Reading archive 2021-02-05

Republicans worry their big tent will mean big problems in 2022 elections

After Capitol riots, desperate families turn to groups that ‘deprogram’ extremists

TheDonald’s owner speaks out on why he finally pulled plug on hate-filled site: The Army veteran, a site moderator who owned its domain, watched with growing alarm as racism, threats and QAnon references flourished on the pro-Trump site. His former co-moderators called him a ‘sellout’ who went ‘rogue’ after internal schism.

THE TERRIBLE THINGS I HAVE SAID AND DONE MY ENTIRE LIFE, AND RIGHT UP UNTIL A FEW DAYS AGO, DO NOT REPRESENT ME AS A PERSON

The Manipulative, Little Known Billionaire Who Nearly Ruined The Country's Richest Black Man: The inside story of how Bob Brockman, the secretive billionaire who allegedly masterminded the nation’s biggest tax-evasion scheme, used “Darth Vader” contracts to overcharge auto dealers and financed Robert F. Smith’s private equity empire. - "According to the statement of facts signed by Smith in his nonprosecution deal, Brockman agreed to seed Smith with $1 billion in the 2000 creation of Vista Equity Partners—on the condition that Smith cooperate with him in creating what the DOJ’s indictment refers to as a 'conspiracy and scheme and artifice to defraud.'"