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Rachel de Leon

@raeoflion.bsky.social

11K followers 460 following 41 posts

Video reporter and producer at The Center for Investigative Reporting How to reach me: Signal: @raeoflion.08 Email: rdeleon[ a t] cir [ d o t] org or raedeleon[ a t] protonmail[ d o t ] com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · 2d

Brilliant breakdown of the #kavanaughstop from @pemalevy.bsky.social and @annayeo.bsky.social

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

Lawyers have been publicizing a new term to describe ICE's racially targeted detainments: a “Kavanaugh stop.”

Mother Jones reporter Pema Levy explains in this new video:

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · 12d

Fetal personhood laws can turn a miscarriage into a crime scene. As @abbyvesoulis.bsky.social writes, "being pregnant is not just a health status. Sometimes, it’s a criminal liability."
@pregnancyjust.bsky.social's new reports sheds light on what police weigh when criminalizing pregnancy outcomes.

When miscarriages become crimes

412 women faced criminal charges for pregnancy outcomes. This is what fetal personhood looks like.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Abby Vesoulis @abbyvesoulis.bsky.social · 12d

What happens when a miscarriage is treated like a crime?
That’s not a hypothetical anymore. It’s happening in the U.S. right now. 🧵 www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

When miscarriages become crimes

412 women faced criminal charges for pregnancy outcomes. This is what fetal personhood looks like.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Henry Carnell @hencarnell.bsky.social · 18d

For years, medical professionals and transgender advocates have been saying the "Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine" was not following the principles of evidenced-based medicine.

Now the "godfather" of evidence-based medicine is leveraging the same claim against them. (1/)

Trans health care "skeptics" lost a key ally—now they're having a meltdown

The godfather of evidence-based medicine on rejecting anti-trans "misuse" of his work.

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · 24d

Famine and mass hunger in Gaza meanwhile this guy has multiple ventures involving drinks/supplements/? that are just for funsies and vibes.

Schuyler Mitchell @schuylermitchell.bsky.social · 25d

NEW: How does a North Carolina entrepreneur go from launching a CBD venture, a hangover prevention product, and a drink for ravers ... to founding a private security contractor arming aid sites in Gaza?

@motherjones.com investigates the man behind UG Solutions:

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

“Amateur hour”: The man sending US military contractors to Gaza

How a little-known former Green Beret went from starting a company to prevent hangovers to the center of a dubious scheme to deliver aid in Gaza.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · Sep 10

We documented some of the calls for retribution that followed Charlie Kirk’s murder. With @kieraevebutler.bsky.social and @juliannemcshane.bsky.social www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

“THIS IS WAR”: Some right-wing figures call for retribution following Kirk killing

“More people will be murdered if the Left isn’t crushed with the power of the state.”

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Aug 13

ICE arrested a disabled 15-year-old AT GUNPOINT outside Arleta High School. Superintendent Carvahlo says that agents left behind bullets on the ground. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

ICE detained a teen with disabilities outside a Los Angeles school

"The trauma will linger."

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Aug 11

Please take a moment to vote for us to go to SXSW 2026! This is so important to me, and it would be huge to share my reporting from Victim/Suspect on this stage. Voting is open until August 24. All you need to do is click on the ❤️

Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law @gtowngenderjust.bsky.social · Aug 6

Please help us get to SXSW 2026! Survivors of sexual violence are being punished—not protected. Our panel, Arresting the Innocent, discusses the film Victim/Suspect and the unjust criminalization of sexual assault survivors.

Vote by Aug 24 to help us bring this conversation to SXSW: buff.ly/11V27Yv

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Aug 11

This bill also targets shield laws that protect manufacturers and the doctors who prescribe abortion pills in other states.

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · Aug 11

“Texas continues to try to meddle in the provision of safe, legal, and affordable reproductive health care nationwide."

Texas bill would allow lawsuits over shipping abortion pills.

The latest collaboration with our friends at @revealnews.org and @cbsnews.com:

Texas bill would allow lawsuits over shipping abortion pills

Advocates have opened a new path to block access to abortion-inducing drugs.

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Aug 7

Now free, several men sent to CECOT talked to @nlanard.bsky.social and @isabelaalhadeff.bsky.social: “What they did there was torture us” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

“What they did there was torture us”

Now free, the Venezuelan men the Trump administration sent to El Salvador want the world to know what they lived through.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · Aug 1

As Mike Huckabee visits Gaza today and praises the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, hear what a whistleblower witnessed while working with the Israeli-backed American nonprofit.

"An enterprise that has failed from the beginning."

“It’s abhorrent." bit.ly/45tLWqn

Gaza Aid Whistleblower Speaks Out Amid Escalating Famine

► For more, visit Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/ On June 6, Anthony Aguilar, a retired 25-year US Army veteran and Green Beret, found himself facing a daunting logistical problem. He…

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Jul 31

A security contractor is blowing the whistle on the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation for the way it’s treated the starving people in Gaza simply trying to feed themselves.

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · Jul 31

A whistleblower who worked with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—the Israel-backed American nonprofit overseeing food aid in Gaza—is speaking out against what he describes as “an enterprise that has failed from the beginning." bit.ly/45tLWqn

Gaza Aid Whistleblower Speaks Out Amid Escalating Famine

► For more, visit Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/ On June 6, Anthony Aguilar, a retired 25-year US Army veteran and Green Beret, found himself facing a daunting logistical problem. He…

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Reo Eveleth @reveleth.com · Jul 30

Sex testing is officially back in sports -- which is a huge bummer and also contradicts so much ethics, human rights law, and actual science. More on all that (and the history) on my podcast Tested: www.tested-podcast.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Jul 28

They fled violence, sexual assault, and death threats.

Now thousands of legal immigrants, many of whom developed deep roots in the US, are at risk of deportation, marking the single largest delegalization campaign in US history.

Trump is making thousands of rule-abiding immigrants undocumented

Inside the largest delegalization campaign in modern US history.

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Jul 24

She was sure that the Golden State Killer was her rapist. A detective disagreed, and said maybe this other known serial rapist had attacked her, even though that was impossible timing. What a truly bonkers response to toss around unchecked theories about who might have raped you decades ago.

Evidence in her brutal 1979 rape pointed to the Golden State Killer. The police didn’t want to hear about it.

How one woman's quest for closure unleashed its own kind of nightmare.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Sarah Szilagy 🌱 @sarahszilagy.bsky.social · Jul 23

are you enrolled in the SAVE plan for student loans and facing confusion or financial distress at the prospect of upcoming interest charges or changing loan repayment plans? I’d love to talk to you for @motherjones.com. reach me at [email protected] or securely (info in my bio).

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Jul 14

The fragility in this person's voice as she talks about the last time she saw her daughter sounds like it happened yesterday, but it was more than 6 years ago. @julialurie.bsky.social reports for @pbsnews.org on a thriving adoption industry in an environment of shrinking guardrails.

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Jul 8

The very journalist who wrote this, @hurwitz.bsky.social, is on this blacklist for writing about the killing of Palestinians. Yet the people who run and fund this site are hidden. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

How a shadowy online blacklist became a legal threat to pro-Palestinian activists

“Are you familiar with the Canary?”

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Jun 24

She called 911 to report domestic abuse. Then Houston police called ICE on her. www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

She called 911 to report domestic abuse. Then Houston police called ICE on her.

The woman’s case is a worst-case scenario, according to advocates worried about the worsening state of domestic violence in the Houston region.

www.houstonchronicle.com

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · Jun 13

The "No Kings" organizers say that there are more than 1,800 protests planed for tomorrow.: www.nokings.org

We'll have journalists at several of them, but you can tag @motherjones.com with your clips and tips.

Map of No Kings protests

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Julianne McShane @juliannemcshane.bsky.social · Jun 12

NEW @motherjones.com: Spoke to 6 domestic violence shelters/orgs in LA about the chilling effects of ICE: They’re closing their doors & survivors are afraid to seek help.

“DV programs should be safe sanctuaries & we can’t even guarantee that anymore,” one said.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

LA's ICE raids are impacting domestic violence shelters

These programs "should be safe sanctuaries—and we can't even guarantee that anymore."

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · Jun 12

"On Wednesday, LA city councilor Hugo Soto-Martinez said in a video posted to Instagram that ICE had shown up at a confidential domestic violence shelter, apparently in search of one person who was not present." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

LA's ICE raids are impacting domestic violence shelters

These programs "should be safe sanctuaries—and we can't even guarantee that anymore."

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · Jun 12

A DHS spokesperson defended the detainment, accusing Sen. Padilla of failing to properly identify himself during Sec. Kristi Noem's press conference.

But multiple videos show Padilla clearly identifying himself as a senator.

Sen. Padilla pushed to ground, handcuffed for demanding DHS not lie

Forcibly removing a sitting US senator, as they opposed the president's immigration policy, is a part of a broader slide.

www.motherjones.com

Rachel de Leon @raeoflion.bsky.social · May 23

This morning, a jury found a woman guilty of lying about rape and secretly recording the man she accused. What does this mean for future victims? They're left to carefully calculate whether to record an assault AND then report an assault based on their trust in police.

Jury returns verdict in central Pa. false rape report case

The verdict capped a 4-day trial featuring testimony by Veronika Rodriguez, who reported that she was raped, and Fahad Pervez, 43, the Air National Guard major she accused.

www.pennlive.com

Reposted by Rachel de Leon

Hannah Levintova @h-lev.bsky.social · May 13

I wrote about the rise and fall of Steward Health Care—fueled by a private equity firm, a real estate trust, & multimillionaire executives. The saga is a stunning indictment of what happens when financiers try to squeeze huge returns from the places that save people's lives. /1 shorturl.at/TcvV7

Wall Street gutted Steward Health Care. Patients paid the price.

One of America's biggest for-profit hospital operators is bankrupt, broken, and responsible for countless mistreated patients—thanks to its private equity overlords.

www.motherjones.com