Nick Schwellenbach
@schwellenbach.bsky.social
I'm an investigative journalist at POGO: https://www.pogo.org/about/people/nick-schwellenbach
Signal: @schwellenbach.27
Encrypted email: schwellenbach@protonmail.com
Substack: https://districtofcorruption.substack.com/
Signal: @schwellenbach.27
Encrypted email: schwellenbach@protonmail.com
Substack: https://districtofcorruption.substack.com/
Pinned
Greg Bovino’s Border Patrol Agents Use Disproportionate Force, Data…
Border Patrol agents in the El Centro Sector have reported using force on other people more than three times as many times as they have faced assaults – a ratio higher than anywhere else in the agency...
www.pogo.org
Border Patrol agents led by Greg Bovino have used force far more often relative to assaults they've faced than anywhere else in that agency, according to a new @pogo.org & Amer. Uni. Investigative Reporting Workshop analysis of four ys of federal data
www.pogo.org/investigatio...
www.pogo.org/investigatio...
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
Big news! The awards keep rolling in for season two of #BadWatchdog- this time, a silver from the #AnthemAwards!
Read all about it and watch a video from host @marenmachles.bsky.social on the Anthem website! ⬇️
Read all about it and watch a video from host @marenmachles.bsky.social on the Anthem website! ⬇️
Entry - Anthem Awards
Brought to you by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards honors the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies, and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, we're defining a new benchmark for impactful work that i...
www.anthemawards.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Big news! The awards keep rolling in for season two of #BadWatchdog- this time, a silver from the #AnthemAwards!
Read all about it and watch a video from host @marenmachles.bsky.social on the Anthem website! ⬇️
Read all about it and watch a video from host @marenmachles.bsky.social on the Anthem website! ⬇️
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
NEW FROM THE POGO INVESTIGATIONS DESK:
In June, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a directive requiring her sign-off on any department obligations above $100,000. Since then, several contract awards have seemingly skirted that obstacle.
In June, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a directive requiring her sign-off on any department obligations above $100,000. Since then, several contract awards have seemingly skirted that obstacle.
$99,999 DHS Contracts Balloon Under Kristi Noem’s Directive
Secretary Noem requiring her sign-off on spending above $100,000 has reportedly created backlogs of DHS contract awards. Some awards appear to skirt her review.
www.pogo.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:09 PM
NEW FROM THE POGO INVESTIGATIONS DESK:
In June, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a directive requiring her sign-off on any department obligations above $100,000. Since then, several contract awards have seemingly skirted that obstacle.
In June, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a directive requiring her sign-off on any department obligations above $100,000. Since then, several contract awards have seemingly skirted that obstacle.
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
Judge Cobb's strong signal:
"The President wields a powerful tool under Title 10 and the Insurrection Act. ... That expansive Title 10 authority, however, is limited by equally strong restraints."
(President Trump has wrongly claimed "no more court cases" if he were to invoke the Act.)
1/3
"The President wields a powerful tool under Title 10 and the Insurrection Act. ... That expansive Title 10 authority, however, is limited by equally strong restraints."
(President Trump has wrongly claimed "no more court cases" if he were to invoke the Act.)
1/3
Judge halts Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in DC | CNN
CNN’s Erin Burnett talks to Ryan Goodman, former Special Counsel at the Dept. of Defense, about a federal judge ordering President Trump to immediately end his DC national guard deployment.
www.cnn.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Judge Cobb's strong signal:
"The President wields a powerful tool under Title 10 and the Insurrection Act. ... That expansive Title 10 authority, however, is limited by equally strong restraints."
(President Trump has wrongly claimed "no more court cases" if he were to invoke the Act.)
1/3
"The President wields a powerful tool under Title 10 and the Insurrection Act. ... That expansive Title 10 authority, however, is limited by equally strong restraints."
(President Trump has wrongly claimed "no more court cases" if he were to invoke the Act.)
1/3
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
THREAD: Judge Ellis is the first federal judge to review extensive body cam video of DHS's actions in Chicago. She finds that DHS *repeatedly* misled the public and made claims that were disproven by agents' own videos.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
![II. Credibility
The Court next addresses the credibility of the parties’ evidence and witnesses. After reviewing all the evidence submitted to the Court and listening to the testimony elicited at the preliminary injunction hearing, during depositions, and in other court proceedings, the Court finds Defendants’ evidence simply not credible. [FN 6]
Plaintiffs submitted a mountain of evidence, providing the Court with over eighty declarations, numerous videos and articles, and other evidence. Defendants did not rebut anything that Plaintiffs set forth in their declarations or testimony, even with BWC footage.
[FN 6] In another case considering some of the same evidence presented to this Court, another court in this district also found that the perceptions of certain of Defendants’ declarants, such as Hott and Parra, were not reliable. See Illinois v. Trump, No. 25-cv-12174, 2025 WL 2886645, at *5 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 10, 2025) (noting a “troubling trend of Defendants’ declarants equating protests with riots and a lack of appreciation for the wide spectrum that exists between citizens who are observing, questioning, and criticizing their government, and those who are obstructing, assaulting, or doing violence”), motion to stay denied in part, 155 F.4th 929 (7th Cir. 2025).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreifpyry2il5toxbr3iejgrsxs6kmnwve75qwnhebfp44ieyjrfpsdu@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 11:04 PM
THREAD: Judge Ellis is the first federal judge to review extensive body cam video of DHS's actions in Chicago. She finds that DHS *repeatedly* misled the public and made claims that were disproven by agents' own videos.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
From my various social media accounts, group chats, and conversations at a recent conference, it is clear that professors are reaching a breaking point this semester with AI-assisted cheating. Very bleak. This is not sustainable.
November 21, 2025 at 2:06 AM
From my various social media accounts, group chats, and conversations at a recent conference, it is clear that professors are reaching a breaking point this semester with AI-assisted cheating. Very bleak. This is not sustainable.
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
RFK Jr had committed to Bill Cassidy, as a condition to win his vote, that he would keep website language.
Cassidy in February: “If confirmed… CDC will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.”
Note the language in second photo.
Cassidy in February: “If confirmed… CDC will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.”
Note the language in second photo.
November 20, 2025 at 2:42 AM
RFK Jr had committed to Bill Cassidy, as a condition to win his vote, that he would keep website language.
Cassidy in February: “If confirmed… CDC will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.”
Note the language in second photo.
Cassidy in February: “If confirmed… CDC will not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.”
Note the language in second photo.
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
A senior ICE official just admitted in an evidentiary hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case that someone else drafted his declaration in the case and he didn’t know what certain words meant.
November 20, 2025 at 5:18 PM
A senior ICE official just admitted in an evidentiary hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case that someone else drafted his declaration in the case and he didn’t know what certain words meant.
Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of stealing FEMA money to fund her congressional campaign wsj.com/politics/pol... via
@WSJ
@WSJ
Troubles Deepen for Indicted Democratic Congresswoman
Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of stealing FEMA funds to fund her congressional campaign.
wsj.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of stealing FEMA money to fund her congressional campaign wsj.com/politics/pol... via
@WSJ
@WSJ
Unfortunately hospitals don’t list their prices for their services - which are often unique to the health situation at hand - unlike bottles of shampoo at a grocery store.
Cassidy: "If she goes and gets 2 types of shampoo & one is a dollar cheaper, she'll get the cheaper one & the other lowers their price. Once you give her the power of making the decision, she's gonna shop -- that begins to save her money and squeezes waste out of the healthcare system."
November 19, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Unfortunately hospitals don’t list their prices for their services - which are often unique to the health situation at hand - unlike bottles of shampoo at a grocery store.
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
November 19, 2025 at 9:53 PM
"Border Patrol"
In the Oak Park neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan, on November 17, 2025, an ICE goon tased a non-resisting woman and then threw her non-responsive body into his truck like a rag doll.
November 18, 2025 at 1:27 PM
"Border Patrol"
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
So if AI succeeds loads of people lose their jobs as they're replaced by AI, and if AI fails, loads of people lose their jobs as the economy crashes?
It’s amazing how this story has gone from 0 to 60 in UK press. There’s been no mainstream coverage to date but this morning the story is leading BBC News site & bulletins.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Google boss Sundar Pichai warns 'no company immune' if AI bubble bursts
Speaking exclusively to BBC News, CEO Sundar Pichai said the artificial intelligence boom had been an
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 10:14 AM
So if AI succeeds loads of people lose their jobs as they're replaced by AI, and if AI fails, loads of people lose their jobs as the economy crashes?
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
NEW: The White House intervened in a DHS investigation.
The target? Sex offender Andrew Tate.
The WH person? Paul “Nazi Streak” Ingrassia.
Who was previously also Tate’s lawyer.
A banger from @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Shapiro
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
The target? Sex offender Andrew Tate.
The WH person? Paul “Nazi Streak” Ingrassia.
Who was previously also Tate’s lawyer.
A banger from @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Shapiro
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 AM
NEW: The White House intervened in a DHS investigation.
The target? Sex offender Andrew Tate.
The WH person? Paul “Nazi Streak” Ingrassia.
Who was previously also Tate’s lawyer.
A banger from @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Shapiro
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
The target? Sex offender Andrew Tate.
The WH person? Paul “Nazi Streak” Ingrassia.
Who was previously also Tate’s lawyer.
A banger from @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Shapiro
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
"if the U.S. government sees someone on a boat in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific and believes one of their acquaintances’ acquaintances’ acquaintances is a member of a cartel, it might just blow them up."
www.pogo.org/analysis/gui...
www.pogo.org/analysis/gui...
Guilt by Association: Trump’s Illegal Boat Strikes
U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats are a new level of lawlessness — but Congress has the power to intervene.
www.pogo.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:02 PM
"if the U.S. government sees someone on a boat in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific and believes one of their acquaintances’ acquaintances’ acquaintances is a member of a cartel, it might just blow them up."
www.pogo.org/analysis/gui...
www.pogo.org/analysis/gui...
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
On this episode of #TheJustSecurityPodcast, former counsel for Domestic Terrorism at the DOJ, Tom Brzozowski, on what the new Antifa designations mean for civil liberties, and how they might reshape the boundaries of permissible speech and association.
www.justsecurity.org/124848/podcs...
www.justsecurity.org/124848/podcs...
The Just Security Podcast: Examining the Trump Administration’s New Antifa Designations
Tom Joscelyn talks with former DOJ counsel Tom Brzozowski about new Antifa designations and their impact on speech and association.
www.justsecurity.org
November 17, 2025 at 12:57 PM
On this episode of #TheJustSecurityPodcast, former counsel for Domestic Terrorism at the DOJ, Tom Brzozowski, on what the new Antifa designations mean for civil liberties, and how they might reshape the boundaries of permissible speech and association.
www.justsecurity.org/124848/podcs...
www.justsecurity.org/124848/podcs...
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
This is why it’s crucial that DHS text messages be preserved and why we need a real archivist www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
Border Patrol Agent Charlie Exum Text Messages
www.documentcloud.org
November 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM
This is why it’s crucial that DHS text messages be preserved and why we need a real archivist www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
There were lots of stories late last week on the text messages by Border Patrol agent Charlie Exum who shot a woman five times in Chicago last month
I haven't seen anyone post the text messages themselves
Here they are:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
I haven't seen anyone post the text messages themselves
Here they are:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
November 13, 2025 at 2:29 PM
There were lots of stories late last week on the text messages by Border Patrol agent Charlie Exum who shot a woman five times in Chicago last month
I haven't seen anyone post the text messages themselves
Here they are:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
I haven't seen anyone post the text messages themselves
Here they are:
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:28 PM
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
Federal Data Exposes Border Patrol's Extreme Use of Force
Investigative reporting by POGO shows Greg Bovino’s leadership linked to disproportionate use of force during high-profile immigration operations in Chicago and Los Angeles. migrantinsider.com/p/federal-da...
Investigative reporting by POGO shows Greg Bovino’s leadership linked to disproportionate use of force during high-profile immigration operations in Chicago and Los Angeles. migrantinsider.com/p/federal-da...
Federal Data Exposes Border Patrol's Extreme Use of Force
Investigative reporting by POGO shows Greg Bovino’s leadership linked to disproportionate use of force during high-profile immigration operations in Chicago and Los Angeles.
migrantinsider.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Federal Data Exposes Border Patrol's Extreme Use of Force
Investigative reporting by POGO shows Greg Bovino’s leadership linked to disproportionate use of force during high-profile immigration operations in Chicago and Los Angeles. migrantinsider.com/p/federal-da...
Investigative reporting by POGO shows Greg Bovino’s leadership linked to disproportionate use of force during high-profile immigration operations in Chicago and Los Angeles. migrantinsider.com/p/federal-da...
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
"an unusual mass deportation to a country with a poor human rights record that the United States had bombed earlier this year in an effort to set back its nuclear program"
but we're sending them back dissidents "who repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them"
but we're sending them back dissidents "who repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them"
“For decades, Iranians fleeing persecution have found protection in the United States. But this fall, the Trump administration deported a planeload of people to Iran after making a deal with Tehran.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/w...
‘It Feels Like I’m in a Nightmare’: Inside the First Deportation Flight to Iran
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"an unusual mass deportation to a country with a poor human rights record that the United States had bombed earlier this year in an effort to set back its nuclear program"
but we're sending them back dissidents "who repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them"
but we're sending them back dissidents "who repeatedly told American authorities that Iran would persecute them"
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
Greg Bovino has tried to justify use of force in Chicago and LA by citing assaults against federal agents.
But new data shows that over the last 4 fiscal years, Border Patrol agents in Bovino's sector have used force far more often than they’ve faced assault: https://bit.ly/4hVIh9B
But new data shows that over the last 4 fiscal years, Border Patrol agents in Bovino's sector have used force far more often than they’ve faced assault: https://bit.ly/4hVIh9B
Greg Bovino's Border Patrol Agents Use Disproportionate Force, Data...
Border Patrol agents in the El Centro Sector have reported using force on other people more than three times as many times as they have faced assaults – a ratio higher than anywhere else in the agency – according to federal data.
bit.ly
November 10, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Greg Bovino has tried to justify use of force in Chicago and LA by citing assaults against federal agents.
But new data shows that over the last 4 fiscal years, Border Patrol agents in Bovino's sector have used force far more often than they’ve faced assault: https://bit.ly/4hVIh9B
But new data shows that over the last 4 fiscal years, Border Patrol agents in Bovino's sector have used force far more often than they’ve faced assault: https://bit.ly/4hVIh9B
Reposted by Nick Schwellenbach
For every assault they’ve faced, El Centro agents have used force over 3.6 times, according to the data. Across the Border Patrol, use of force incidents outpace assaults on agents by just over a 2-to-1 ratio. www.pogo.org/investigatio...
Greg Bovino’s Border Patrol Agents Use Disproportionate Force, Data…
Border Patrol agents in the El Centro Sector have reported using force on other people more than three times as many times as they have faced assaults – a ratio higher than anywhere else in the agency...
www.pogo.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:52 PM
For every assault they’ve faced, El Centro agents have used force over 3.6 times, according to the data. Across the Border Patrol, use of force incidents outpace assaults on agents by just over a 2-to-1 ratio. www.pogo.org/investigatio...