ence morse

and last week, our investigation w/ @azipaybarah.bsky.social @erxclau.me & Talia Trackim showed up. we found that anonymous accounts and right-wing influencers on X were feeding Musk policy ideas that the White House took action on. (plus, those visuals!!!)
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...

my stories were on john oliver! twice!!

this week, our story on USAID w/ the amazing @sarahellison.bsky.social was featured. we found that Musk only began criticizing the agency after conservative activist Mike Benz railed against it on Rogan's show.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

GOP Rep. Ogles says Muslims ‘don’t belong in American society’ The Tennessee lawmaker’s post is part of a larger trend of House Republicans leaning on Islamophobic rhetoric.

Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tennessee) has become the latest Republican lawmaker to voice blatantly Islamophobic sentiments.

He declared on X that “Diversity is our weakness” and called for the deportation of even naturalized Muslim Americans.

Statement by UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Edouard Beigbeder, on the rise in child casualties amid escalating hostilities in Lebanon 83 children killed and 254 injured in the past 7 days, while hundreds of thousands flee their homes

On average, more than 10 children have been killed every day across Lebanon over the past week, @unicef.org says. Israeli military operations and evacuation orders have also displaced nearly 700,000 people, including around 200,000 children www.unicef.org/press-releas...

Nope. Bean and Jackson are both Democrats, as are the state candidates — Adam Braun, Aja Kearney, Jaime Andrade, and Paul Kendrick.

Meta (and the Leading the Future network of PACs) have spent to boost Republicans in other states though.

The Illinois primary is 8 days away, and AI cash is pouring in.

In the past month:
- $2 million has come into U.S. House races, boosting Melissa Bean and Jesse Jackson Jr.
- Meta's AI-policy-focused state PAC has spent over $450k on 4 Illinois state House races

Bar chart showing portion of funding big super PACs raised during the 2023-2024 election cycle from their affiliated dark money groups, which enabled anonymous donors to bankroll political ads.

New @issueonereform.bsky.social analysis:

The 4 main super PACs focused on control of Congress raised about 20% of their funds from anonymous donors during the 2024 election cycle.

Last year, these four super PACs raised a combined $71 MILLION from #darkmoney

issueone.org/press/big-fo...

The Dormidots Tiny Atlas is officially live. 🗺️✨

51 hand-drawn ACEO map prints featuring all 50 states + Washington DC, created as part of the Dormidots collection.

These are available at www.studio6101.com

I plan to keep doing this work; to push the boundaries of visual storytelling and finding new ways to make complex information clear, engaging, and human.

If your organization is expanding or investing in visual storytelling, cartography, or graphics, I would love to chat about opportunities.

On the wall near the plaque, they affixed a QR code titled "Honored Law Enforcement." A scan with a smartphone takes the viewer to a list of officers present that day. The list goes on for 45 pages. By 4:25 a.m. they had finished. They packed up their tools and wheeled the plywood away, leaving the hallway empty once more. Outside, the air was damp and filled with birdsong, the darkness gradually receding with the dawn of a new day.

Fantastic kicker from @oliviacgeorge.bsky.social here: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

A few hours after NYT reported that the U.S. bombed an elementary school in Iran, killing many children, the White House last night posted this video mixing airstrike footage with Top Gun, Iron Man, Gladiator, Halo, Breaking Bad, Star Wars, John Wick, Superman, Transformers and Dragon Ball Z

Screenshot of ProPublica webpage titled “Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,500 of His Appointees,” accompanied by this blurb: “Use this database to explore potential conflicts of interest for President Donald Trump and his team. The documents disclose positions officials have held outside government, their assets and their debts, among other things.” A search bar prompts the user to search for a person or financial holding.

THREAD: We just released a tool that allows you to search billions of dollars in wealth, ties to the most powerful companies in the country, and details of the personal finances of President Trump and over 1,500 of his appointees.

Here’s how it works 1/

It's NICAR season! I'm in Indy talking about our TikTok data collection project on Friday and midterm elections on Saturday. Come say hi!

Bar chart showing Talarico's performance in the Democratic Texas Senate primary by the racial composition of counties, where he wins just 38% of the vote in counties with over 20% Black residents, but 65% of the vote in counties with over 75% Hispanic residents

About last night: Talarico performed best in 75%+ Hispanic counties — even better than his numbers in the whitest counties — and lagged Crockett in counties that were at least 10% Black. More on Texas w/ the great @lizcgoodwin.bsky.social @ktumulty.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Hello Bluesky! We're the Washington Post data team. We dig through government records, social media, campaign finance reports, weather maps, and any other data we can dig up, download, FOIA or create. Then, we share what we find with you.

We've worked on a lot in the past year. A few highlights 🧵

The hypothetical nuclear attack that escalated the Pentagon’s showdown with Anthropic Start-up Anthropic and the U.S. military are careening toward a clash over government use of artificial intelligence — and whether it should be allowed to kill.

The best story I’ve seen yet on the Anthropic-Pentagon showdown wapo.st/3OCZdqY

How $15.5 billion will be spent on Congress’s pet projects Lawmakers have approved nearly $15.5 billion in earmarks for more than 8,000 projects in the 2026 federal funding package.

Jazz history. Oyster shell recycling. Tuna research. Film education.

The 2026 federal funding package passed earlier this month included nearly $15.5 billion across 8,271 projects in lawmakers’ districts and states. Here’s what’s in store:

NEW: A federal judge said in an opinion issued today that the Trump administration violated the tax law “approximately 42,695 times” in turning over immigrant data to ICE

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

Exclusive: Pro-Trump activists are circulating a draft executive order alleging Chinese interference in the 2020 election, proposing a national emergency to expand presidential power over voting, like banning mail ballots and voting machines.

Incredible front-page story from Ukraine by a reporter and photojournalist that the Post just laid off wapo.st/4rKFape

As MAGA embraces Erika Kirk, Candace Owens goes on the attack The right-wing influencer launched a video series about Charlie Kirk’s widow that is provoking outrage among conservatives — and raising Owens’s profile.

Candace Owens is aiming to take down Erika Kirk with a new video series that so far has managed to enrage just about everyone without really making any specific allegations at all.

I wrote about the attention-economy logic behind Owens' attacks on a "grieving widow:" wapo.st/3OKDYmU (gift link)

Judge says government may not search devices seized from Post reporter A federal judge in Virginia denied the Justice Department’s request to search a Washington Post reporter’s devices in a national security leak probe.

NEW: Judge blocks DOJ from searching reporter Hannah Natanson's seized devices, says court will review them. The judge also said a DOJ filter team's search of work-product would be "the equivalent of leaving the government’s fox in charge of the Washington Post’s henhouse"
wapo.st/4kR9c7P

U.S. women’s hockey wins OT stunner over Canada in gold medal game Trailing for most of the game, the U.S. scored late in the third period and again in overtime to secure the victory.

Breaking news: The U.S. women’s hockey team beat Canada in overtime, 2-1, to win gold at the Olympics.

Wishing a meaningful & reflective Mark Wahlberg 40 Day Challenge to all who observe.

When I analyzed all of Kennedy’s social media posts since 2022, we saw that he shifted to talking dramatically more about food than vaccines when he became HHS secretary; re food, Bigtree told the Post “It was an easier topic to sell to moms across America.”

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Which places in the U.S. give people the most opportunities to participate in Winter Olympic sports? (Spoiler: The cold places. But it's more interesting and nuanced than that!)

We mapped it! And you can look up your city and see which sports are nearby.

wapo.st/4qlkAKf

As The Post reported first this morning ;) www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

IRS improperly disclosed confidential immigrant tax data to DHS The tax agency only recently discovered it improperly disclosed tax information on thousands of the wrong people to immigration enforcement.

🚨 SCOOP: The IRS improperly disclosed confidential immigrant tax information to DHS, per sources.

It opens up HUGE liability for the US government.

Trump is suing the IRS over substantially the same disclosures -- for $10 billion.

🎁 Gift link:

Number of AI use cases reported by federal government

New: How the federal government is using AI

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/09/trump-administration-ai-push/

Trump set off a surge of AI in the federal government. See what happened. The Trump administration is accelerating AI adoption across government, embedding the technology in policing, health care, defense and science.

Orders came down from the White House budget office in April urging every corner of the government to deploy AI.

Officials across the government answered the call, according to a Post analysis of more than two dozen recent agency disclosures on AI use.