Billionaire fugitive Roger Ver was facing federal criminal charges until he sought the services of a select club of President Donald Trump’s former personal attorneys who have easy access to top Justice Department appointees.<a href="[link removed]><img src="[link removed]" alt="" border="0" /></a>

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The Big Story
January 22, 2026 · View in browser <[link removed]>

In today’s newsletter: A Trump-connected attorney helped a fugitive billionaire avoid prison after indictment <[link removed]> in one of the largest-ever crypto tax fraud cases; immigration agents are using banned chokeholds <[link removed]>; and join a Reddit AMA this afternoon <[link removed]> with our reporters who traveled to Kenya and South Sudan to investigate cuts to foreign aid.

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How “Bitcoin Jesus” Avoided Prison, Thanks to One of the “Friends of Trump” <[link removed]>

Billionaire fugitive Roger Ver was facing federal criminal charges until he sought the services of a select club of President Donald Trump’s former personal attorneys who have easy access to top Justice Department appointees.

Read story <[link removed]>

 
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J.D. Vance sitting and speaking at a Teneo retreat in 2021. <[link removed]>
Tenth grader Arnoldo Bazan and his father were getting McDonald’s before school when immigration agents pulled them over. After a pursuit, agents slammed Bazan’s father to the ground and put the teenager in a chokehold. Arnoldo is 16 years old and a U.S. citizen.

“I started screaming with everything I had, because I couldn’t even breathe,” Arnoldo told ProPublica. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die.”

After George Floyd’s murder six years ago, police across the country banned chokeholds and discouraged other moves that can restrict breathing. The federal government joined in too.

But today, officers are once again grabbing civilians’ throats and kneeling on necks. Our investigation <[link removed]> found more than 40 cases of immigration agents using banned chokeholds and other moves that can cut off breathing.

Top administration officials defended the officers after we showed them footage of officers using prohibited chokeholds. Federal agents have “followed their training to use the least amount of force necessary,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. Both DHS and the White House lauded the “utmost professionalism” of their agents.

Watch now <[link removed]>

 
Join us today on Reddit

 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed no one died as a result of cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development. That’s not what we found. <[link removed]>

We traveled to refugee camps in South Sudan and Kenya, some of the places most impacted by Trump’s dismantling of foreign aid. There, we saw a worsening cholera epidemic <[link removed]> and an American-made hunger crisis <[link removed]>. In response to our reporting, a senior State Department official said that the changes to foreign aid were necessary and would better serve the U.S. and its allies over time. The official maintained that no one had died as a result of the cuts: “There are people who are dying in horrible situations all around the world, all of the time.”

Today, ProPublica reporters Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy and photographer Peter DiCampo will be on Reddit taking your questions about the continued fallout of slashing aid for some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Head to our Reddit account <[link removed]> at 4 p.m. EST to find the AMA and ask your questions. In the meantime, catch up on their reporting:

Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera. <[link removed]>

Inside the Trump Administration’s Man-Made Hunger Crisis <[link removed]>

The Summer of Starvation: Amid Trump’s Foreign Aid Cuts, a Mother Struggles to Keep Her Sons Alive <[link removed]>

What I Saw at a Maternity Ward in Kenya After the U.S. Cut Off Food and Foreign Aid <[link removed]>

Join us <[link removed]>

 
More from the newsroom

 

“A Fraudulent Scheme”: New Mexico Sues Texas Oil Companies for Walking Away From Their Leaking Wells <[link removed]>

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Alaska Lawmaker Calls for Hiring More Prosecutors, Public Defenders to Reduce Extreme Delay in Criminal Cases <[link removed]>

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A Child Welfare Agency Doubted the Accuracy of Drug Tests Used in Court. The Testing Company Dodged Questions. <[link removed]>

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Women With High-Risk Pregnancies Have Limited Options Under Abortion Bans <[link removed]>

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Trump Administration Orders USDA Employees to Investigate Foreign Researchers They Work With <[link removed]>

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