Support reporting that exposes kleptocracy in Texas

Support independent investigative journalism in Texas during our Spring Membership Drive   Help us reach 400 new members by June 15. Your membership today will be matched.   Join Now   Hi there, Fifty-five pieces of real estate in 10 Texas cities. Twelve automobiles. Six airplanes. Thirty-two bank accounts. More than $100 million in assets. For years, Mexican kleptocrats used Texas to launder money, and in our most recent issue of the Observer (published online Monday in English and Spanish), an investigation produced in partnership with Type Investigations and the Border Center for Journalists and Bloggers reveals just how much Texans benefited from money stolen from Mexican taxpayers. Two things to highlight about this story during our membership drive: First, this investigation took reporter Jason Buch nearly two years. To do this, Buch had to comb through court documents and public records, conduct dozens of interviews, and trace years of federal investigations to figure out just how the U.S. tried, and perhaps ultimately failed, to prosecute alleged kleptocracy cases. But once the reporting was finished, we had to edit, fact-check, and run the story through careful legal review to ensure it was bullet proof. Second, we leveraged our partnerships to do it. Working with the Border Center for Journalists and Bloggers assured Buch support to complete his investigation while guaranteeing the Observer that there would be additional reach for the story in outlets along the border and in Northern Mexico. Meanwhile, Type Investigations provided help fact-checking, editing, and reviewing this complicated story to assure that our work was factual, accurate and precise. We've been turning more and more to our growing network of partners in Texas and beyond to collaborate on the work we do and keep our journalism free for anyone who wants it. At the Observer, we believe access to information is a fundamental human right. Guess who makes that possible—you. Your Observer membership supports work like this. Expensive investigations in the public interest that we can then turn around and offer for free distribution are perhaps the most important work we can do. We rely on folks like you to keep us doing this journalism, and to keep it free for the general public. And when you sign up now as a monthly donor, the full annual amount of your membership will be matched thanks to the generous support of Greg Wooldridge and Lynne Dobson and the Tejemos Foundation, and Dale and Libby Linebarger.   Thanks so much, Tristan Ahtone Editor-in-chief     Join Now

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