Trevor Aaronson

4 weeks ago | theintercept.com | Trevor Aaronson

President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, was on a Sunday talk show last weekend to defend the administration’s use of wartime powers to label Venezuelan immigrants as gang members and deport them without due process. “How do your people in the field determine that someone is a gang member?” Jonathan Karl, a co-anchor of ABC’s “This Week,” asked. “Look, there’s various methods,” Homan responded.

2 months ago | trevoraaronson.substack.com | Trevor Aaronson

Conspiracy theories are at the heart of the 2022 mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, where a gunman opened fire on a Fourth of July parade, killing seven people and wounding dozens more. In Into the Madness, my new seven-part Audible Original series, I investigate how online games and conspiracy theories played a role in the attack. The full series is available now on Audible. Trevor Aaronson is a reader-supported publication.

Jan 21, 2025 | trevoraaronson.substack.com | Trevor Aaronson

Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president yesterday. But before he even took the oath, Senate confirmation fights over his cabinet nominees signaled a major battle ahead: control of the FBI. At the center of that fight is Kash Patel — the man Trump wants to lead the FBI. Democratic senators previewed that fight while questioning Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general and Patel’s would-be boss.

Jan 14, 2025 | trevoraaronson.substack.com | Trevor Aaronson

An FBI informant who admitted to lying to federal agents about Hunter Biden’s dealings with a Ukrainian energy company received a six-year prison sentence last week. Alexander Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, previously pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents, including a claim that then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter each received $5 million bribe payments in 2015 from Burisma Holdings.

Jan 7, 2025 | trevoraaronson.substack.com | Trevor Aaronson

As I announced late last year, I’ll be writing to you here every Tuesday — primarily about the Federal Bureau of Investigation and how federal agents and prosecutors are finding ways to curb First Amendment freedoms. Much of my journalism has focused — and will continue to focus — on long-term investigative projects published with or distributed by media partners. I have a new series coming out on Audible in February, which you’ll hear more about in this space soon.