Joel Warner

The Lever A reader-supported news organization holding power accountable.

Pssst, @levernews.com doesn't have any corporate owners vying for merger approval and other government handouts. We're independent, reader-supported, and not afraid to speak truth to power. Please read, subscribe, and support our work. www.levernews.com

«Une des plus fabuleuses arnaques du XXIe siècle» : l’affaire Aristophil ou comment faire du chiffre avec des lettres Surnommé «le Madoff des livres», l’homme d’affaires de 77 ans, mis en cause pour un système supposé frauduleux basé sur des originaux d’écrivains comme Proust, Balzac ou Zola, sera jugé à partir du 8 ...

Recent reporting on the trial (in French!): www.liberation.fr/plus/speciau...

The Curse of the Marquis de Sade: A Notorious Scoundrel, a Mythical Manuscript, and the Biggest Scandal in Literary History Amazon.com: The Curse of the Marquis de Sade: A Notorious Scoundrel, a Mythical Manuscript, and the Biggest Scandal in Literary History: 9780593135686: Warner, Joel: Books

Trial launches next week for France's largest-ever alleged Ponzi scheme, involving 18,000 victims, €1B+ in damages, the world's most elite booksellers, and many of history's most famous (and infamous) written works. Interested? I wrote a book about it! www.amazon.com/gp/product/0...

Zohran Mamdani’s Mandate Is A Democratic Earthquake There will now be a high-stakes battle to define the meaning of the New York mayoral candidate’s historic win.

NEW from me & Evelyn Quartz:

Zohran Mamdani won a clear mandate - but the Democratic political/media elite is already trying to downplay it & pretend it was just vibes rather than a demand for policy change.

The battle for the future has just begun. www.levernews.com/zohran-mamda...

Maryland Governor Wes Moore just approved a new carveout exempting predatory payday lenders from state regulations.
www.levernews.com/a-democratic...

🚨MUST WATCH: Senators are right now grilling Trump IRS nominee Billy Long about The Lever's report on donors with IRS business enriching Long right after he was nominated.

Story here: levernews.com/trump-irs-pi...

PLEASE subscribe to help us do more - and pass it on: LeverNews.com/subscribe

Trump Taps Refugee Fund To Welcome White South Africans Within Days Amid a near-total asylum ban, government sources say Trump officials are planning to use funds for at-risk refugees to facilitate imminent Afrikaner resettlement.

Amid a near-total asylum ban, government sources say Trump officials are planning to use funds for at-risk refugees to facilitate imminent Afrikaner resettlement. www.levernews.com/trump-taps-r...

The Government’s Chemical Disaster Tracking Tool Just Went Dark The chemical lobby demanded Trump make the locations of high-risk chemical plants secret. The EPA did just that.

🚨BREAKING: The Trump administration just hid data that lets communities know about dangerous chemical facilities in their midst.

The move came after lobbying from the chemical industry — and after massive inauguration donations from chemical companies. www.levernews.com/the-governme...

LIVE VIRTUAL EVENT: Billionaires Get Tax Cuts — What’s Left For Us? (With Accountable.US) Feb 27 at 8 P.M. ET: Join us for a special virtual live event with Accountable.US.

Trump’s administration is working at a breakneck pace to rewrite the federal government in favor of billionaires and corporate interests. Where will this leave the rest of us non-billionaires?

Join us TONIGHT at 8pm ET on Zoom with Accountable.US to discuss.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was one of the officials raising safety concerns about the airline-backed bill that Congress passed in the months before the disaster at Washington National Airport.

Before D.C. Airport Collision, Lawmakers Brushed Off Warnings And Boosted Flights Despite midflight near-misses and dire pleas, airline-bankrolled lawmakers recently expanded flight traffic at Washington’s busy airport.

🚨BREAKING: Months before tonight's fatal DC plane crash, lawmakers brushed off dire safety warnings & passed an industry-backed bill adding more flight traffic at the airport.

"Increasing slots at this airport undermines safety," an opponent pleaded.

The Deadly Secrets Behind “Breakthrough” Alzheimer’s Drugs Regulators approved controversial therapies amid excess deaths, questionable efficacy, and conflicts of interest.

HUGE new @levernews.com investigation, months in the making, that raises big questions about the safety and efficacy of celebrated new Alzheimer's drugs Leqembi and Aduhelm. www.levernews.com/the-deadly-s...

Bowling with The Lever news team and friends

The Lever Merchandise Store Explore The Lever's merchandise. All purchases support holding the powerful accountable through independent investigative journalism.

Need a last-minute gift? @levernews.com's merch is all union-made here in the U.S.A. and every purchase supports our reporting! theleverstore.com

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🚨NEWS: The nation’s top private health insurers have spent over $120 BILLION lining top shareholders’ pockets with lucrative stock buybacks.

It’s no coincidence that among those top investors are the very executives who authorize buybacks in the first place 👇
www.levernews.com/health-insur...

Health Insurer Pressured Employees To Fight State Public Option Video shows UnitedHealth exec slamming Connecticut proposal’s “artificially low premiums” and pushing employees to lobby against the bill.

UnitedHealth executives pressed the company’s rank-and-file employees to pressure lawmakers to block a public health insurance option. www.levernews.com/health-insur...

Anthem is backtracking on their dangerous insurance coverage change after @helenwsantoro.bsky.social's excellent reporting revealed they would no longer pay for anesthesia for surgeries that ran too long.

Trump, Magic, and Misdirection Magicians rely on misdirection and deception to create an illusion. The science behind their craft may explain how politicians manipulate the public in a post-truth era.

🚨NEW POD: We investigated just how elastic the truth can get in the social media era — and how politicians like Trump use manipulation and deception similar to the way a magician would 👇
www.levernews.com/trump-magic-...

Jobs jobs jobs! https://buff.ly/3DwypQq

They’re gonna force taxpayers to bail out the crypto investors when it all crashes. Remember this post.

Trump Nominee Pressured IRS To Crush The Humane Society Billy Long pushed the agency to target the group after it supported an initiative to protect dogs. Long could get new power to target more nonprofits.

What's up with Republicans and dogs?

We're hiring! Know of good candidates?
www.levernews.com/jobs/

We just delivered insurance reform. Pass it on.

🚨BREAKING: Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield tells us they will NOT go forward with previously planned changes to their anesthesia coverage.

"There has been significant widespread misinformation about an update to our anesthesia policy. As a result, we have decided to not proceed."

Making America Inhumane Again.

What stage of capitalism is this?

It’s Dark Money-Giving Tuesday A new study reveals that charitable giving will soon be dominated by Wall Street dark-money funds that enrich the wealthy and never have to give to working charities.

It's dark money giving Tuesday!
www.levernews.com/its-dark-mon...

Publishers Have Finally Said The Quiet Part Out Loud About Retro Games In a recent move against the archiving of video game history, publishers have finally come clean on why they dislike retro games so much.

Important post on game publishers' profit-gouging efforts to stop the archiving of video game history. "Imagine not being able to go to a library and read the works of Charles Dickens, E.M. Forster, or any other historical author." It's the same for video games. www.forbes.com/sites/ollieb...

Biden’s Last-Minute Gift To Corporate Lawbreakers A new Justice Department policy update says that even repeat corporate offenders can avoid prosecution if they “make good faith efforts” to come clean.

🚨 BREAKING: The Biden Justice Dept just quietly issued a new policy giving corporate lawbreakers a new get-out-of-jail-free card even if they profited off multiple crimes.

The policy comes as Biden DOJ officials may be seeking new jobs back in the corporate sector.