J. David McSwane

Reporter

Photo of J. David McSwane

J. David McSwane is a reporter in ProPublica’s Washington, D.C., office. Previously, he was an investigative reporter for the Dallas Morning News, where his reporting on the state’s outsourced Medicaid system, which benefited companies that systematically deny care to sick children and disabled adults, spurred multiple legislative reforms. Before that he wrote for the Austin American-Statesman and a small Florida newspaper. McSwane’s reporting has spurred new laws and state and federal criminal investigations, forced belt-tightening lawmakers to invest in social programs and won some trinkets along the way, including Harvard’s Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, the Worth Bingham Prize, a Scripps Howard award, an IRE award and the Peabody. He’s a four-time Livingston Award finalist.

His PGP Key ID is B712D525A2FEE4F1.

The Shadowy Financial Empire Built Around Liberty HealthShare Is Showing Signs of Strain

Beers family members built a “conglomerate” by selling a Christian alternative to traditional health insurance. They’re now scrambling for cash, even though they received millions in PPP loans that were later forgiven.

How Obamacare Enabled a Multibillion-Dollar Christian Health Care Cash Grab

Capitalizing on the pressure to pass the Affordable Care Act, a conservative lobbyist created an exception for faith-based health coverage, opening the door for “bad actors.”

A Christian Health Nonprofit Saddled Thousands With Debt as It Built a Family Empire Including a Pot Farm, a Bank and an Airline

Despite a history of fraud, one family has thrived in the regulatory no man’s land of health care sharing ministries, where insurance commissioners can’t investigate, federal agencies turn a blind eye and prosecutors reach paltry settlements.

They Tried to Get PPE When We Needed It Most. Instead, They Got Ripped Off.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, legitimate importers were scammed out of millions trying to supply American hospitals and businesses with vital protective equipment.

Documents Show Trump Officials Skirted Rules to Reward Politically Connected and Untested Firms With Huge Pandemic Contracts

House Democrats investigating the COVID-19 response say Trump adviser Peter Navarro pressured agencies to award deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Contractor Who Was Awarded $34.5 Million in Government Money and Provided Zero Masks Pleads Guilty to Fraud

The VA and FEMA agreed to pay a first-time vendor in a desperate search for protective equipment. Now Robert Stewart admits he defrauded three federal agencies and lied about being in the Marine Corps.

“This Political Climate Got My Brother Killed”: Officer Brian Sicknick Died Defending the Capitol. His Family Waits for Answers.

Brian David Sicknick, 42, died of injuries sustained while trying to protect the Capitol. Family members say they don’t want his death politicized. But they do want to understand what happened.

Police intervene as supporters of President Donald Trump breach security and enter the Capitol on Wednesday.

Capitol Rioters Planned for Weeks in Plain Sight. The Police Weren’t Ready.

Insurrectionists made no effort to hide their intentions, but law enforcement protecting Congress was caught flat-footed.

“Those of Us Who Don’t Die Are Going to Quit”: A Crush of Patients, Dwindling Supplies and the Nurse Who Lost Hope

Almost a year into the pandemic, supply shortages remain so severe that nurse Kristen Cline reuses her N95 for several shifts while her hospital buckles, patients suffer and folks nearby socialize maskless as if the pandemic were already over.

Foreign Masks, Fear and a Fake Certification: Staff at CSL Plasma Say Conditions at Donation Centers Aren’t Safe

Trump’s FDA authorized emergency use of plasma therapy for COVID-19, despite a lack of proof that it saves lives. Staff at CSL Plasma, an industry leader, raised alarms about faulty masks as donors flooded in, but the FDA and OSHA were slow to act.

Cannabis, Lies and Foreign Cash: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey Through the Underground Mask Trade

Contracts, emails and spreadsheets that Juanita and Dawn Ramos shared with ProPublica detail how domestic and foreign investors, many with marijuana industry ties, seized upon the nation’s public health disaster.

You Can Make Millions Selling Masks to the Government in Three Easy Steps

The federal government is essentially providing seed money to PPE startups, including some run by people accused of fraud. Mask brokers describe a simple blueprint for buying masks from China to get rich.

One Federal Agency Was Suing Him for Fraud. Another Paid His Company Millions for Masks.

Court records show the federal government gave $20 million in contracts to a company partly controlled by a man with a history of shady business practices.

FEMA Ordered $10.2 Million in COVID-19 Testing Kits It’s Now Warning States Not to Use

The faulty lab equipment sold by a company whose owner has faced fraud allegations is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general.

He Removed Labels That Said “Medical Use Prohibited,” Then Tried to Sell Thousands of Masks to Officials Who Distribute to Hospitals

Using TaskRabbit and Venmo, a Silicon Valley investor and his business partner had workers repackage non-medical KN95 masks so he could sell them to Texas emergency workers.

The Trump Administration Paid Millions for Test Tubes — and Got Unusable Mini Soda Bottles

The plastic tubes supplied for coronavirus testing by Fillakit, a first-time federal contractor with a sketchy owner, don’t even fit the racks used to analyze samples. And they may be contaminated anyway.

The Secret, Absurd World of Coronavirus Mask Traders and Middlemen Trying To Get Rich Off Government Money

The federal government and states have fueled an unregulated, chaotic market for masks ruled by oddballs, ganjapreneurs and a shadowy network of investors.

A hand clutching a stack of money and a surgical mask.

A Closer Look at Federal COVID Contractors Reveals Inexperience, Fraud Accusations and a Weapons Dealer Operating Out of Someone’s House

The Trump administration has promised at least $1.8 billion to 335 first-time contractors, often without competitive bidding or thorough vetting of their backgrounds.

The TSA Hoarded 1.3 Million N95 Masks Even Though Airports Are Empty and It Doesn’t Need Them

TSA officials stockpiled a huge shipment of N95 masks they knew they didn’t need even after two agency officials asked to donate them. Airport traffic fell 95 percent, and the masks have sat unused as hospitals searched desperately for them.

How Profit and Incompetence Delayed N95 Masks While People Died at the VA

Federal agencies have hired contractors with no experience to find respirators and masks, fueling a black market filled with price gouging and multiple layers of profiteering brokers. One contractor called them “buccaneers and pirates.”

Follow ProPublica

Latest Stories from ProPublica

In Five Years, Chicago Has Barely Made Progress on Its Court-Ordered Police Reforms. Here’s Why.

Texas Lawmakers Push for New Exceptions to State’s Strict Abortion Ban After the Deaths of Two Women

Finding Focus: How a Visual Storyteller Gets the Right Image — and the Right Tone

How UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage Puts Countless Americans’ Treatment at Risk