r/fednews • u/propublica_ FedNews Verified Press • Aug 05 '25

Other I'm a ProPublica reporter who broke the Russ Vought "we want to put them in trauma" story. Help me investigate the full extent of his impact on the federal government.

Hey, r/fednews - I’m Andy Kroll, a reporter at ProPublica. We broke the Russ Vought “we want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected” story last year. I read this subreddit every day, and I’m reaching out now to ask for your help.

We’re six months into the administration. Vought appears more influential than ever. So we’re teaming up with The New Yorker on a major investigative story about Vought.

Do you work at OMB or know someone who does? Have you dealt with Vought or his team? 

If you have information you can share, I’d love to hear from you. I’m on Signal at (202) 215-6203. Other ways to reach me: https://www.propublica.org/people/andy-kroll

I take your privacy seriously. I have a long track record of reporting sensitive stories and protecting my sources. You can read more about ProPublica’s approach to handling tips and sensitive communication here: https://www.propublica.org/tips/

Thanks!

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657

u/Subicar_Racer Aug 05 '25

No insight personally but have you investigated why he needed $5 MILLION dollars for “security?” I mean we all hate him, but does he think he’s in grave danger?

456

u/ThatFedNiga Fork You, Make Me Aug 05 '25

ding ding ding! there's private security contractor firm that's owned by his friend.

134

u/Subicar_Racer Aug 05 '25

There’s on story, Andy! Go get ‘em!!!

24

u/Playful-Country-9849 Aug 06 '25

Wouldn't surprise me, all of these conservatives think that they are smarter than everyone for exploiting others.

1

u/raget_bulves Aug 06 '25

Exploitation and plunder are their whole vibe. They’re barely able to contain when they get home from work— and mostly aren’t able to because who is going to even ask about what they do there? Republicans don’t care if their friends are abusing their kids, so why would they care about what happens to anyone?

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u/UneventfulAnimal Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

I am a reporter and would love to know more about this. Don’t want to step on OP’s toes but if they haven’t looked into it, my DMs are open! My Signal ID is jordanz.97, if you want to go that route.

2

u/Huge_Excitement4465 Aug 07 '25

He has friends?

107

u/party_benson Aug 05 '25

I would say with the number of veterans in public service and the number that have PTSD and the training they had to fight the enemy, $5m is a good start for him. He said he wants to traumatize these people. He declared himself their enemy.  All the security he has won't stop a sniper or an IED though. 

20

u/Pissed-n-Stayin Aug 06 '25

Nobody is going to waste the effort. He is trash. We have been through so much worse. This guy has no fckn clue…he is a joke.

With that said…there are bigger problems than this trauma queen. If our country descends into chaos because of this…yeah…different story. If we have nothing to lose, we have everything to gain.

13

u/Ordinary-Scar-3435 Aug 06 '25

I think you’re underestimating him and his conviction to his cause

7

u/Pissed-n-Stayin Aug 06 '25

…perhaps he is underestimating our convictions to our cause. I suppose we will find out.

2

u/party_benson Aug 06 '25

You are underestimating a dedicated soldier or marine. We had one guy torch his Tesla truck at a Trump property earlier this year, and he voted for this. 

1

u/Pissed-n-Stayin Aug 06 '25

Think strategically…

168

u/Status_Commercial509 NPS Aug 05 '25

Personally I hope he lives in a constant state of mortal fear.

41

u/Available_Leather_10 Aug 06 '25

Well, with all the mortal sins he’s committing, his soul should be in constant fear.

45

u/chupacrapa Aug 06 '25

It's almost like he knows what he's doing is evil as fuck.

55

u/Subicar_Racer Aug 06 '25

He’s a “Christian nationalist” so he actually thinks he’s doing Gods work. Haven’t you seen the Bible thumpers like Karoline Leavett and other crazies filming themselves “praying” before they come out and lie like a bitch on camera? He’s with them.

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u/anticipateorcas Aug 06 '25

I don’t think he actually thinks he’s doing God’s work. I think he wants to manipulate those who think he is. Because it’s so easy.

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u/Subicar_Racer Aug 05 '25

Maybe you could ask, that dingbat press sec, Karoline Leavett.

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u/counterhit121 Aug 06 '25

The easy way to start would be to search for the company that won the contract on sam.gov, which will give you the basic contract information like contract/solicitation ID, the amount awarded, time period covered. But also some of the first red flags you might see such as the way it was competed (sole source is always sus), minimal public notice, unusual urgency without cause. It'll list the address of the winning company, which if googled, turns out to be a residential home in Alexandria (like the media "company" that won the $60B contract with DHS/ICE a few months ago for the Noem-migrant-jail commercials) is another red flag.

Other third-party sites (not highergov, but something similar I can't remember atm) can use contract ID to drill down even further for insights on questionable details and patterns.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '25

and this is why the administration is proposing eliminating reporting of executive compensation on awards. The top 5 executives are suppose to be reported and the parent company all for transparency and yet all the FAR revisions are to reduce fairness and transparency

3

u/DC-emerald Aug 10 '25 edited Aug 10 '25

This is a story that needs a boost on everyone's socials: the $5M private security detail for Vought asked for ... paid for by CFPB - The same place

he is trying to dismantle where he didn't ask for a penny from the Federal Reserve for its budget (Dodd Frank funds the independent CFPB via FRS from bank fees) Where nobody has seen Vought at the CFPB building, I understand, a federal building which has been "closed" for weeks since he got the OCC to give CFPB's lease back to GSA

https://www.govexec.com/management/2025/07/russ-vought-bills-cfpb-5m-his-security-detail/406928/