Kristi Noem's Donations/ VA Contracts...

 

In today’s newsletter: Kristi Noem’s personal cut of political donations; lawmaker responses to “damning reporting from ProPublica” on VA contracts; payday loans in Tennessee; and more from our newsroom.

Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirements, experts say. Read story

Impact Senators Demand Investigation Into Canceled VA Contracts, Citing “Damning Reporting From ProPublica”   Senators this week called for a federal investigation into the Trump administration’s killing of hundreds of contracts for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Angus King, a Maine independent, wrote to the agency’s inspector general on Monday asking for an investigation into the administration’s cancellation of the contracts and the consequences for veterans. The senators highlighted “damning reporting from ProPublica” on the cancellations, including how the Department of Government Efficiency used an artificial intelligence tool that marked contracts as “MUNCHABLE.” The senators noted, as we did, that the administration has refused to disclose what contracts it has killed or why, writing that DOGE’s use of AI to scrutinize contracts “adds an entire new level of unease connected to the decision-making, security, governance, and quality control of the entire process.” The VA did not respond to our request for comment about the senators’ letter. Previously, press secretary Pete Kasperowicz said that decisions to cancel or reduce the size of contracts are made after multiple reviews by VA employees, including agency contracting experts and senior staff. Read story

That Stat 279.5% Interest rate on a loan offered by Tennessee payday lender Advance Financial. Adam Friedman, a Tennessee Lookout reporter and member of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, wrote about a 2014 state law that made it legal to reborrow or roll over payday loans — actions Advance encouraged, trapping borrowers in a cycle of debt. The company declined to answer detailed questions but has defended its practices, pointing out that it has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Read story