Joshua Kaplan

Reporter

Joshua Kaplan is a reporter at ProPublica. Previously, he wrote a column about criminal justice for the Washington City Paper, reporting on topics such as police misconduct during undercover prostitution stings and prosecutors’ tactics for depriving defendants of the right to a jury trial. He also reported on behavioral health care quality inside schools, psychiatric hospitals and addiction treatment facilities, including a series of investigations into mismanagement at D.C.’s Department of Behavioral Health.

He holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago.

They Were Trying to Help Run Elections. Then They Got Criminally Investigated.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hasn’t just been pursuing supposed voter fraud. His office has also criminally investigated at least 10 election workers, in a harbinger of potential post-midterm turmoil.

How Ron DeSantis Blew Up Black-Held Congressional Districts and May Have Broken Florida Law

DeSantis’ move, secretly aided by GOP-linked national operatives, came over the objections of the Republican-controlled state legislature.

How the U.S. Has Struggled to Stop the Growth of a Shadowy Russian Private Army

Vladimir Putin has increasingly relied on the Wagner Group, a private and unaccountable army with a history of human rights violations, to pursue Russia’s foreign policy objectives across the globe.

Hell at Abbey Gate: Chaos, Confusion and Death in the Final Days of the War in Afghanistan

In firsthand accounts, Afghan civilians and U.S. Marines describe the desperate struggle to flee through the Kabul airport’s last open entrance. U.S. officials knew an attack was coming. Then a suicide bomber killed and injured hundreds.

House Committee Issues Subpoena to Top Trump Fundraiser Kimberly Guilfoyle

Guilfoyle, fiancee of Donald Trump Jr., boasted in text messages that she raised $3 million for the Jan. 6 rally. The demand for legal documents and a deposition is the first for a member of the Trump family’s inner circle.

Suicide Bomber Who Killed U.S. Troops and Afghans “Likely” Used Unguarded Route to Kabul Airport Gate

Paths left unsecured by U.S. military sped the evacuation of American citizens and Afghan allies. The attack killed 13 U.S. service members and scores of civilians.

Report: U.S. Marines Returned Fire After Suicide Bombing, but No Enemies Were Shooting at Them

A declassified report concludes that U.S. Marines who began shooting after a Kabul airport suicide bombing were not under fire, contradicting previous accounts. And they did not hit any Afghan civilians.

Texts Show Kimberly Guilfoyle Bragged About Raising Millions for Rally That Fueled Capitol Riot

Text messages reviewed by ProPublica represent the strongest indication yet that members of the Trump family inner circle were involved in financing and organizing the Jan. 6 “Save America” rally, which immediately preceded the Capitol riot.

Top Trump Fundraiser Boasted of Raising $3 Million to Support Jan. 6 “Save America” Rally

Caroline Wren, who had worked on the Trump campaign, told associates she distributed funds to a number of political organizations backing the rally, including Tea Party Express and Turning Point.

January 6 Select Committee Subpoenas Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Other Top Aides

Citing a June ProPublica report, the committee says there is “credible evidence” of Meadows’ involvement in events leading up to the attack on the Capitol.

New Details Suggest Senior Trump Aides Knew Jan. 6 Rally Could Get Chaotic

Text messages and interviews show that Stop the Steal leaders fooled the Capitol police and welcomed racists to increase their crowd sizes, while White House officials worked to both contain and appease them.

In Exclusive Jailhouse Letter, Capitol Riot Defendant Explains Motives, Remains Boastful

The material obtained by ProPublica sheds light on the radicalization of a Jan. 6 defendant whom prosecutors have characterized as a “serious danger ... not only to his family and Congress, but to the entire system of justice.”

As New York City Moves to Address Racialized Policing of Sex Work, Advocates and Lawyers Say It’s Not Enough

In the wake of a 2020 ProPublica investigation, Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for convening a task force to address problems with how the city polices the sex trade. “But it feels like planning to make a plan,” one attorney said.

6 Questions Officials Still Haven’t Answered After Weeks of Hearings on the Capitol Attack

More than 15 hours of testimony failed to answer fundamental questions about the Capitol attack. Among them: Why national security officials responded differently to BLM protesters than to Trump supporters.

“I Don’t Trust the People Above Me”: Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection

Interviews with 19 current and former officers show how failures of leadership and communication put hundreds of Capitol cops at risk and allowed rioters to get dangerously close to members of Congress.

“No One Took Us Seriously”: Black Cops Warned About Racist Capitol Police Officers for Years

Allegations of racism against the Capitol Police are nothing new: Over 250 Black cops have sued the department since 2001. Some of those former officers now say it’s no surprise white nationalists were able to storm the building.

Before Mob Stormed the Capitol, Days of Security Planning Involved Cabinet Officials and President Trump

A Pentagon memo offers one version of events — six days of preparation for a rally that quickly spiraled out of control.

New York Lawmakers Demand NYPD Halt Undercover Sex Trade Stings

A dozen city and state officials also called for the disbandment of vice, the primary division that polices the sex trade; some want investigations into misconduct allegations against the unit, including withholding of evidence.

A black-and-white illustration of two police officers watching a woman lean against a car door, talking to the driver.

NYPD Cops Cash In on Sex Trade Arrests With Little Evidence, While Black and Brown New Yorkers Pay the Price

Some NYPD officers who police the sex trade, driven by overtime pay, go undercover to round up as many “bodies” as they can with little evidence. Almost no one they arrest is white.

A woman stands in her home.

The Hospital System Sent Patients With Coronavirus Home to Die. Louisiana Legislators Are Demanding an Investigation.

The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus called the practice of sending infected coronavirus patients home to die “disturbing” after ProPublica found that one New Orleans hospital system had done so numerous times.

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