The Lever - A Huge Week

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Friends,

This has been a huge week for the country — and The Lever. And we could not have done it without the support of our paid subscribers.

On Monday, we broke a massive story we had been working on with ProPublica for months. We exposed how an ultra-secretive Chicago businessman delivered the largest known U.S. political advocacy donation to a dark money group controlled by Leonard Leo, the prime architect of conservatives’ efforts to reshape the judicial system. The exposé, which shed new light on how dark money is transforming the country’s political landscape, went viral, with the story’s lead author, Andrew Perez, appearing in media outlets nationwide. We link to several of his appearances below.

Then, on Wednesday, President Joe Biden agreed to cancel at least $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those earning less than $125,000 annually. The decision did not come easily — the president has long been a proponent of saddling Americans with debilitating debt, and, as our team uncovered, his Justice Department has made a habit of fighting student debtor victories in federal court. We have been covering the matter for years, amping up pressure on the Biden administration to act on its promise to help beleaguered student loan borrowers. We showcase the most important stories we’ve written on the struggle for debt cancellation below.

These developments are a powerful reminder of why The Lever exists. This is the sort of reporting that all too often corporate media refuses to do, so it is thrilling to see that our work is making a difference.

Read all about it in this week’s Lever Weekly, exclusively for supporting subscribers below.

Thank you for being part of our team, and helping us continue this work. We couldn’t do it without you.

Rock the boat,

Sirota