One attorney cost taxpayers more than $24,000 for a day's work.<a href="[link removed]><img src="[link removed]" alt="" border="0" /></a>

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The Big Story
July 24, 2025 · View in browser <[link removed]>

In today’s newsletter: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s reliance on pricey lawyers <[link removed]>; Indigenous protesters surveilled by FBI <[link removed]>; high vacancies <[link removed]> among Forest Service firefighters; plus more from our newsroom.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Is Outsourcing More of His Office’s Work to Costly Private Lawyers <[link removed]>

Despite having an office of hundreds of attorneys, Ken Paxton is frequently opting for private lawyers — many to whom he has personal or political ties — to argue on behalf of Texas. One attorney cost taxpayers more than $24,000 for a day’s work.

Read story <[link removed]>

 
Environment

 

Thacker Pass Protesters Surveilled by Law Enforcement for Years, Records Show <[link removed]>

ProPublica reporter Mark Olalde reviewed more than 2,000 pages of internal law enforcement communications and confirmed what many Indigenous protesters of a private lithium mine have long suspected: The FBI is watching them.

For years, the FBI has worked alongside private security of a Nevada mine called Thacker Pass to monitor largely peaceful protesters. Officers and agents have tracked protesters’ social media, while the mining company has gathered video from a camera above a campsite protesters set up on public land near the mine. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment. The mining company issued a statement saying that protesters had vandalized property and blocked roads and that the company “avoided engagement with the protestors and coordinated with the local authorities when necessary for the protection of everyone involved.”

Read story <[link removed]>

 
That Stat

 
27%

The percentage of firefighting jobs that remain vacant as the nation enters the peak of fire season, according to internal data from the Forest Service obtained by ProPublica. The high vacancy rate of 4,500 Forest Service fighting jobs comes as more than 1 million acres burn across 10 states. Publicly, the Forest Service says it has hired enough wildland firefighters and claims it has reached 99% of its firefighting hiring goal.

The documents we obtained also show internal concern among top officials, including the chief of the Forest Service, who wrote in a letter to high-ranking officials in the agency that “the demand for resources outpaces their availability.”

Read story <[link removed]>

 
More from the newsroom

 

The Men Trump Deported to a Salvadoran Prison <[link removed]>

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Four Years After Cop Was Filmed Slamming Black Woman to the Ground, Louisiana Passes Accountability Law <[link removed]>

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Do You Have Information About the CECOT Deportations? Help ProPublica Report. <[link removed]>

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“Under the Microscope”: Activists Opposing a Nevada Lithium Mine Were Surveilled for Years, Records Show <[link removed]>

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The Forest Service Claims It’s Fully Staffed for a Worsening Fire Season. Data Shows Thousands of Unfilled Jobs. <[link removed]>

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