An Update from American Muckrakers: Why We Are Escalating — and Why We Need to Continue Our Work.
American Muckrakers is a small organization.
We don’t have a giant legal department.
We don’t have corporate sponsors.
We don’t have billionaire patrons or institutional cover.
This update is about the work we are doing right now, why it keeps falling to us to do it, and why your support matters more than ever.
The Work on Our Plate
Over the past several months, American Muckrakers has taken on a level of accountability work that normally requires large organizations with deep benches and long donor lists.
We are doing it anyway.
Our current work includes:
Federal court filings to force the Department of Justice to comply with a court order in a sealed surveillance matter involving American Muckrakers’ records.
Formal ethics complaints involving DAG Todd Blanche, raising serious questions about conflicts, recusals, and conduct incompatible with public trust.
A motion in federal court to revoke a pro hac vice admission of Todd Blanche —an extraordinary step most groups won’t touch, even when facts justify it.
A sealed whistleblower (qui tam) case filed on behalf of the State of North Carolina, involving corporate conduct, tax claims, and influence tied to a controversial federal construction project that has made all of our blood boil.
Multiple FOIA actions seeking records from federal agencies about whether environmental and historic-preservation laws were bypassed at the White House for the stupid “ballsroom”; it takes a lot of balls to take corporate donations and then dole out federal dollars for projects to these donors.
A formal DOJ referral of Gym Jordon for abuse of power and obstruction.
A full legal response to an aggressive sanctions motion filed by Donald Trump against American Muckrakers to punish accountability work by turning the courts into a tool of intimidation.
That is a heavy lift for any organization. For one our size, it is enormous. And, we’re just getting started.
We Ask for Help. Often There Is None.
Here is something we don’t say publicly very often, but our supporters deserve to understand it:
When we reach out to larger nonprofit or watchdog organizations to collaborate, co-sign filings, or share the risk, most of the time what we hear back is silence.
Not opposition.
Not disagreement.
Just crickets.
That silence doesn’t mean the work isn’t valid. It means the work is uncomfortable. It means it carries legal, political, and reputational risk that many organizations decide they cannot—or will not—take on.
So we do it ourselves.
Not because it’s easier. Not because it’s cheaper. But because the alternative is letting important issues die quietly.
Spotlight: MUCK YOU! — Our Podcast That Others Don’t Produce
One of the ways we broaden accountability beyond filings and motions is through media—specifically, the MUCK YOU! podcast.
We have now released 50+ episodes, and the show has become a platform for conversations that many other outlets avoid. Instead of general punditry, we focus on substance and accountability from people with real insight into the nexus of politics, power, and policy.
Highlights include interviews with:
Anthony Scaramucci — former White House Communications Director offering an insider’s perspective on power and accountability.
Paul Begala — Democratic strategist with decades of political experience.
Miles Taylor — former senior DHS official who has taken bold public stands.
Adam Kinzinger — former Congressman known for his stance on accountability and constitutional norms.
These episodes explore topics ranging from the erosion of institutional norms to paths forward for civic engagement and reform. For many listeners, the podcast has become a trusted source for nuanced, aggressive, but fact-based discussion—not clickbait, not signal boosting, but analysis that actually challenges power.
The podcast is only possible because we produce it ourselves, without corporate underwriting or institutional protection.
The Reality of Risk
Taking these steps means accepting pushback. Legal threats. Retaliatory motions. Personal pressure. That is already happening.
We don’t dramatize it, but we don’t ignore it either.
This is the cost of refusing to look away.
Why Your Support Matters Now
When other organizations decline to engage, supporters like you become the difference between work that moves forward and work that stops.
Additional support allows us to:
Sustain federal litigation and defenses
Enforce FOIA requests when agencies stall
Expand investigative reporting and podcast production
Defend against retaliatory legal tactics
Continue pursuing accountability others won’t touch
We are not asking for support to make noise. We are asking for support to keep doing the work when no one else will.
The Bottom Line
American Muckrakers keeps showing up because someone has to.
If you’ve ever wondered why so much wrongdoing goes unchallenged, part of the answer is that too many people wait for someone else to go first.
We don’t.
Thank you for standing with a small organization willing to take the risks others avoid.
—
David B. Wheeler
President, American Muckrakers PAC II