If not having parent in prison means you're objective & disclosure-free, guess who benefits. .
The Wapo has a good story about a DA candidate in SF whose father is in prison. But I don't get "Editor's note" that reporter also had a parent in prison. Our backgrounds shape us. The reporter is no more biased than one who *hasn't* had family in prison.
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I am very interested in hearing from anyone who may have witnessed this or been involved. PLEASE CONTACT ME. 917-687-8406 eric.umansky@propublica.org. I donât have to use names. @NYCmayor.@NYPDChiefofDept.@BPEricAdams.@JumaaneWilliams. END.
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Consulting firm McKinsey worked for ICE and recommended the government cut food and medical spending for detainees. Really.
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Prosecutors planned to indict Walmart for pushing opiod sales over pharmacists' concerns. Trump appointees killed the criminal case, then stonewalled the civil one. A prosecutor resigned in protest: âCorporations cannot poison Americans with impunity.".
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SCOOP: Trumpâs awesome trust has been revised to explicitly say he can take profits from his biz anytime he wants:
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The police did eventually release footage from another officer that day. It was heavily redacted. A police spokesman explained: "body cam footage is not public data.".
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So Ivanka had fabulous meeting about "female empowerment" in Saudi Arabia. Female reporters were banned.
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What frmr CIA officers are saying:. "Iâve seen this kind of violence. This is what autocrats do. This is what happens in countries before a collapse.". âIt reminded me of what I reported on for years in the third world. Saddam. Bashar. They all did this.â.
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Trump has installed hundreds of officials at agencies across govt. He won't say who they are. But we got the list.
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The Gov. of Oregon wrote Pence asking for 400k masks. WH didn't respond for a week. Then it sent just 37k masks. Most were expired. NYC asked the feds for 2 millions masks. It 76,000. *All were expired.*
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