Popular Information | Judd Legum | Substack

Using water to combat ICE

Across the country, local and state officials are fighting to prevent U.S.

Apr 2 • Noel Sims

The tale of the tape: Trump repeatedly pledged to cut gas prices by 50%

“Mark it down, and you can get very angry at me if we don’t do it.”

Apr 1 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby

AI industry taps January 6 operative to run $100 million campaign to boost MAGA candidates

The AI industry has tapped Taylor Budowich, a key operative in the effort to undermine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, to lead a new…

Mar 31 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby

New lawsuit alleges DraftKings and FanDuel are digital heroin

“By coordinating their use of immersive marketing, AI, cloud computing, and algorithms customized for every customer, they hijack customers’ brains”

Mar 30 • Judd Legum

How companies are using AI to pay workers as little as possible

As corporate profits surge, American workers are taking home a record-low percentage of the proceeds from their work.

Mar 26 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims

Independent accountability journalism.

Investigations

ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment

ICE halted payments in October, and the situation will persist for at least several more months

Jan 20 • Judd Legum

These companies advertised on X as Grok produced sexualized images of kids

At least 37 major companies were advertising on the platform this week, a Popular Information investigation reveals.

Jan 15 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

Venezuela raid enriches MAGA billionaire

The ouster of Maduro is a financial windfall for a prominent Trump-supporting billionaire, investor Paul Singer.

Jan 5 • Judd Legum

Top Trump negotiator retains partnership with Ukraine-sanctioned billionaire

Steve Witkoff coached a top Putin aide on managing Trump and created a peace plan that mirrored Russian demands

Dec 1, 2025 • Judd Legum

Musk’s AI supercomputer, used by U.S. military, secretly relies on Chinese hardware

Records obtained by Oligarch Watch reveal that the facility relies on Chinese transformers, creating a major security vulnerability.

Nov 26, 2025 • Caleb Ecarma

Corporate Power

Social media as state media

Silicon Valley was once viewed as a tool for liberation. Now, from blocking apps to banning groups, it is helping the White House suppress dissent.

Jan 29 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

The hollow corporate response to the Minnesota killings

At the beginning of December, the Trump administration launched “Operation Metro Surge,” sending thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE…

Jan 27 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

The corporate enablers of the ICE crackdown

How Amazon, AT&T, and Citizens Bank are profiting from the administration’s mass deportation campaign.

Jan 26 • Judd Legum

Five years later, these 10 corporations still aren’t funding election deniers

Five years ago today, on January 6, 2021, a violent mob stormed the Capitol building.

Jan 6 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

The AI industry’s $100 million play to influence the 2026 elections

As the 2026 midterms approach, President Trump is facing headwinds.

Dec 11, 2025 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

Media

How legacy media fell for Trump’s fake “pivot” in Minnesota

No, Trump did not "change course."

Jan 28 • Judd Legum and Noel Sims

Breaking precedent, networks interrupt prime time for Trump political diatribe

On Wednesday night at 9 PM Eastern, President Trump delivered a prime time address to the nation that was aired by all major broadcast networks.

Dec 18, 2025 • Rebecca Crosby, Noel Sims, and Judd Legum

The casino-fication of news

New partnerships between the prediction market Kalshi and cable TV networks will transform every news event into a betting opportunity.

Dec 8, 2025 • Judd Legum

The devolution of CBS News

A network once revered for fact-based reporting is embracing right-wing pseudo-journalism

Oct 7, 2025 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

UPDATE: Kimmel returns — but not on Sinclair or Nexstar affiliates

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show returned last night, less than a week after ABC indefinitely suspended production in response to Kimmel’s comments about…

Sep 24, 2025 • Judd Legum

Crime

Trump declares war on America

"It’s the enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of control."

Oct 1, 2025 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

Criminal propaganda

On Tuesday, President Trump pledged to deploy the military in Chicago and Baltimore.

Sep 3, 2025 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby

Calling crime data "fake news," Trump seizes DC police

Lies, manipulated data, unsubstantiated allegations, and an unprecedented federal takeover.

Aug 12, 2025 • Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

Why you might not know that 2024 was America's safest year since the 1960s

An overwhelming majority of Americans, 64 percent, believe that crime increased across the country in 2024, according to a Gallup survey conducted late…

Aug 7, 2025 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby

Cash bail myths debunked by plummeting city crime data

According to President Trump, large American cities are crime-infested hellholes.

Jul 24, 2025 • Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims

Social

Resources

The January 6 corporate accountability index

Recent posts

UPDATE: After sending billions to Kushner and Trump, Saudis lobby to escalate Iran War

“I’m not going to start a war,” President Trump pledged during his November 2024 victory speech.

Mar 25 • Judd Legum

The unraveling of the war in Iran

Since the outset of the Iran War on February 28, President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that things are going well.

Mar 24 • Judd Legum and Rebecca Crosby

One company’s million-dollar gambit to turn the healthcare crisis into a gold mine

Today, Americans are facing dramatically increased health care costs, with millions losing coverage and one in three cutting back on daily living…

Mar 23 • Judd Legum

A war based on a lie

The Trump administration’s Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

Mar 19 • Judd Legum

The new, bigoted leader of the College Republicans

Kai Schwemmer, a 23-year-old college student from Utah, was named the new political director for the College Republicans of America (CRA) on March 5.

Mar 18 • Noel Sims

Planning to fail

Shortly after the start of the war in Iran on February 28, Iran declared that the Strait of Hormuz — which is used to transport about 20% of the world’s…

Mar 17 • Judd Legum

Recommendations

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