Monika Bauerlein

Monika Bauerlein

@monikab.bsky.social

CEO at the Center for Investigative Reporting, where we create the in-depth, rigorous, and free-to-all journalism that you deserve. Follow my amazing colleagues at @MotherJones.com and @Revealnews.org.

10.8K followers75 following121 posts

Monika Bauerlein reposted

amanda moore 🐢
@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social

Everyone who is talking about this story should be reading Abby‘s original version. She actually read through over 1000 pages of court documents, and she did it first. And shamefully, some large outlets have chosen to not credit her (@nytimes.com)

Abby Vesoulis@abbyvesoulis.bsky.social

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) previously denied a report, also alleged in court records, that he pushed a girl down a flight of stairs in high school. But the woman recently told me the alleged incident remains "one of the more traumatic nights of my life." Inside the investigation: ow.ly/8xU450ZpaNp

ow.lyAssault, misogyny, verbal threats: Records detail new allegations against Rep. Max MillerPolice reports and filings in a bitter custody dispute raise new questions about the conduct of an Ohio Republican as he campaigns for a third term.
Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

Exclusive: @hurwitz.bsky.social reported this two weeks ago www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

motherjones.comPolice keep losing their jobs for using Flock cameras to stalk peopleAdvocates say it’s too easy to abuse automated license plate reader technology.
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com

Exclusive: Bad actors have used Flock's massive camera network as a powerful weapon for intimate surveillance. Authorities have charged or accused at least 50 law-enforcement officers of using license-plate readers for unauthorized purposes.

washingtonpost.comHow rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalkingFlock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.
Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

It's challenging to report on family violence with care and rigor, let alone in a high-stakes political campaign. @abbyvesoulis.bsky.social did a powerful job bringing this story to light, the NYT followed 10 days later, and now Sen. Moreno has weighed in on X. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

motherjones.comAssault, misogyny, verbal threats: Records detail new allegations against Rep. Max MillerPolice reports and filings in a bitter custody dispute raise new questions about the conduct of an Ohio Republican as he campaigns for a third term.
Abby Vesoulis@abbyvesoulis.bsky.social

Wow. Senator Bernie Moreno says his former son-in-law, Congressman Max Miller, is unfit to hold office and needs serious psychological help. "He is a danger to my daughter, and I hold my breath every minute he has custody of my granddaughter."

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

It's amazing how Trump managed to take this from what would have been a sad but somewhat "you was a bit robbed" loss into "not even blatant corruption can save you." The team and everyone deserved so much better.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

This is TONIGHT, come join us!

Monika Bauerlein@monikab.bsky.social

I'll be at Manny's in SF on Tuesday (5/19) talking with @motherjones.com cofounder Adam Hochschild and the great @jamilsmith.bsky.social about independent, ferocious journalism in the face of lies, propaganda, and corruption—in the 70s and right now. Please come! www.eventbrite.com/e/mother-jon...

eventbrite.comMother Jones: 50 Years of Investigative Journalism and Press FreedomJournalism faces political attacks and declining revenue, yet San Francisco’s Mother Jones celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026.

Monika Bauerlein reposted

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

I'll be at Manny's in SF on Tuesday (5/19) talking with @motherjones.com cofounder Adam Hochschild and the great @jamilsmith.bsky.social about independent, ferocious journalism in the face of lies, propaganda, and corruption—in the 70s and right now. Please come! www.eventbrite.com/e/mother-jon...

eventbrite.comMother Jones: 50 Years of Investigative Journalism and Press FreedomJournalism faces political attacks and declining revenue, yet San Francisco’s Mother Jones celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026.
Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

I'll be at Manny's in SF on Tuesday (5/19) talking with @motherjones.com cofounder Adam Hochschild and the great @jamilsmith.bsky.social about independent, ferocious journalism in the face of lies, propaganda, and corruption—in the 70s and right now. Please come! www.eventbrite.com/e/mother-jon...

eventbrite.comMother Jones: 50 Years of Investigative Journalism and Press FreedomJournalism faces political attacks and declining revenue, yet San Francisco’s Mother Jones celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2026.
Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

My colleague @markfollman.bsky.social has been investigating mass shootings—and the powers invested in blocking action to prevent them—for 14 years now, but this is the first time he asked a chatbot for instructions toward committing one. Incredible investigation: www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0...

motherjones.comChatGPT gave me chilling advice—as I simulated planning a mass shootingI asked about imitating the Uvalde attacker, defending against police gunfire, and more—everything short of directly stating intent to kill.
Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

Time to rewatch The Handmaid's Tale.

Madison Pauly@msjpauly.bsky.social

Kris Kobach started trying mess with trans people’s drivers licenses as soon as Kansas legislators approved the so-called “Women’s Bill of Rights,” imposing a legal definition of sex, in 2023 but courts held him back. Until the legislature decided to escalate. Revoking licenses with 3 days notice.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

More so than ever today.

Monika Bauerlein@monikab.bsky.social

The bravery of the people—and particularly the women—of Minnesota is really giving me heart this weekend. This is the state that welcomed me as a new immigrant and that has always been capable of a particular American kind of decency.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

Good interview with @lizkellynelson.com, but missing mention of the newsrooms and journos who have been pushing on this for years, like my amazing @motherjones.com colleagues who racked up 66M video views last year with solid reporting and innovative creator partnerships www.cjr.org/the-intervie...

cjr.orgPivoting to Creator: An interview with Liz Kelly Nelson.An interview with Liz Kelly Nelson, who wants to help journalists navigate the independent creator economy.
Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

The bravery of the people—and particularly the women—of Minnesota is really giving me heart this weekend. This is the state that welcomed me as a new immigrant and that has always been capable of a particular American kind of decency.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

The government is saying that violence rules. That snatching foreign leaders and territories, and shooting US citizens in their cars at point blank range, is justified. That resistance is not only futile, it is dangerous. They can say these things. But they cannot force us to believe them.

Monika Bauerlein reposted

Clara Jeffery
@clarajeffery.bsky.social

Kevin Drum was the first journalist to really get into the ties between lead and crime rates (not just serial killers) and I think it is one of the most important articles we’ve ever done www.motherjones.com/environment/...

motherjones.comAmerica's Real Criminal Element Is LeadThe hidden villain behind violent crime, lower IQs, and the maybe even the ADHD epidemic.
The New Yorker@newyorker.com

What might account for the abrupt rise and equally abrupt fall, between the 1960s and the turn of the century, of the “golden age” of serial killing? And why were so many of these brutes from the area around Seattle’s Puget Sound? newyorkermag.visitlink.me/GM5SKR

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

Very short🧵: At the start of 2025, I reflected on Zivilcourage—a German word that, to me, describes how everyday people can be more powerful than soldiers in battle. It's not about heroism, but small acts of standing up. Refusing to laugh at a cruel joke, blowing a whistle, walking a kid to school.

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Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

This could be the year when America decides whether, for the foreseeable future, we will have elections that count, a judicial system that upholds the rule of law, a society that at least aims for fairness, or bows to the bullies. None of us asked to be the people who must decide. But here we are.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

What we'll need to remember is that none of us should be expected to be a hero. That standard is self-defeating. All we are being asked—all that future generations will remember us for—is whether we took the small steps that we do have the power to take. Happy New Year!

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

Very short🧵: At the start of 2025, I reflected on Zivilcourage—a German word that, to me, describes how everyday people can be more powerful than soldiers in battle. It's not about heroism, but small acts of standing up. Refusing to laugh at a cruel joke, blowing a whistle, walking a kid to school.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

I wondered whether we would see civil courage under the Trump administration, and what it would look like. Now we have the answer. In 2025, courage did not (with notable exceptions) come from the most powerful people in the land—Supreme Court justices, members of Congress, university presidents.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

Many of our leaders have failed us. But courage came in the form of people helping their neighbors, judges and state legislators doing what's right in the face of threats. Strangers have shown up for one another in remarkable ways. In 2026, we can build on that.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

I came off the DL to check out the big march in little San Leandro, California. Michelle Doppelt had already taken off her inflatable unicorn costume, but was looking forward to bringing him out again for the next protest. "We have to have fun and keep up hope," she said.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

This. We need to confront and name the dangers. But I grew up around people who remembered Germany in 1935, and Italy in 1923. They could not have imagined the rights that we have—and must use.

Tom Nichols@radiofreetom.bsky.social

I agree with Josh but with one caveat: Words can demoralize people. I have political science-y disagreements with people who say "America is now fascist," but more to the point, I don't want people to internalize the idea that it's all done and dusted. Trump is far weaker than may people realize.

Monika Bauerlein
@monikab.bsky.social

For some relief and hope this weekend, I highly recommend @timothypmurphy.bsky.social's excellent profile of a fighting Dem, www.motherjones.com/politics/202...; and @pemalevy.bsky.social's great look at former federal workers who maintain "alt" agency accounts. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

motherjones.comHow to survive a Republican power grabTexas Democrat Greg Casar spent his summer fighting for his job—and plotting a progressive revival.