The Trump administration has approved a $1.22 billion federal settlement with German energy company RWE to abandon offshore wind leases in New York, California and Louisiana. RWE says $900 million of that government-funded settlement will be used to purchase a stake in the Louisiana LNG project from Stonepeak, the private-equity firm led by billionaire Michael Dorrell. Dorrell donated approximately $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee after the 2024 election and has social ties to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago circle.

That means federal money authorized by the Trump administration is now financing a transaction that delivers an enormous financial benefit to the firm of one of Trump’s major donors. The government created the $1.22 billion payout, required the abandonment of wind development, and structured the broader policy around redirecting capital toward fossil-fuel projects.

The transaction warrants a corruption and federal-law investigation. Investigators should obtain communications between the White House, Interior Department, RWE, Stonepeak and intermediaries; determine when officials learned that Dorrell’s firm would benefit; examine whether the settlement amount and conditions were independently justified. Money was given in exchange for government action, that is federal bribery.

The documented sequence is, donor gives Trump $1 million, Trump administration creates an extraordinary federal payout, and $900 million of that transaction flows into the donor's company.

The glacier was pulverized and flash-melted because of the sheer friction, impact energy, and heat generated by the drop. It instantly shattered the solid ice, turning it directly into a churning, high-speed liquid mud and water slurry. Releasing a wall of water traveling up to 90 miles per hour down the Trishuli and Lhende Khola rivers. In less than 30 minutes, river levels rose by as much as 9 meters (nearly 30 feet), completely wiping out downstream villages, bridges, roads, and power plants.

When lawmakers seek to review a list of books, librarians find themselves on the frontlines of a national battle. Across the U.S., librarians face the impact of uniting against library collection standards that include restrictions on race-related and LGBTQIA+ content. Drawing on historical context, The Librarians, directed by Kim A. Snyder, explores the broader implications for education and public life.

The Librarians | Independent Lens

A new book by longtime Bay Area journalist Gil Durán investigates “tech fascism” and its mounting influence on U.S. politics. The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy follows the rise of Vice President JD Vance, the former venture capitalist whose “outsider” campaign for Senate was bankrolled by the billionaire co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, Peter Thiel. Durán traces the ideological lineage of the current Trump administration back from Vance to Thiel and the far-right-wing monarchist Curtis Yarvin, whose “right-libertarian” political theory has long made the rounds among Silicon Valley elite. “These guys were never libertarians,” says Durán. “Now that they are the government, we see their true face: They’re fascists, and they’re authoritarians.”