Robert Faturechi

Reporter

Photo of Robert Faturechi

Robert Faturechi is an investigative reporter at ProPublica. He has reported on industry lobbying campaigns to block safety standards, the Trump administration’s deregulation efforts, self-dealing by political consultants and corporate donors targeting state elections officials. He broke stories on Sen. Richard Burr selling off stock before the coronavirus market crash, and former HHS Secretary Tom Price taking official actions that overlapped with his personal financial interests.

In 2020, he and two colleagues won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for a series of stories about avoidable deaths in the Navy and Marine Corps, and the failure of top commanders to heed warnings and implement reforms that could have saved lives.

His reporting has resulted in congressional hearings, new legislation, federal indictments and widespread reforms.

Before joining ProPublica, he was a reporter at The Los Angeles Times, where his work exposed inmate abuse, cronyism, secret cop cliques and wrongful jailings at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. In 2013, he obtained an unprecedented cache of confidential personnel records that showed the agency knowingly hired dozens of cops with histories of serious misconduct. His stories helped lead to sweeping reforms at the nation’s largest jail system, criminal convictions of sheriff’s deputies and the resignation of the sheriff.

Faturechi lives in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA in 2008.

You can send him story tips and documents through email at [email protected] or on Signal/WhatsApp at (213) 271-7217.

Sen. Burr Cited COVID When He Dumped Shares Ahead of Stock Market Crash, According to FBI Records

New details have emerged about the now-closed investigation, including repeated calls to his brother-in-law, who also dumped stock.

Child Porn Possession Investigation Into South Dakota Billionaire Closed With No Charges

Search warrants were obtained in the investigation into T. Denny Sanford in 2019 and 2020. ProPublica won a legal fight to access the records.

Child Porn Probe of Billionaire Businessman Denny Sanford Continues at State and Federal Level, Court Records Show

Authorities said the investigation of South Dakota’s richest man, first revealed by ProPublica, is still active and began with a tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

Court Records Show That Emails and Phone Data Were Searched in Child Porn Probe of Billionaire Denny Sanford

ProPublica won access to search warrants showing a child pornography investigation of South Dakota’s richest man, confirming our reporting from last year.

How These Ultrawealthy Politicians Avoided Paying Taxes

IRS records reveal how Gov. Jim Justice, Gov. Jared Polis, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and other wealthy political figures slashed their taxes using strategies unavailable to most of their constituents.

Burr’s Brother-in-Law Called Stock Broker, One Minute After Getting Off Phone With Senator

According to the SEC, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, then chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, had material nonpublic information about coronavirus impact. He and his brother-in-law dumped stock before the market dropped in March 2020.

How the Trump Tax Law Created a Loophole That Lets Top Executives Net Millions by Slashing Their Own Salaries

The 2017 tax cuts made it more attractive for certain company owners to be paid in profits instead of wages. Some cut their own wages, expanding a loophole that was already costing the U.S. billions.

Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Tax Cut”

Billionaire business owners deployed lobbyists to make sure Trump’s 2017 tax bill was tailored to their benefit. Confidential IRS records show the windfall that followed.

The Billionaire Playbook: How Sports Owners Use Their Teams to Avoid Millions in Taxes

Owners like Steve Ballmer can take the kinds of deductions on team assets — everything from media deals to player contracts — that industrialists take on factory equipment. That helps them pay lower tax rates than players and even stadium workers.

Leading Manhattan DA Candidate Has Repeatedly Paid Virtually No Federal Income Taxes

Tali Farhadian Weinstein, who donated $8 million to her own campaign, and her hedge fund manager husband paid nothing (or almost nothing) to the IRS four times in six years.

ProPublica’s Tax Revelations Lead to Calls for Reforms — and Investigation

The Secret IRS Files series has already sparked a conversation about the fairness of the U.S. tax code and raised privacy concerns.

Sen. David Perdue Sold His Home to a Finance Industry Official Whose Organization Was Lobbying the Senate

The same year FINRA was lobbying the Senate on a bill, one of its board governors paid Perdue $1.8 million for his D.C. townhouse. Perdue sits on the Senate Banking Committee, which oversaw the bill.

Georgia Senator David Perdue Privately Pushed for a Tax Break for Rich Sports Teamowners

It’s unclear why Senator Perdue was interested in tax regulation that would impact only a tiny set of the richest Americans. The effort, which wasn’t successful, could have helped several of his donors, including fellow senator Kelly Loeffler.

DOJ Frees Federal Prosecutors to Take Steps That Could Interfere With Elections, Weakening Long-standing Policy

In an internal announcement, the Justice Department created an exception to a decadeslong policy meant to prevent prosecutors from taking overt investigative steps that might affect the outcome of the vote.

The Justice Department May Have Violated Attorney General Barr’s Own Policy Memo

In a memo from May, the attorney general reminded Justice Dept. prosecutors to avoid partisan politics. Then a U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania announced an election investigation that had partisan overtones.

The Obama Justice Department Had a Plan to Hold Police Accountable for Abuses. The Trump DOJ Has Undermined It.

The Trump administration has not aggressively enforced existing agreements to monitor abusive law enforcement agencies, emboldening them to fight reforms.

Billionaire T. Denny Sanford Was Under Investigation for Child Pornography

The richest man in South Dakota, T. Denny Sanford, was investigated for possible possession of child pornography, according to four people familiar with the matter. Sanford is a major donor to children’s charities and Republican politicians.

How a Key Federal Civil Rights Agency Was Sidelined as Historic Protests Erupted

Launched by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, the Community Relations Service has been without a director and short-staffed during recent unrest. The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to eliminate the agency.

U.S. Marine Corps Concludes Its Investigation Into a Fatal 2018 Midair Crash Was Inaccurate

A new review reexamined the December 2018 crash after a ProPublica investigation revealed that Marines had been deprived of adequate training and equipment, and that their repeated pleas for help from superiors before the crash went unaddressed.

This Treasury Official Is Running the Bailout. It’s Been Great for His Family.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinich has an increasingly prominent role. He still has ties to his family’s investment firm, which is a major beneficiary of the Treasury’s bailout actions.

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