Mike Hixenbaugh
@mikehixenbaugh.com
NBC News senior reporter | Author of THEY CAME FOR THE SCHOOLS | Co-creator of SOUTHLAKE & GRAPEVINE podcasts | Retired t-ball coach
www.mikehixenbaugh.com
www.mikehixenbaugh.com
Pinned
Mike Hixenbaugh
@mikehixenbaugh.com
· Oct 30
Last year we got a tip about a children's pastor who'd managed to stay in ministry for decades even as allegations of sex abuse trailed him across four states.
I kept pulling thread and found something far bigger: a 50-year pattern of abuse and cover-up in the largest Pentecostal denomination 🧵 1/
I kept pulling thread and found something far bigger: a 50-year pattern of abuse and cover-up in the largest Pentecostal denomination 🧵 1/
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.
December 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
Samed and Samir are incredibly brave, principled and talented journalists who risked and sacrificed much to bring footage from inside Gaza to the world. Watch "Filmed in Gaza" here: youtu.be/xWC85viExwo?...
Filmed in Gaza: Two NBC News journalists on what it is like to cover the war from inside Gaza
YouTube video by NBC News
youtu.be
December 23, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Samed and Samir are incredibly brave, principled and talented journalists who risked and sacrificed much to bring footage from inside Gaza to the world. Watch "Filmed in Gaza" here: youtu.be/xWC85viExwo?...
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
Big news out of Montana: Dr. Thomas Weiner has lost his license and will never practice medicine there again as the medical board finally responds to reports that he hurt and mistreated people. They noted Scott Warwick, who got 10 years of chemo etc, died from it, but never had cancer. Context 👇
Let me tell you a story – one of the more haunting I’ve seen in 20 years of journalism. It’s about greed, death and denial. It took two years to unravel one doctor’s myth, a hospital’s complicity in creating it, and a documented trail of suspicious deaths…🧵
December 20, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Big news out of Montana: Dr. Thomas Weiner has lost his license and will never practice medicine there again as the medical board finally responds to reports that he hurt and mistreated people. They noted Scott Warwick, who got 10 years of chemo etc, died from it, but never had cancer. Context 👇
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
NEW:
One brought a gun home.
One moved.
Others improved home security.
Life as a federal judge in the age of Trump:
www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
One brought a gun home.
One moved.
Others improved home security.
Life as a federal judge in the age of Trump:
www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment and threats have changed their lives
More than 100 pizzas were delivered to the homes of judges and their families this year, some with signs of foreign involvement. Judges say the message is clear: We know where you live.
www.nbcnews.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
NEW:
One brought a gun home.
One moved.
Others improved home security.
Life as a federal judge in the age of Trump:
www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
One brought a gun home.
One moved.
Others improved home security.
Life as a federal judge in the age of Trump:
www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
Do me a favor and watch this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWC8...
Filmed in Gaza: Two NBC News journalists on what it is like to cover the war from inside Gaza
YouTube video by NBC News
www.youtube.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Do me a favor and watch this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWC8...
This documentary follows two Palestinian journalists who covered the war in Gaza for NBC News, chronicling its devastating, unspeakable consequences while showing the unimaginable sacrifices that journalists have made documenting it. It's left me shaken and in awe.
Everyone should watch:
Everyone should watch:
Filmed in Gaza: Two NBC News journalists on what it is like to cover the war from inside Gaza
YouTube video by NBC News
www.youtube.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
This documentary follows two Palestinian journalists who covered the war in Gaza for NBC News, chronicling its devastating, unspeakable consequences while showing the unimaginable sacrifices that journalists have made documenting it. It's left me shaken and in awe.
Everyone should watch:
Everyone should watch:
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
HUGE NEWS from the new Epstein files:
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Epstein Files Include 1996 Child Porn Complaint That F.B.I. Ignored
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
HUGE NEWS from the new Epstein files:
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Records show that Maria Farmer, who worked for Epstein, filed a "child pornography" report to the FBI in 1996.
The FBI has never before acknowledged that complaint. The case went nowhere, and mass abuse followed.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/u...
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
"Homelessness today isn't just the person sleeping outside a Walmart. It's often the cashier or worker stocking the shelves inside."
I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
November 29, 2025 at 11:54 PM
"Homelessness today isn't just the person sleeping outside a Walmart. It's often the cashier or worker stocking the shelves inside."
I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
City Journal framed this discussion as dispelling myths about Gen Z Republicans
December 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
City Journal framed this discussion as dispelling myths about Gen Z Republicans
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
“Holy s---. That might be it.”
Good job solving this crazy case, Reddit. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Good job solving this crazy case, Reddit. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
How a Reddit tipster cracked the Brown University and MIT shooting cases
“I’m being dead serious,” wrote the Reddit user. “The police need to look into a grey Nissan with Florida plates, possibly a rental.”
www.nbcnews.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:17 PM
“Holy s---. That might be it.”
Good job solving this crazy case, Reddit. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Good job solving this crazy case, Reddit. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Australia's Assemblies of God church adopted a nationwide rule requiring every congregation to adopt policies to prevent sexual abuse.
But in the U.S., denomination leaders say its unbiblical and "impossible" for the national church organization to impose rules on local congregations.
Our latest:
But in the U.S., denomination leaders say its unbiblical and "impossible" for the national church organization to impose rules on local congregations.
Our latest:
Australia's Assemblies of God church imposed rules to prevent child sex abuse. Why won't the U.S.?
The Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world, does not require its churches in the U.S. to adopt strict child safety rules.
www.nbcnews.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Australia's Assemblies of God church adopted a nationwide rule requiring every congregation to adopt policies to prevent sexual abuse.
But in the U.S., denomination leaders say its unbiblical and "impossible" for the national church organization to impose rules on local congregations.
Our latest:
But in the U.S., denomination leaders say its unbiblical and "impossible" for the national church organization to impose rules on local congregations.
Our latest:
“Political violence haunts our history, a black car idling outside a diner while folks talk to reporters about American exceptionalism over bacon and eggs. It is a patient virus, waiting for chaos and confusion, and then finding a new victim. It metastasizes slowly and then explodes.”
I met Melissa Hortman in October of 2024. She was smart and kind. I heard about her murder in a LA hotel room and it dropped me to my knees. So I went to Minnesota and talked to her kids, parents, and friends. This is not true crime, this is Melissa in real life. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Melissa Hortman Died in a Shocking Act of Political Violence. This Is the Story of Her Life
Melissa Hortman died in a shocking act of political violence. This is her story
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:42 PM
“Political violence haunts our history, a black car idling outside a diner while folks talk to reporters about American exceptionalism over bacon and eggs. It is a patient virus, waiting for chaos and confusion, and then finding a new victim. It metastasizes slowly and then explodes.”
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
I met Melissa Hortman in October of 2024. She was smart and kind. I heard about her murder in a LA hotel room and it dropped me to my knees. So I went to Minnesota and talked to her kids, parents, and friends. This is not true crime, this is Melissa in real life. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Melissa Hortman Died in a Shocking Act of Political Violence. This Is the Story of Her Life
Melissa Hortman died in a shocking act of political violence. This is her story
www.rollingstone.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I met Melissa Hortman in October of 2024. She was smart and kind. I heard about her murder in a LA hotel room and it dropped me to my knees. So I went to Minnesota and talked to her kids, parents, and friends. This is not true crime, this is Melissa in real life. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
PTL, the Christian TV network founded by disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, has released a statement distancing itself from pastor Joe Campbell, who preached on the network and at Bakker’s church for a decade.
Campbell was charged with child sex abuse this week following our investigation in May.
Campbell was charged with child sex abuse this week following our investigation in May.
December 19, 2025 at 1:53 AM
PTL, the Christian TV network founded by disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, has released a statement distancing itself from pastor Joe Campbell, who preached on the network and at Bakker’s church for a decade.
Campbell was charged with child sex abuse this week following our investigation in May.
Campbell was charged with child sex abuse this week following our investigation in May.
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
December 18, 2025 at 10:43 PM
As 2025 comes to a close, we now must google, "Why is the Hunger Games trending?"
December 18, 2025 at 7:17 PM
As 2025 comes to a close, we now must google, "Why is the Hunger Games trending?"
New York Times subhead about the president and the man a judge called "the most infamous pedophile in American history":
"Chasing women was a game of ego and dominance. Female bodies were currency."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
"Chasing women was a game of ego and dominance. Female bodies were currency."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
December 18, 2025 at 4:32 PM
New York Times subhead about the president and the man a judge called "the most infamous pedophile in American history":
"Chasing women was a game of ego and dominance. Female bodies were currency."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
"Chasing women was a game of ego and dominance. Female bodies were currency."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
As children starved to death following U.S. aid cuts, a senior State Department official said, “there’s always some period of disruption when you’re doing something that’s never been done before.”
@propublica.org documents the disruption for one desperate mother as she fought to save her boys
@propublica.org documents the disruption for one desperate mother as she fought to save her boys
The Summer of Starvation: Amid Trump’s Foreign Aid Cuts, a Mother Struggles to Keep Her Sons Alive
After the Trump administration cut off food from the third-largest refugee camp in the world, thousands of families faced impossible choices as their children starved.
www.propublica.org
December 18, 2025 at 12:16 PM
As children starved to death following U.S. aid cuts, a senior State Department official said, “there’s always some period of disruption when you’re doing something that’s never been done before.”
@propublica.org documents the disruption for one desperate mother as she fought to save her boys
@propublica.org documents the disruption for one desperate mother as she fought to save her boys
The hero we need right now
Kyrie pushing the robot to the ground is funny enough but him offering his hand to help it back up like it's a real person fucking sent me
December 18, 2025 at 11:49 AM
The hero we need right now
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
Today I return to NBC News Digital as an enterprise reporter. I'll be covering the LGBTQ+ community, but I'll regularly venture into other beats as well.
Send tips, ideas, gossip: Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com
Send tips, ideas, gossip: Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Today I return to NBC News Digital as an enterprise reporter. I'll be covering the LGBTQ+ community, but I'll regularly venture into other beats as well.
Send tips, ideas, gossip: Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com
Send tips, ideas, gossip: Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related care to minors.
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
House passes bill to criminalize transition care for minors
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related medical care
www.nbcnews.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:09 AM
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related care to minors.
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Reposted by Mike Hixenbaugh
First on NBC News: Longtime children's pastor Joe Campbell arrested on child sex abuse charges
@mikehixenbaugh.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
@mikehixenbaugh.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Longtime children's pastor Joe Campbell arrested on child sex abuse charges
The former Assemblies of God minister was indicted in Oklahoma after an NBC News investigation revealed decades of missed warnings.
www.nbcnews.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:22 PM
First on NBC News: Longtime children's pastor Joe Campbell arrested on child sex abuse charges
@mikehixenbaugh.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
@mikehixenbaugh.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
In May, our investigation uncovered a 40-year pattern of ignored warnings and church cover-ups that allowed a children's pastor to remain in ministry for decades despite repeated child sex abuse allegations.
Today, authorities arrested Joe Campbell at his children's camp in Missouri.
Today, authorities arrested Joe Campbell at his children's camp in Missouri.
Longtime children's pastor Joe Campbell arrested on child sex abuse charges
The former Assemblies of God minister was indicted in Oklahoma after an NBC News investigation revealed decades of missed warnings.
www.nbcnews.com
December 17, 2025 at 9:57 PM
In May, our investigation uncovered a 40-year pattern of ignored warnings and church cover-ups that allowed a children's pastor to remain in ministry for decades despite repeated child sex abuse allegations.
Today, authorities arrested Joe Campbell at his children's camp in Missouri.
Today, authorities arrested Joe Campbell at his children's camp in Missouri.
In May, my @nbcnews.com colleagues and I uncovered allegations dating back 40+ years that a longtime children's pastor formerly in the Assemblies of God was a serial child rapist.
Today he was arrested in Missouri.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Today he was arrested in Missouri.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Longtime children’s pastor Joe Campbell arrested on child sex abuse charges
The former Assemblies of God minister was indicted in Oklahoma after an NBC News investigation revealed decades of missed warnings.
www.nbcnews.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:29 PM
In May, my @nbcnews.com colleagues and I uncovered allegations dating back 40+ years that a longtime children's pastor formerly in the Assemblies of God was a serial child rapist.
Today he was arrested in Missouri.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Today he was arrested in Missouri.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...