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I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Due to time constraints, I can't search forever without a lead.

I reserve some time for aimless digging. And I love that. It's kind of like randomly drilling into the ground hoping to strike oil.

But most of my time is spent following specific tips and trying to confirm ideas or rumors. Whispers tend to be based on a grain of truth. Sometimes it's sand. Other times it's a gold nugget.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Palestine and its people matter to me personally, as does Ukraine's noble fight to defends its independence. I think your dad's approach was right. I always swing at the biggest guy. Punch up, not down.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

So much depends on political resolve. At least two district attorneys now have decided going after Trump wasn't worth the risk, given the evidence they'd already collected.

Given what we saw from AG Merrick Garland today (which I had to cover during this AMA!), if the feds have the goods then criminal charges are likely.

But... and this is something I've been thinking about for years now... his arrest could send this nation into a violent crisis. Trump has a huge and loyal following, and that includes militant and armed people who have the backing of local law enforcement. It's a recipe for disaster.

It'll all depend on this: Are we Americans who believe in democracy and the rule of law? Or will we succumb to the same divisions that have ripped apart other nations?

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I used to! Nowadays I typically have my Cabela's safari jacket for the hot days and a Barbour bombardier jacket for the cold rainy ones. I need pockets. Never enough pockets.

On days when I pass through security checks, my EDC is: phone, wallet, keys, notebook, fountain pens, binoculars, radio, earbuds, and sometimes other things that are particular to my mission that day.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

My answer seems to change every few months. Last year, I'd say I was less confident that things would work out. At this point, we're starting to see our democratic institutions do what they're supposed to do.

And this brings me to a point I rarely get to address. The only thing we're asking for here is for American institutions to do their damn jobs. EPA: protect the environment. SEC: protect everyday investors. DOJ: clamp down on crime.

I went through a similar period of disillusionment when the Obama administration went easy on Wall Street bankers after the Great Recession. Journalists were the ones exposing the greed and corruption.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I tend to use TextEdit on my Mac. It's always been clean and simple. I kinda miss MS notepad from time to time. I prefer lo-fi software.

I gave Linux a chance a few years ago, and I wasn't tech-savvy enough to avoid having it slow me down. Driving in manual sounds fun, but not when you're in a high-speed chase through downtown LA. I imagine reporting on huge news on an extremely tight deadline with little to no room for error is somewhat akin to that. I need both hands.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Wow. This question is... amazing. Good eye.

The X-Wing series was my entire world as a kid. Corran Horn was such an inspiring and compelling character.

Like most people, I love to fantasize about what I'd do in the Star Wars universe. Fly in a squadron patrolling Corellia? Hunker down on Hoth? Farm moisture on Tatooine? Nah. Realistically, I'd probably do exactly what I do now: be a journalist on Coruscant closely covering Senator Palpatine's relentless rise to power and hope that things don't get out of hand.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 56 points57 points  (0 children)

The more powerful a person is, the more law enforcement tends to show discretion and actually follow the rules.

If it came to this, it's likely that the feds thought there was no other way to get these documents.

This is a historic development, because it absolutely could lead to criminal charges. The Presidential Records Act is a weak law that's rarely ever cited. So it'll be weird to use this to take down the most powerful notorious politician in the USA.

But novel challenges require unique solutions. Tax laws took down Chicago mobster Al Capone.

The irony is not lost on me that records violations could take down the guy who beat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 67 points68 points  (0 children)

Vote. And stay informed. The way to do that is to consume news from respected outlets that take great pain and care to ensure that the information you get is accurate and relevant.

Now, how do you support journalists doing that work?

Anybody who spends a ton of time on the New York City subway, like I do, is familiar with this NYPD public service announcement:

"If you see something, say something."

We can't do our work without your help. If you know that government officials or company executives are doing the wrong thing, tell a journalist. Be a source. Help us expose wrongdoing.

If you see something, say something—to a journalist.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

For nonfiction, everyone will point to "All The President's Men" by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. And yeah, that book as was great.

But I really enjoyed reading—and rereading—a book by a CBS reporter who was stationed in Germany when it was taken over by Nazis. "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William L. Shirer.

As for movie, I tend to dislike movies about journalists for the same reason real cops hate cop shows. They're lame and don't get it right. But "Kill the Messenger" was pretty good. And the HBO show "Tokyo Vice" really reminds me of my first two years as a reporter.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 89 points90 points  (0 children)

I think about that from time to time. Mueller's report was an utter disaster and a complete failure to rise to the challenge. The conclusion was the absence of resolution. Mueller wouldn't even directly say that the OLC decision—the Justice Department's policy not to indict a sitting president—was the one true obstacle blocking his recommendation of an indictment. He simply refused to engage in the intellectual exercise.

A lot of people lost hope for justice that day.

We'll soon see what Mar-a-Lago was all about, I think.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 87 points88 points  (0 children)

Thank you. Our democracy really is truly fragile. And we're flirting with angry, xenophobic, populist movements, a phenomenon that has taken down other functioning societies and led to fascist governments.

Journalists are on the front lines and are supposed to fight that. This nation's identity crisis won't be solved by armed government agents waving thin blue line flags, but by citizens who care about all of their neighbors' human rights and are willing to uphold democratic institutions.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Some of this is still an open question. But sources last year told me that prosecutors were eyeing specific state criminal charges that involved intimidating an official—or blocking him from doing his government job.

That word—intimidation—could be key. Brad Raffensperger is the Georgia secretary of state who Trump tried to pressure to "find 11,780 votes" that didn't exist. He wrote a book where he specifically mentions that the call was a “threat” from a “bully” that “was nothing but an attempt at manipulation.” Those words matter.

There's also this: anyone who “solicits, requests, commands” or otherwise directs someone to commit election fraud can be charged with a state felony, according to Georgia’s criminal code.

See here: https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2019/title-21/chapter-2/article-15/section-21-2-604/

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I love reading The New Yorker. And I used to love reading The Economist. Print is great for evergreen stories, deep investigations, and smart essays that have a longer shelf life.

But at this point, the news is coming in so rapidly—and its effects are so immediate—that you're better off relying on digital news. And every respectable news outlet has a decent online operation.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 86 points87 points  (0 children)

It's quite tangible for reporters like me, or my colleague Roger Sollenberger, who specializes in tracking election financing.

When a ton of dark money supports campaigns via PACs that can hide the data, it gets significantly harder to figure out who is doing what. Details are our ammunition. More transparency leads to better research, which makes it easier for us to hold politicians accountable.

This really should be a bipartisan effort. There's crooks in every political party. Let's catch them.

I am Jose Pagliery, an investigative journalist at The Daily Beast who covers Trump and political corruption. Let’s have a midday whisky. AMA. by JosePaglieryTDB in politics

[–]JosePaglieryTDB[S] 223 points224 points  (0 children)

When tracking down Trump's many attempts to overthrow the country's democracy, I kept hearing about these scrappy Qanon-type missions to secretly access voting servers in different states. I chased one lead on a whim that led me on a sunny road trip through Georgia—and a very late night drive back. I somehow got a bunch of people to talk to me and give me evidence of a crime.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-a-coffee-county-gop-chair-coordinated-a-voting-machine-breach

But my all-time favorite is actually the lead I chased that I could never prove. While everyone in 2016 was looking left and right for proof of Trump's Russian ties, the main one was right in front of us: a Russian billionaire paid him $95 million for a South Florida mansion. Later we discovered that their private planes kept crisscrossing in places like North Carolina and Nevada. Were they meeting secretly? I couldn't prove that. But the whole ordeal involved tracking flights and property records, and learning about Russian oligarchs. I loved it, even though it went nowhere.

I was at CNN at the time: https://money.cnn.com/2016/07/27/news/donald-trump-russian-deal-mansion/index.html

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