Hello,
I hope your week is going well. I wanted to tell you about something our newsroom did recently that I’m incredibly proud of. I think shows exactly why your support of RealClear matters.
In February, RealClearInvestigations published an in-depth investigation by Mark Hemingway into what’s been happening in Portland, Oregon. You may have heard the political back-and-forth about Portland — is it in decline, and, if so, how bad is it? Mark dug in and found the truth, which is worse than most people realize.
Portland now has the second-highest crime rate of any major American city. Forty percent of its fires are caused by out-of-control vagrancy. City councilors have had their own cars torched. But the part of Mark’s reporting that really caught Washington’s attention was the Medicaid fraud.
Mark uncovered a web of dubious addiction recovery providers receiving millions in state Medicaid funds — one of them operating out of a house that police had flagged as a drug den, with ties to a $60 million Medicare fraud ring in Arizona that was laundering money overseas. A former Oregon mayor had been sounding the alarm for months, but few in the state’s media would touch the story.
Mark did. He documented it. And after RCI’s investigation was published, Congress took notice and launched an inquiry into integrity and waste, fraud, and abuse in Oregon’s Medicaid program.
That’s the kind of impact your support makes possible.
I’d like you to read the full investigation for yourself. We’ve put together a free PDF of Mark’s complete article. It’s a compelling read, and it’s yours as a thank-you for being part of the RealClear community:
Download Mark Hemingway’s Investigation — Free PDF
Now I want to be straightforward with you about something.
This kind of journalism takes weeks, and it’s a topic many outlets won’t touch. Most importantly, it doesn’t pay for itself. RealClearInvestigations depends entirely on support from donors. We need help from readers like you who believe that independent journalism is foundational for self-government.
RealClearPolitics turns 25 this year. For a quarter century, RCP has been the place Americans come to for news without spin. As we head into the 2026 midterms, we need to make sure that RealClear can keep doing its vital work: the investigations, the White House reporting, the coverage you’ve come to count on.
Our spring fundraising drive runs through April 26. Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help fund the next chapter of independent journalism?
You can make your donation here: https://www.realclearmediafund.org/donate/
Whether it’s $25, $50, or $100 — your gift directly supports the reporting that holds the powerful accountable and gives you the full story.
Thank you for reading, and for caring about the kind of journalism that makes a difference.
Dan
Dan Geary
Vice President
RealClear Media Fund
P.S. Our spring campaign closes on Sunday, April 26. If Mark Hemingway’s investigation, and the congressional inquiry it helped trigger, is the kind of journalism you want to see more of, would you consider a gift before the deadline?
Daniel Geary is vice president of RealClear Media Fund.
