Andy Kroll

@andykroll.bsky.social

41931 Followers 421 Following

Investigative reporter for PROPUBLICA Contact me: 202-215-6203 (phone/Signal) First book: A DEATH ON W STREET Next book: Southern true-crime epic about porn kingpin Michael Thevis, the mob, and the FBI. Imagine Goodfellas meets Boogie Nights…

A graphic asking people to vote for ProPublica mini documentary, the shadow president, about Trump advisor Russell Vought.
An exchange between ProPublica reporter Andy Kroll and OMB spokesperson Rachel Cauley. Cauley accuses Kroll of trying to find out Russ Vought's dog's name. Kroll replies that he didn't know Vought had a dog, and thus hadn't been asking people about that.
A news headline that reads: "Musk is gone. But DOGE staffers are still trying to cut through agencies."
A headline of a New York Times story that reads: "Bipartisan House and Senate leaders urge White House to restore spending website"
An excerpt of a news story that describes how lawyers in Republican administrations concluded that there is no constitutional power to impound federal funds, as Russ Vought argues.
An excerpt of a ProPublica story that reads: “We have in Donald Trump a man who is so uniquely positioned to serve this role, a man whose own interests perfectly align with the interests of the country,” Vought said. “He has seen what it has done to him, and he has seen what they are trying to do to the country. “That,” he added, “is nothing more than a gift of God.”
Alt text: Whitehouse.gov screenshot that reads: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) serves the President of the United States in overseeing the implementation of his vision across the Executive Branch. Specifically, OMB’s mission is to assist the President in meeting his policy, budget, management and regulatory objectives and to fulfill the agency’s statutory responsibilities.
Photo of the platform with the US Army logo on it for Trump’s military parade this weekend.
Photo of the Smithsonian African-American Museum, surrounded by metal security barricades
An excerpt of a Washington Post story that reads: Tillis said he was opposing Martin based on his advocacy for those convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump pardoned them on his first day back in office and Martin has punished prosecutors in the office who worked on those cases. “I’m thinking about future January 6ths,” Tillis told reporters Tuesday. “We’ve got to make it very clear: You come into this Capitol, you’re going to get fined, you’re going to go to prison, you made a bad mistake. No rationalization.”
A photo of Senator Dick Durbin on the Senate floor speaking out against Ed Martin's nomination to be US Attorney for the District of Columbia
An excerpt of ProPublica's Ed Martin story that reads: A wide array of former prosecutors, legal observers and others have raised questions about his qualifications for an office known for handling high-profile cases. Martin has no experience as a prosecutor. He has never taken a case to trial, according to his public disclosures. As the acting leader of the largest U.S. attorney’s office in the country, he directs the work of hundreds of lawyers who appear in court on a vast array of subjects, including legal disputes arising out of Congress, national security matters, public corruption and civil rights, as well as homicides, drug trafficking and many other local crimes.
An excerpt of ProPublica's Ed Martin story that reads: His actions have led to more than $600,000 in legal settlements or judgments against Martin or his employers in a handful of cases. In the Eagle Forum lawsuit, another judge found him in civil contempt, citing his “willful disregard” of a court order, and a jury found him liable for defamation and false light against Cori.
An excerpt of ProPublica's Ed Martin story that reads: Legal experts told ProPublica that Martin’s conduct in the Eagle Forum case was a clear violation of ethical norms and professional rules. Martin’s behavior, they said, was especially egregious because he was both a defendant in the case and a licensed attorney. Martin appeared to be “deliberately interfering with a judicial proceeding with the intent to undermine the integrity of the outcome,” said Scott Cummings, a professor of legal ethics at UCLA School of Law. “That’s not OK.”
Headline of an Associated Press story that says "Trump says he'll pull the nomination of Ed Martin, who defended Jan. 6 rioters, for DC US Attorney"
A paragraph that reads: “Man, it was so great to be horrible, back when I was young and pretty! In fact, I want to urge every young and youngish woman out there to take advantage of their hotness for as long as possible, because it’s fun and it’s good for you and everyone should literally be punished by how amazing you look. You need to grind their faces into the shag carpet of what an unbearable smoke show you are. Because so many complete dolts are going to make you pay for so many stupid reasons moving forward — for being interesting, for having a brain in your skull, for being bored by them because they are objectively boring, for growing into a mature adult with firm boundaries and clear expectations. So smear your raw hotness all over their dumb-dog faces for as long as you possibly can.”
This is about as strong of a rebuke as a judge in a J6 case could give, given the circumstances. Perhaps it's not surprising considering that Howell spent hundreds if not thousands of hours presiding over J6 cases since 2021. Pretty striking
Howell writes that she can't refuse the DOJ's decision to dismiss this case in which two J6 defendants had already admitted criminal conduct *under oath.* But she refuses DOJ's request to dismiss the case WITH prejudice. That would bar future prosecution for these crimes
Howell notes that usually when the gov't moves to dismiss a case like this, it provides “a statement of reasons and underlying factual basis." In this case, Howell writes, the only basis for the dismissal is Trump's EO. And Howell finds that EO, well, seriously lacking
Judge Howell calls the J6 rioters "poor losers" whose preferred candidate, Trump, lost in 2020. And yet those same losers "are glorified for disrupting a constitutionally mandated proceeding in Congress and doing so with impunity."
Trump's J6 EO says it "ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.” Howell doesn't buy it. She writes there was no nat'l injustice nor any election-changing fraud
Jake Sherman of @punchbowlnews.bsky.social reports on a memo sent by the Trump White House to lawmakers outlining Pres. Trump's initial plans. Read it below.
The first lawsuit was filed by @publiccitizen.bsky.social, State Democracy Defenders Fund, and the American Federation of Government Employees, also challenging Pres. Trump's DOGE and its compliance with federal rules.
Second (by my count) lawsuit filed by advocacy groups challenging Dept. of Government Efficiency. This one is led by @DemocracyFwd and several other groups.
A book-deal announcement for Andy Kroll's forthcoming nonfiction book about criminal kingpin Michael George Thevis.
A story excerpt that reads: "Since the Fall of 2023, President Trump’s campaign made it clear that only President Trump and the campaign, and NOT any other organization or former staff, represent policies for the second term,” Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in a statement. She did not directly address Vought’s statements. Karoline Leavitt, his campaign’s national press secretary, added there have been no discussions on who would serve in a second Trump administration. In addition to running his think tank, Vought was the policy director of the Republican National Committee’s official platform committee ahead of the nominating convention. He’s also an architect of Project 2025, the controversial coalition effort mapping out how a second Trump administration can quickly eliminate obstacles to rolling out a hard-right policy agenda.
A story excerpt that reads: “We are here in the year of 2024, a year that very well [could] — and I believe it will — rival 1776 and 1860 for the complexity and the uncertainty of the forces arrayed against us,” Vought told his audience, referring to years when the colonies declared independence from Britain and the first state seceded over President Abraham Lincoln’s election. “God put us here for such a time as this.”
A story excerpt that reads: “In the aftermath of the election, we had all these people going around saying, ‘Well, I don’t see any evidence of voter fraud. The media’s not giving enough [of] a compelling case,’” he said. “Well, that compelling case has emerged. But does a Christian in China ask and come away saying, ‘You know, there’s no persecution, because I haven’t read about it in the state regime press?’ No, they don’t.”
A story excerpt that reads: Yet in his 2024 speech, Vought accused the Federalist Society and “originalist judges” of being a part of the problem, perpetuating the “post-constitutional structure” that Vought lamented by not ruling more aggressively to weaken or dismantle independent regulatory agencies that Vought and his allies view as illegitimate or unconstitutional. It was “like being in a contract quietly revoked two decades ago, in which one party didn’t tell the other,” he said. “At some point, reality needs to set in. Instead, we have the vaunted so-called Federalist Society and originalist judges acting as a Praetorian Guard for this post-constitutional structure.”
A story excerpt that reads: Vought also revealed the extent of the Center for Renewing America’s role in whipping up right-wing panic ahead of the 2022 midterms over an increase in asylum-seekers crossing at the U.S.-Mexico border. In February 2022, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich released a legal opinion claiming the state was under “invasion” by violent cartels and could invoke war powers to deploy National Guard troops to its southern border. The legally dubious “invasion” theory became a potent Republican talking point. Vought said in the 2023 speech that he and Cuccinelli, the former top Homeland Security official for Trump, personally lobbied Brnovich on the effort. “We said, ‘Look, you can write your own opinion, but here’s a draft opinion of what this should look like,’” Vought said.
A story excerpt that reads: Vought laid out how his think tank is crafting the legal rationale for invoking the Insurrection Act, a law that gives the president broad power to use the military for domestic law enforcement. The Washington Post previously reported the issue was at the top of the Center for Renewing America’s priorities. “We want to be able to shut down the riots and not have the legal community or the defense community come in and say, ‘That’s an inappropriate use of what you’re trying to do,’” he said. Vought held up the summer 2020 unrest following George Floyd’s murder as an example of when Trump ought to have had the ability to deploy the armed forces but was stymied.
Bio card for Andy Kroll, ProPublica reporter.
Many of these details were also corroborated by other sources. President Personnel Director Johnny McEntee confirmed that he was personally asked for a pardon by Representative Matt Gaetz (R–FL).699 Eric Herschmann recalled that Representative Gaetz “. . . asked for a very, very broad pardon.. . . And I said Nixon’s pardon was never nearly that broad.” 700 When asked about reporting that Representatives Mo Brooks and Andy Biggs also requested pardons, Herschmann did not reject either possibility out of hand, instead answering: “It’s possible that Representative Brooks or Biggs, but I don’t remember.” 701 The National Archives produced to the Select Committee an email from Representative Mo Brooks to the President’s executive assistant stating that “President Trump asked me to send you this letter” and “. . . pursuant to a request from Matt Gaetz” that recommended blanket Presidential pardons to every Member of Congress who objected to the electoral college votes on January 6th.702
Donald Trump's statement nominating Matt Gaetz to be US Attorney General.
Leo told ProPublica that while not all of the alliance’s donors give money to his causes: “They are thought leaders who should know more about the Constitution and the rule of law. I was happy to arrange for them to hear about these topics from one of the best teachers on that I know, Clarence Thomas.” Singer declined to comment. The Supreme Court didn’t respond to a request for comment.
ProPublica question: "You’ve also become one of the most prolific fundraisers in the conservative movement. According to our reporting, part of your success stems from your unique relationships with judges and justices, and those relationships have enhanced your reputation and helped you raise money and recruit talent for your various projects. Do you see it that way? If not, why not?" Leo answer: “To the extent that I have been successful at raising funds, it has been because the ideas I have tried to advance are compelling and because I have always placed a premium on driving results through highly effective talent pipelines and infrastructure.”
23/ In response to the main thrust of our story, Leo told us: “The work I have done in the legal culture has been shaped by the conviction that respecting and enforcing limits on the power of the state are essential to advancing the dignity and worth of all individuals.”
A photo of Leonard Leo from his high school yearbook, which lists his nickname as "Moneybags Kid."
Having reshaped the courts, Leo now has grander ambitions. Today, he sees a nation plagued with ills: “wokism” in education, “one-sided” journalism, and ideas like environmental, social and governance, or ESG, policies sweeping corporate America. A member of the Roman Catholic Church, he intends to wage a broader cultural war against a “progressive Ku Klux Klan” and “vile and immoral current-day barbarians, secularists and bigots” who demonize people of faith and move society further from its “natural order.”
Kelly’s loss was Leo’s loss. But it was also, paradoxically, a win. Conservatives were acting as if judgeships were a prize for a political party, rather than an independent branch of government — what Geske calls “super-legislators.” And thanks to Leo, those super-legislators could be especially hard-line.
Blunt appointed Breckenridge anyway. Leo piled on. “Your boss is a coward and conservatives have neither the time nor the patience for the likes of him,” he wrote to Martin.
Leo began building a machine to do just that. He didn’t just cultivate friendships with conservative Supreme Court justices, arranging private jet trips, joining them on vacation, brokering speaking engagements. He also drew on his network of contacts to place Federalist Society protégés in clerkships, judgeships and jobs in the White House and across the federal government. He personally called state attorneys general to recommend hires for positions he presciently understood were key, like solicitors general, the unsung litigators who represent states before the U.S. Supreme Court. In states that elect jurists, groups close to him spent millions of dollars to place his allies on the bench. In states that appoint top judges, he maneuvered to play a role in their selection.
Leonard Leo stands alongside Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, and Samuel Alito, as well as Federalist Society president Eugene Meyer.
A photo of a plaque listing Leonard Leo and his wife as major donors to the Catholic Information Center in downtown Washington, DC.
“With Leonard, it went both ways,” George Conway said. “It made the justices happy to meet people who revered them. It made the donors happy to meet the justices and no doubt more inclined to give to Leonard’s causes.”
“There was always a concern that Scalia or Thomas would say, ‘Fuck it,’ and quit the job and go make way more money at Jones Day or somewhere else,” George Conway said, referring to the powerful conservative law firm.
Leonard Leo stands outside the Palace of Versailles with Justice Sam Alito and Alito's wife, Martha-Ann.
Leo said he did not recall making calls on VanDyke’s behalf. He acknowledged nurturing the careers of a whole generation of young conservative attorneys, among them VanDyke; Andrew Ferguson, the Virginia solicitor general; Kathryn Mizelle, the federal judge who struck down the federal mask mandate for air travel; and Aileen Cannon, the federal judge overseeing the Trump Mar-a-Lago documents case.
Leo began building a machine to do just that. He didn’t just cultivate friendships with conservative Supreme Court justices, arranging private jet trips, joining them on vacation, brokering speaking engagements. He also drew on his network of contacts to place Federalist Society protégés in clerkships, judgeships and jobs in the White House and across the federal government. He personally called state attorneys general to recommend hires for positions he presciently understood were key, like solicitors general, the unsung litigators who represent states before the U.S. Supreme Court. In states that elect jurists, groups close to him spent millions of dollars to place his allies on the bench. In states that appoint top judges, he maneuvered to play a role in their selection.
On a chilly day in March 2017, about six weeks into Trump’s presidency, Leo arranged for a select group to have a private audience with Justice Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Supreme Court. The attendees were a group of high-net-worth donors who had been organized by Singer to marshal huge resources toward electing Republicans and pushing conservative causes. That afternoon, the donors spoke with Thomas. The previously unreported meeting was described by a person familiar with it and corroborated by planning documents.
Leonard Leo rides a camel in the desert wearing a suit and loafers. Photo obtained by ProPublica.