Featured

Trump: Iran asked me to be Supreme Leader, but I said no thanks

Trump’s “Iran asked me to be Supreme Leader” joke at an NRCC fundraiser uses a real, deadly leadership crisis in Iran to normalize assassination-as-policy and blur what’s confirmed about the war and succession.

Mar 26, 2026

Featured

‘Men need to be perp-walked’ after Epstein files release, Massie tells BBC

A GOP lawmaker says the Epstein document releases are still falling short—because redactions and withheld material may be blocking accountability and survivor-centered justice.

Mar 25, 2026

Buried.News

The stories buried under the noise

Primary focus

Trump fires Kristi Noem as Homeland Security Secretary

A Cabinet secretary was forced out amid contracting and oversight scrutiny, signaling that executive control—not transparent accountability—can dictate leadership of the agency driving mass detention and deportation.

Mar 5, 2026

Featured

The Trump gold coin is not normal : Consider This from NPR

A federal design panel OK’d a Trump portrait for a commemorative gold coin, but the key question is whether Treasury can legally bypass long-standing limits meant to keep living politicians off U.S. money.

Mar 23, 2026

Featured

White House Confronted Over Huge Bets Made Minutes Before Trump’s Big War Move

A $580 million burst of oil-futures selling minutes before Trump’s Iran “talks” post raises a basic public-interest question: did anyone trade on advance knowledge of a market-moving national security decision?

Mar 24, 2026

Norms Impact

Stephen Miller Threatens to Arrest Illinois Governor JB Pritzker

A news outlet warns of political-aligned media capture and asks the public to bankroll independent reporting as legacy information channels are pulled toward partisan control.

General

Oct 25, 2025

Sources

https://truthout.org/articles/stephen-miller-threatens-to-arrest-illinois-governor-jb-pritzker/

Summary

Truthout published a fundraising appeal citing an “authoritarian assault” and warning that “Trump-aligned billionaires” have taken over legacy media outlets. The central institutional claim is that concentrated political-aligned ownership is reshaping the information environment that underpins democratic accountability. The practical consequence is a call for readers to fund Truthout through small and recurring donations to cover basic operating expenses and add 432 new monthly donors within seven days.

Reality Check

The threat here is not a single official act but a structural vulnerability: when politically aligned wealth consolidates media ownership, our ability to make informed choices and hold power accountable erodes in plain sight. Nothing in the provided text describes conduct that is likely criminal under federal law; it is a solicitation for donations and a claim about media ownership trends. The democratic harm is normative and systemic—an information ecosystem skewed by concentrated influence weakens the checks that protect our votes, our courts, and our daily rights from manipulation.

Detail

Truthout’s published text describes recent weeks as involving an “authoritarian assault” on communities in Minnesota and nationwide and argues that “truthful, grassroots reporting” is urgently needed. It states that “Trump-aligned billionaires and other allies” have taken over many legacy media outlets, describing this as the culmination of a long campaign to shift narrative control to the political right. The outlet says it is not tethered to corporate ownership or advertisers and asks readers to support its operations.

The message specifies that over 80 percent of Truthout’s funding comes from small individual donations and that over a third of its total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors. It announces a fundraiser goal of adding 432 new monthly donors within seven days and requests either small monthly donations or larger one-time gifts to fund basic expenses.

Sanders: 1 Percent Has Sapped $79T in Wealth From Bottom 90 Percent Since 1975

A news outlet says billionaire-backed media consolidation is warping public information, and it is turning to reader-funded recurring donations to keep basic reporting alive.

General

Mar 5, 2025

Sources

https://truthout.org/articles/sanders-1-percent-has-sapped-79t-in-wealth-from-bottom-90-percent-since-1975/

Summary

Truthout says it has launched a seven-day fundraiser to add 432 new monthly donors and states that over 80 percent of its funding comes from small individual donations. The outlet frames its funding appeal as a response to what it describes as Trump-aligned billionaires and allies taking over legacy media outlets and concentrating narrative control. The practical consequence is a direct request for recurring and one-time donations to cover basic operating expenses and sustain its reporting.

Reality Check

Threats to democratic stability intensify when information ecosystems become dependent on concentrated private power—whether through ownership consolidation or donor pressure—because the public’s ability to verify reality and hold officials accountable collapses. The conduct described here is not presented as a criminal act; a fundraising appeal and claims about media ownership, standing alone, do not map onto federal crimes like bribery (18 U.S.C. § 201) or honest-services fraud (18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, 1346) without an identified quid pro quo involving public officials. The institutional danger is structural: when civic reporting must survive on emergency fundraising while legacy outlets are alleged to be captured by aligned billionaires, our shared baseline of facts—and the rights that depend on informed consent—becomes fragile.

Detail

Truthout states that it has launched a fundraiser aimed at adding 432 new monthly donors within seven days. The outlet says the fundraising goal is tied to covering “basic expenses” and notes that over 80 percent of its funding comes from small individual donations from readers.

It also states that more than a third of its total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors. The message asks readers to contribute either a small monthly donation or a larger one-time gift, asserting that its work depends on reader support.

In describing the context for the appeal, Truthout claims that “Trump-aligned billionaires and other allies have taken over many legacy media outlets,” characterizing this as the culmination of a decades-long effort to control media narratives. It further asserts that recent weeks have involved an “authoritarian assault” on communities in Minnesota and across the nation, and frames its request as part of sustaining “truthful, grassroots reporting.”