Silicon Valley’s War Profiteers
After years of pushing sensationalized claims about foreign threats, Silicon Valley’s military start-ups are set to score billions in funding for drones and AI-powered weapons in the nearly $1 trillion defense budget.
119 Article(s) by: Freddy Brewster
Freddy Brewster is a reporter with the Lever. He has been published in the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, CalMatters, the Lost Coast Outpost, and more.
The GOP Is Refusing to Interrogate Trump’s Big Tech Allies
GOP lawmakers recently ordered social media companies to testify before the House Oversight Committee to "examine radicalization of online forum users" — while notably excluding companies led by Donald Trump's closest Big Tech allies, Meta and X.
A New Housing Marketplace That’s Keeping Homes Unaffordable
Homebuilding giant Lennar has a large stockpile of houses it can’t sell at current asking prices. Instead of lowering home prices for the public, the company has launched an e-marketplace catering to wealthy investors and corporate landlords.
Corporate Media Doesn’t Want to Talk About Greedflation
Corporate media has routinely downplayed the role of corporate profiteering in driving inflation, often citing industry talking points or providing no explanation at all for crippling inflation over the past few years.
Donald Trump May Give Free Rein to Right-Wing TV Giants
Conservative news broadcast giants that have curried favor with President Donald Trump are now urging the administration to eliminate rules holding back their monopolization of local and national TV stations.
The Feds Keep Changing Their Story About the Epstein Files
The Department of Justice keeps changing its story about documents related to the politically connected sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, offering contradictory reasons for refusing to release the files.
The US Government Is Underfunding Flood Warning Systems
Despite the rising threat of climate disasters like last week’s deadly flash flood in Texas, US lawmakers continue to underfund the federal government program supporting a nationwide flood warning system.
Dems Are Being Pushed to Support Crypto for Political Gain
Despite their reservations about the impacts of crypto on consumers and the financial system, Democratic Party operatives and crypto industry advocates are secretly coordinating to push Democratic senators to back the pro-crypto GENIUS Act.
Crypto Owners May Get Priority in the Event of Bank Failures
The US Senate is poised to pass a financial deregulation bill ensuring that when a bank goes out of business, the savings of cryptocurrency owners would be made whole before those of other bank customers.
A Whistleblower Lawsuit Has Unveiled a Secret Trump ICE Plot
A new whistleblower lawsuit is accusing the Trump administration of using a secret subpoena to force Colorado officials to ignore state laws and hand over the private financial information of residents who are sponsoring unaccompanied immigrant children.
Trump’s IRS Pick Promised Tax Benefits to Finance CEO
Trump’s pick to head the IRS, Billy Long, was invited to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration as the guest of an executive who said Long promised him benefits for his financial services company.
Tech-Backed Dems May Endanger California’s Clean Energy Laws
In the California legislature, Democrats are pushing a bill that could hand control of the state’s energy markets to the pro–fossil fuel Trump administration. Expert analyses suggest the bill could jeopardize California’s trailblazing clean energy laws.
Big Tech Wants Free Rein to Sell Your Data
Tech companies accused of exposing consumers to fraud want the Trump administration to let them freely buy and sell your personal information.
Biden Paved the Way for Trump’s Leniency on Corporate Crime
The federal government under Joe Biden prosecuted fewer corporate crime cases than at any point in the last 30 years. Now the Trump administration is set to drop or pause more than 100 enforcement actions against corporate misconduct.
Trump’s IRS Pick Has Ties to Shady Donors Under IRS Scrutiny
Donald Trump’s nominee for Internal Revenue Service director, Billy Long, just had his six-figure debt paid off by campaign donors whose firms are under scrutiny by the IRS for potential tax fraud.
Even Credit Unions Are in on Banks’ Junk Fee Racket
The credit union motto is “people helping people.” Yet credit unions, like big banks, collect billions of dollars through excessive overdraft fees — and the Trump administration just made it easier for them to do so.
Dark Money Is Funding the GOP’s War on Consumer Protections
Thirteen legal groups bankrolled by dark money are urging the Supreme Court to kneecap federal agencies’ ability to take on corporations — a strategy to strip agencies of their power to protect consumers and workers.
Supreme Court Lobbyists Don’t Want to Reveal Their Funders
A government committee in charge of federal judiciary rules wants to make Supreme Court lobbyists disclose who is funding them. Some of the most powerful corporate and conservative forces in DC are trying to keep that information secret.
Trump’s EPA Wants to Block Toxic Pesticide Warnings
Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is advancing a proposal to block states from warning consumers about herbicides and other agricultural products in their food — including the widely used glyphosate, which some studies have linked to cancer.
Tim Scott Is Fighting for His Donors’ Junk Fees
Joe Biden’s CFPB passed rules limiting overdraft and credit card late fees. As the chair of the Senate committee that oversees the agency, Tim Scott wants to reinstate these junk fees — a key priority for his donors in finance.