The Dirtpile

The Dirtpile

One scandal at a time.

The Dirtpile is a short podcast about Donald Trump, his administrations, and the exercise of power. Each episode opens one file and goes back to the record: what the documents establish, what's alleged, what's disputed, and what remains unanswered.

Season One: Fifty Days. About five minutes an episode.

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Episodes

  1. File 05 Coming soon

    USAID

    USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and about $4 billion in foreign aid that expired before any court decided whether it should have been spent.

  2. File 04 Coming soon

    The Epstein Files

    The Epstein files: what the Justice Department released, what it held back, and why.

  3. File 03 · 3:45 Out now on Spotify

    The Trump Foundation

    The Trump Foundation, Donald Trump's family charity, agreed in 2018 to dissolve under court supervision. In 2016, he skipped a debate to hold a fundraiser for veterans, and about $2.8 million went to the Foundation. In 2019, a New York judge found he had breached his duty to it. File three covers what Trump admitted in a settlement, what the judge decided, the $2 million he was ordered to pay, and what was never admitted or tried.

  4. File 02 · 3:28 Out now on Spotify

    Trump University

    Trump University, Donald Trump's real-estate seminar business, and the $25 million settlement announced ten days before a federal fraud trial. File two separates what a court decided, that the company operated as an unlicensed school, from fraud claims that were never tried. It covers New York's 2005 warning about the word "University," Trump's defense of the courses, his posts before and after the settlement, and an agreement that states it is not an admission of any kind.

  5. File 01 · 4:09 Out now on Spotify

    The Favor

    The Favor: Donald Trump's July 2019 phone call with Ukraine's new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the White House record of that call. File one follows the favor Trump asked for, the American security assistance being held back at the time, the House inquiry's conclusion and the Republican minority's objections, a Government Accountability Office decision that the hold broke the Impoundment Control Act, and an impeachment that ended in a Senate acquittal.