Paper Trail

How Microsoft’s “Little Workaround” Created a Major Pentagon Threat

A source told reporter Renee Dudley something she found hard to believe: that Microsoft was running tech support for the Department of Defense through China, the country’s biggest cybersecurity adversary. The arrangement was called “digital escorting.” She thought it sounded like a conspiracy theory — until she started looking into it. This is the story of what she found and how her investigation changed government policy.Read More: www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-digital-escorts-pentagon-defense-department-china-hackersSupport our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

Should People Who Killed Their Abusers Walk Free?

In 2024, Oklahoma legislators passed an unusual law: It would create a pathway to freedom for people who could prove that domestic violence was a substantial contributing factor to their crime — even if that crime was first-degree murder. Members of a “survivor sisterhood” who’d found a connection in their shared histories of abuse hoped that, perhaps, they would all soon be going home. But, as reporter Pamela Colloff discovered, nothing would play out as expected.Reporter: Pamela ColloffRead More: https://www.propublica.org/article/oklahoma-survivors-act-domestic-violenceSupport our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

How a 25-Cent Pill Became a Hundred-Billion-Dollar Business

Reporter David Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer and soon learned that one of his drugs would cost almost $1,000 per pill. He set out to discover why, and uncovered financial records and legal filings that shocked him. The drugmaker’s strategy to raise the price over and over again helps explain why our healthcare system is the most expensive in the world.Read the original reporting: https://www.propublica.org/article/revlimid-price-cancer-celgene-drugs-fda-multiple-myelomaSupport our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

How to Fight a Health Insurance Denial With a Little-Known Tool

ProPublica got a tip from a reader named Teressa. Her husband was having a severe mental health crisis, and her health insurance company was denying coverage for his hospital and inpatient treatment. She was fighting back against the denials — and recording every phone call with the company as she did. She brought reporter Duaa Eldeib along for the journey, which ended after Teressa was able to deploy what one source called the industry’s “best-kept secret.”Reporter: Duaa EldeibHow to file an external appeal: https://www.propublica.org/article/health-insurance-denial-external-reviewSupport our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.

How to Lose a Car in 15 Days

Local reporters at The Connecticut Mirror heard story after story of drivers having their cars towed and then sold out from underneath them, sometimes in just 15 days. They teamed up with ProPublica to investigate why, how often this was happening and who was profiting from it. This episode traces the history of the 100-year-old law that made all of it legal and follows the reporters as they try to track down drivers’ cars and confront the bureaucrats allowing a flawed system to take advantage of vulnerable people.Reporters: Ginny Monk and Dave AltimariRead More: https://www.propublica.org/series/on-the-hook Support our journalism by donating at propublica.org/donate.