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Peter Elkind

I report on government and business, and the compelling stories behind the intersection of the two.

Need to Get in Touch?

I’m eager for tips about important stories, and zealously protect whistleblowers and confidential sources. You can reach me by email or securely on Signal.

What I Cover

I’m focusing on the U.S. Department of Energy and the impact of the Trump administration’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda on the public, business and the environment.

My Background

I’ve written about FBI director James Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton investigation; profiled Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale; investigated how America’s biggest oxygen company has repeatedly cheated Medicare and elderly patients; reported how a private equity firm plundered a chain of safety-net hospitals; detailed a tax-shelter industry that transformed a charitable deduction into a profitable investment, costing the government tens of billions; explained the fiasco that nearly shut down the entire U.S. aviation system; and profiled Trump’s shadowy accountants.

I’m the co-author of the bestseller “The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron” and also wrote “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer” and “The Death Shift: The True Story of Nurse Genene Jones and the Texas Baby Murders.”

Before joining ProPublica in 2017, I worked at Fortune for 20 years, edited the Dallas Observer, and was on staff at Texas Monthly. At Fortune, I wrote about how Steve Jobs concealed his fatal battle with pancreatic cancer; covered a cyber-invasion that brought Sony Pictures to its knees; and co-authored an account of a coup at Pfizer. The Pfizer story was awarded the Gerald Loeb Award for magazine writing.

My work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, on newyorker.com and in The Washington Post. I live in Texas.

The Girl Scouts’ Latest Business Project: Hailing 5G Cellphone Technology

The organization famous for its cookie sales paired with equipment-maker Ericsson to encourage Scouts to spread the word about the technology and to tout its safety. Some scientists see it differently.

How the FCC Shields Cellphone Companies From Safety Concerns

The wireless industry is rolling out thousands of new transmitters amid a growing body of research that calls cellphone safety into question. Federal regulators say there’s nothing to worry about — even as they rely on standards established in 1996.

The Tax Scam That Won’t Die

The IRS, the Justice Department and Congressional Republicans and Democrats are all trying to put an end to syndicated conservation easements. But with lobbyists like Henry Waxman helping lead the resistance, the efforts have had little effect.

Inside the Government Fiasco That Nearly Closed the U.S. Air System

The upgrade to 5G was supposed to bring a paradise of speedy wireless. But a chaotic process under the Trump administration, allowed to fester by the Biden administration, turned it into an epic disaster.

The Social Machine

Facebook Grew Marketplace to 1 Billion Users. Now Scammers Are Using It to Target People Around the World.

ProPublica identified thousands of Marketplace listings and profiles that broke the company’s rules, revealing how Facebook failed to safeguard users.

The Social Machine

How Facebook Undermines Privacy Protections for Its 2 Billion WhatsApp Users

WhatsApp assures users that no one can see their messages — but the company has an extensive monitoring operation and regularly shares personal information with prosecutors.

America’s Drinking Water Is Surprisingly Easy to Poison

The cyberbreach at a plant in Oldsmar, Florida, which could have resulted in a mass poisoning, was a reminder of a disturbing reality: Despite a decade of warnings, thousands of water systems around the country are still at risk.

Rich Investors Stripped Millions From a Hospital Chain and Want to Leave It Behind. A Tiny State Stands in Their Way.

Private equity firm Leonard Green and other investors extracted $645 million from Prospect Medical before announcing a deal to sell it and leave it with $1.3 billion in financial obligations. Four states approved it — but Rhode Island is holding out.

The U.S. Spent $2.2 Million on a Cybersecurity System That Wasn’t Implemented

The software company SolarWinds unwittingly allowed hackers’ code into thousands of federal computers. A cybersecurity system called in-toto, which the government paid to develop but never required, might have protected against this.

A Hospital Chain Said Our Article Was Inaccurate. It’s Not.

Prospect Medical, whose facilities have repeatedly been found to pose threats to patients, is claiming ProPublica “ignored” its side — even though its views were cited in 30 places in the article.