Mother Jones: Posts

Mother Jones

Sen. Bob Menendez Charged With Acting as a Foreign Agent for Egypt

The Justice Department on Thursday issued a new indictment against Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez and his wife, this time accusing the couple of acting as foreign agents for Egypt. The court filing adds detail to the astonishing allegations already lodged against the senior New Jersey senator. Those include charges that he and his wife Nadine accepted […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Trump Deceived Deutsche Bank, Former Exec Testifies

A former Deutsche Bank executive testified this week that the German financial behemoth only agreed to make massive loans to Donald Trump because of Trump’s vast personal fortune. The problem? The bank apparently thought, based at least partly on financial statements provided by Trump, that he was far wealthier than he really was. The Deutsche […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Virginia Democrats Push for DOJ Investigation After Voters Were Wrongfully Removed

Virginia Democrats are calling on the Justice Department to investigate the state’s elections department after the administration announced last week that it had mistakenly removed eligible voters from voter rolls after incorrectly listing them as convicted felons. The announcement, which came with early voting already underway for a pivotal state election, said that it had […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Virginia Democrats Push for DOJ Investigation After Voters Were Wrongfully Removed

Virginia Democrats are calling on the Justice Department to investigate the state’s elections department after the administration announced last week that it had mistakenly removed eligible voters from voter rolls after incorrectly listing them as convicted felons. The announcement, which came with early voting already underway for a pivotal state election, said that it had […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

The Biggest Backlog in the US Diversity Visa Program? All the Broken Promises to Those Who Applied.

This story is the result of a partnership between The Investigative Reporting Workshop and The Center for Public Integrity. Osama Mohamed let out a sigh of relief as he and his wife stood at the steps of the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the first day of September. Clutched tightly in his hands was […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

EPA Opens Civil Rights Probe of Alabama’s Sewage Failures

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Sewage collecting in crudely dug trenches. Failing septic tanks that send waste bubbling into backyards. These are some of the common sights across Alabama’s Black Belt, a strip of 24 continuous counties blessed with deep fertile soil but long plagued […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Group of Republicans to Launch First GOP Effort to Expel George Santos

On Wednesday, a group of New York House Republicans announced that they will introduce a resolution to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who was indicted yesterday on new charges that included campaign violations for a fake-donor scheme first reported by Mother Jones earlier this year. The resolution, which will be introduced by Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

This Supreme Court Case Could Decide Control of Congress in 2024

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, a case that could help decide which party controls the House of Representatives in 2024, along with the future of minority representation and voting rights litigation in the South. In 2018, Joe Cunningham became the first Democrat […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Allen Weisselberg Still Wants to Be Trump’s Fall Guy

Last year, Allen Weisselberg did everything he could to protect Donald Trump from New York prosectors. With the Trump Organization facing tax evasion charges in Manhattan, Weisselberg—the former president’s longtime CFO—tried to take the fall for his old boss. It didn’t work. On Tuesday, Weisselberg was back on the witness stand, this time as part […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Study: Climate Change Is Coming for Europe’s Beer

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Climate breakdown is already changing the taste and quality of beer, scientists have warned. The quantity and quality of hops, a key ingredient in most beers, is being affected by global heating, according to a study. As a result, beer […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Santos Indicted for Fake Donor Scheme Exposed by Mother Jones

On Tuesday evening, federal prosecutors charged already-indicted and disgraced Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) with several new crimes, including campaign finance violations for a fake-donor scheme exposed by Mother Jones earlier this year. These new counts added to the pre-existing indictment also include wire fraud and identity theft. The feds claim that Santos used his donors’ credit […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Biden Condemns “Pure, Unadulterated Evil” of Hamas’ Attack on Israel

In a White House address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden made clear that Israel will have the unequivocal support of the United States as it responds to the terrorist attack launched by Hamas over the weekend, adding that Israel had a right and duty to respond to the attacks. “In this moment, we must be […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Gavin Newsom Vetoed a Bill to Make Condoms Available at Schools

A California bill requiring public high schools to provide condoms to their students didn’t make it past Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk this week. The bill, SB 541, would have required schools to place condoms in at least two easily accessible places on campus. Students would not have needed assistance or permission from staff to take […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Chuck Feeney’s Legacy Is a Lesson for America’s Billionaires

The selfless billionaire is a rare creature indeed. Chuck Feeney, who died on Monday at the age of 92, was one of them. He is “my hero and Bill Gates’ hero,” Warren Buffett once remarked. “He should be everybody’s hero.” Indeed, Feeney was an inspiration for the Giving Pledge that Buffett and the Gateses launched […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Under New California Law, Big Firms Must Reveal Their Carbon Emissions

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A groundbreaking California law will force large companies doing business in the state—including major global corporations—to disclose their planet-heating carbon emissions. The measure, signed into law by the governor, Gavin Newsom, on Saturday, will be the nation’s first of its kind, serving […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

How Accessible Sex Ed Helps Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities Form Healthy Relationships

When he was a teenager, Ben believed that he struggled with friendships and romantic relationships more than others his age. Discerning personal boundaries and finding ways to effectively communicate often bewildered him, and he wasn’t sure what certain signals meant or how many he may have missed. As someone with autism, cerebral palsy, and expressive […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

RFK Jr. Is Officially Running as an Independent—Prompting Siblings to Once Again Disavow Him

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the prominent conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxxer, is officially running as an independent. On Monday, the Kennedy scion, who has been politically disowned by much of his family, announced that he was ditching his longshot efforts to defeat Joe Biden in the Democratic primary. The announcement prompted more family disavowal. Kennedy’s sister, […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

How the Surveillance of Black Hair Can Kill a Child’s Spirit

In January 2020, Barbers Hill High School in Texas made national headlines after suspending a Black student over his dreadlocks, ordering DeAndre Arnold to cut them if he wanted to attend graduation. The incident partly inspired the CROWN Act, a state law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination in schools, housing, and workplaces. But on August […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Jim Jordan Tried to Help Trump Mount a Coup. Now He Gets To Be Speaker?

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), like Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the man he hopes to replace as House speaker, lies a lot. Jordan’s rapid-style monologues—on topics such as Russia’s attack on the 2016 election, Donald Trump’s 2019 effort to extort Ukraine, Hunter Biden, and internet censorship—are often loaded with allegations that are demonstrably false. He has […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

California Governor Vetoes Bill to Ban Caste Discrimination

This year, California was poised to become the first state in the nation to ban discrimination based on caste, the hereditary social hierarchy that originated in South Asia but persists around the world. But on Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have added add caste to existing laws banning discrimination in public […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

How Medicine Suffers “When We Ignore the Fact That Half of Us Have Breasts”

A quarter-century ago, doctors at Duke University Medical Center and three other major research universities set out to test new brain wave monitoring device on patients under general anesthesia. Usually, physicians monitored blood pressure, heart rate, and pupil dilation to figure out if patients were regaining consciousness. But the new device aimed to streamline the […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Republican Candidates Waste No Time Pinning the Hamas Attack on Biden

Hours after Palestinian militants launched a deadly multi-pronged assault on Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip yesterday, and Israel responded with a barrage of airstrikes, several Republican presidential candidates tried to lay blame for the escalation in the decades-long conflict at the feet of President Joe Biden. The Republican candidates claimed Saturday’s attacks—which have led to […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Why the Skeetchestn Indian Band Is Studying Deer Poop

This story was originally published by Canada’s National Observer and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Gabe Jules is pulling back on his deer hunts. He has witnessed a drop in both the numbers and health of the deer population in his territory, which has been ravaged by two devastating wildfire seasons in three […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Let’s Watch Greg Gutfeld Justify Why a Civil War Is Necessary in the United States

“Elections don’t work,” Greg Gutfeld explained, as the co-host of “The Five” and Fox News’ answer to Jimmy Kimmel descended into a dorm room caliber monologue that attempted to justify why a civil war in the United States may be necessary to reverse American “decline.” The good guys in this one will not be opponents of slavery, but […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

After Surprise Attack by Hamas, Netanyahu Says Israel Is “At War”

On Saturday morning, Hamas launched a major and unexpected attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air, and sea. The assault comes just after the 50th anniversary of the Israeli military being taken by surprise in the Yom Kippur War. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the attacks by saying “we are […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

In Defense of the Rat

This story was originally published by Hakai Magazine and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. There was a time when we human beings used to put animals on trial for their alleged crimes against us. The earliest of these prosecutions in the Western tradition of law appears to be a case against moles in […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

The Strike Is Working: The UAW Just Scored a Major Concession

On Friday afternoon, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain announced that, in response to major last-minute concessions, the union would not expand its targeted strike of the Big Three automakers. In a move that Fain said would have been previously “unthinkable,” General Motors has now agreed to put electric-vehicle battery plants under its master agreement with the […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Biden Promised Not “Another Foot of Wall.” Now, He’s Restarting Construction.

On Thursday, the Biden administration announced that it will build an additional 20 miles of the border wall in Starr County, Texas, a busy crossing point for migrants along the Rio Grande. The move is a sharp turn from President Joe Biden’s long-standing criticism of the US-Mexico border wall, a controversial hallmark of the Trump […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Moms for Liberty Is Taking Over Banned Books Week

It’s the American Library Association’s annual Banned Books Week, a tradition that started in 1982. This year, the theme is “Let Freedom Read!” in honor of record-breaking efforts to censor books now sweeping the nation’s libraries and schools. Yesterday, I published a story about Wyoming’s Cambell County Public Library, which, after a controversy over sex-ed books, last […]

Continue Reading…

Mother Jones

Massive Changes Could Be Coming From the Vatican. Conservative US Catholics Are Mad as Hell.

This week, hundreds of delegates from around the world began a monthlong meeting as part of Pope Francis’ “Synod on Synodality”—a gathering to discuss the future of the Catholic church. It could radically change the religion. The group is considering groundbreaking alterations to orthodoxy on same-sex unions and whether or not women can be ordained as priests. The […]

Continue Reading…