Swamp Watch – 7 December 2016

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We have another cabinet choice: Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt will lead the EPA. Pruitt is pretty much what you’d expect: he’s a climate change skeptic and has led the charge against pretty much every Obama initiative to protect the environment. And he’s from Oklahoma, so it’s hardly surprising that he’s cozy with the fossil fuel industry.

In a controversial decision, the judges here at blog headquarters have named Pruitt the first Trump nominee who’s neither part of the swamp nor rich, crazy, or scary. Pruitt is a state official, so he’s not part of the DC swamp. And his climate skepticism and hatred of all environmental rules is pretty mainstream for Republicans. That’s scary, of course, but the title is reserved for those who are scary far beyond just being folks that liberals don’t like.

This prompts a question: if you could wave a magic wand and dump either Steve Bannon or Michael Flynn from Trump’s staff, which would you choose? I’d choose Flynn.

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Owned by no one—except you.

We just keep seeing it happen: Newsrooms owned by billionaires and corporations are spinning their own narratives, overwriting the truth, following only stories that keep them in the pocket of those with even more power.

Not here. We’re not owned by anyone. We’re not part of any cult that demands our allegiance to a bottom line. We’ve spoken up and spoken out while other newsrooms changed their stories—or cut them altogether—to keep the C suite happy.

Our mission is to find the truth and amplify it. That’s why we’re independent, nonprofit, and, crucially, funded by readers. The investigations on our website will always be free to read, watch, and listen to, but our newsroom is powered by readers who pitch in what they can so we can keep asking the hard questions.

Can you chip in today?

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