City hall reporter @sfchronicle. Boston born, Philly trained, TX forged. RPCV: Paraguay. Call me ‘Sinjin.' Signal: stjbs.82

San Francisco, CA
Joined May 2009
St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
ICE in Puerto Rico looking for Dominicans, Haitians. Lady at the end is a legend. She said fascists have nothing better to do than bother people in hardworking communities. “Traitor,” she said pointing at the agent to his face. “And you, you can go to hell,” she told the other.
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
Official Statement from James Talarico Calling on Ken Paxton to Return the Millions in Taxpayer Funds He Used for Personal Travel
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
NEW — Elon Musk donated $5 million last month to boost Greg Abbott's reelection campaign, per new filing. Musk is now up to $475 million in disclosed political giving this cycle.
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
MUSK HAS SPENT $475 MILLION ON U.S. ELECTIONS THIS YEAR
NEW — Elon Musk donated $5 million last month to boost Greg Abbott's reelection campaign, per new filing. Musk is now up to $475 million in disclosed political giving this cycle.
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
To be a journalist is to spend your entire career simultaneously aspiring to work at the New York Times and deeply resenting it for stealing so many local stories without giving credit.
NEW: The Times’s Credit Crisis A recent New York Times front-page feature on chemical plants in the Trump era had deep reporting, stark data visuals, and an uncanny resemblance to a smaller outlet’s earlier investigation. Was this a case of unacknowledged inspiration, a steroidal dose of Times exceptionalism, or sheer coincidence? puck.news/media/2026/10/did-…
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“ As everyone here knows, the Times stands at the vanguard of journalism in many respects; alas, in matters of credit and citation, it is a notorious laggard.”
NEW: The Times’s Credit Crisis A recent New York Times front-page feature on chemical plants in the Trump era had deep reporting, stark data visuals, and an uncanny resemblance to a smaller outlet’s earlier investigation. Was this a case of unacknowledged inspiration, a steroidal dose of Times exceptionalism, or sheer coincidence? puck.news/media/2026/10/did-…
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
MAGA's man in Latin America hired a hitman to kill his girlfriend. He also said he would "take down" the Mexican president. He's since been arrested, but now the attorney prosecuting him has been arrested by the US DEA. Trump doesn't want this story to come out. elciudadano.com/en/claudia-s… via @el_ciudadano
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
🚨 BREAKING from @politico >>> Senior @GregAbbott_TX staff held secret closed door meeting with Big Tech to "remove roadblocks" for bringing more data centers to Texas. Two days later, ERCOT announced plan to get them connected to state grid even faster. politico.com/news/2026/10/27…
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
If you're a journalist named Dan Sullivan, we need you reporting on the Alaska Senate race. This is your time to shine.
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
Is it normal for an anonymous Wyoming LLC that sent mass mailers impersonating a transgender advocacy group to hire the lawyer who defended TX Attorney General Ken Paxton from impeachment in response to a court filing seeking to depose people who could unmask the LLC's owners
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
Elon Musk has spent more money on American elections in the last two years than George Soros has in his entire life.
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
Typically, Rs don’t need to send the big guns to Lubbock and Weatherford
Just in: @JDVance to hold midterm rally in Weatherford, TX on Thursday, per RNC
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Ok maybe AI does have its place
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De verdade!!!
BRAZIL YOU HAVE SHOCKED THE NATION AND THE WORLD
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🚨 #BREAKING: Lula has won re-election as Brazil's president, in a stunning upset against conservative Flávio Bolsonaro, son of disgraced former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving 27 years in prison for a coup attempt. Liberals stacking wins in the US has bled abroad.
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
We gave the Times the chance to do the right thing yesterday. Instead, they’re going with an argument that basically boils down to: *We randomly produced our first ever plume model about the exact same incident that Hunterbrook exposed with a plume model *We randomly took a lead photo of the exact same home on the exact same street *We randomly interviewed the same expert Etc. They wrote a great story. Obviously, we care about the subject deeply. It’s just a huge bummer for our team and the reporters who worked relentlessly on these stories.
Breaking: Several sections of @NYTimes front page story today mirror two earlier Hunterbrook investigations — without attribution.  Images. Methods. Sources. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?
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St. John Barned-Smith ⚔️ retweeted
Immigration Agents Have Detained Hundreds of U.S. Citizens. Meet the ProPublica Team with the Data to Prove It I'm talking with the team on Tuesday, October 27 at 1 pm ET. austinkocher.substack.com/p/… @propublica
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