Peter Elkind is a reporter covering government and business.
Prior to joining ProPublica in 2017, Elkind worked at Fortune for 20 years. He wrote such stories as “The Trouble with Steve Jobs,” about how the CEO of Apple concealed his bout with pancreatic cancer; “Hack of the Century,” about how a cyber-invasion brought Sony Pictures to its knees and terrified corporate America; “Citizenship for Sale,” about a massive scandal in America’s controversial EB-5 visa-for-sale program; “Inside Elon Musk's $1.4 Billion Score,” about how the Tesla CEO dazzled his way to epic state incentives for a giant battery plant in the Nevada desert; “Business Gets Schooled,” revealing corporate America’s troubled involvement in the war over Common Core; and “Inside Pfizer’s Palace Coup” (co-authored with Jennifer Reingold), which won the 2012 Gerald Loeb Award for magazine writing.
The retail giant has long sought to become a financial powerhouse. But after it acquired a neobank called One in 2022, fraud complaints multiplied and customer reviews cratered.
Scammers have duped consumers out of more than $1 billion by exploiting Walmart’s lax security. The company has resisted taking responsibility while breaking promises to regulators and skimping on training.
The agency is mandated to safeguard the environment from damage caused by communication infrastructure. But when companies want to add new cell phone towers, build on protected land or launch satellites, the agency typically does little or nothing.
The recently signed $1.7 trillion spending bill could accomplish what six years of IRS audits and DOJ prosecutions could not: shutting down “syndicated conservation easements” that exploit a charitable tax break meant to preserve open land.
ProPublica recently examined how the federal government, based on quarter-century-old standards, denies that cellphones pose any risks. This guide answers some of the most common questions people ask about cellphone radiation.
The organization famous for its cookie sales paired with equipment-maker Ericsson to encourage Scouts to spread the word about the technology and to tout its safety. Some scientists see it differently.
The wireless industry is rolling out thousands of new transmitters amid a growing body of research that calls cellphone safety into question. Federal regulators say there’s nothing to worry about — even as they rely on standards established in 1996.
The IRS, the Justice Department and Congressional Republicans and Democrats are all trying to put an end to syndicated conservation easements. But with lobbyists like Henry Waxman helping lead the resistance, the efforts have had little effect.
The upgrade to 5G was supposed to bring a paradise of speedy wireless. But a chaotic process under the Trump administration, allowed to fester by the Biden administration, turned it into an epic disaster. The problems haven’t been solved.
WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares personal information with prosecutors.
The cyberbreach at a plant in Oldsmar, Florida, which could have resulted in a mass poisoning, was a reminder of a disturbing reality: Despite a decade of warnings, thousands of water systems around the country are still at risk.
Private equity firm Leonard Green and other investors extracted $645 million from Prospect Medical before announcing a deal to sell it and leave it with $1.3 billion in financial obligations. Four states approved it — but Rhode Island is holding out.
The software company SolarWinds unwittingly allowed hackers’ code into thousands of federal computers. A cybersecurity system called in-toto, which the government paid to develop but never required, might have protected against this.
Prospect Medical, whose facilities have repeatedly been found to pose threats to patients, is claiming ProPublica “ignored” its side — even though its views were cited in 30 places in the article.
Prospect Medical, which mostly serves low-income patients, has suffered a litany of problems: broken elevators, dirty surgical gear, bedbugs and more. Its owners, including Leonard Green & Partners and Prospect’s CEO, have cashed in.
The Supreme Court fight over Donald Trump’s tax returns has pushed his accounting firm into the limelight. In various episodes over 30 years, partners — including the CEO — have run into trouble for fraud, misconduct or malpractice.
We checked in on the Trump Organization’s properties and couldn’t find any sign they were joining the effort to fight the coronavirus, even as the president urges other companies to do so.
Genene Jones, a former nurse long suspected of murdering multiple children, was sentenced to life after accepting responsibility for a second killing. She had been scheduled to be released from prison in 2018 before prosecutors reopened her case.
The tax agency, Justice Department and Congress have all taken aim at a much-abused deduction exploited by wealthy investors. Yet the crackdown is having minimal impact, costing the Treasury billions.
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