Peter Castagno
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NC-based freelance investigative journalist, former @PortCityDaily staff reporter
Contact: petercastagno@proton.me
Articles by Peter Castagno
Rep. McCaul's Wife Trades Stock in a Counter-Drone Contractor Profiting From His Laws
💡 Share this on X and Bluesky Texas Republican Michael McCaul helped give the federal government authority to take down drones deemed a threat, which the Federal Aviation Administration now cites in warning drone operators against flying near federal vehicles and other mobile assets. Since early 2025, he has disclosed six trades in the stock of leading counter-drone contractor CACI International, made in his wife’s accounts.
How a Military Housing Watchdog Games the System
As military families struggle to find affordable and safe housing, a real estate behemoth lines its pockets Read Full Article » Show comments Hide Comments
How a Military Housing Watchdog Games the System
Skip to main content POGO Investigates https://www.pogo.org/ July 20, 2026 Investigation As military families struggle to find affordable and safe housing, a real estate behemoth lines its pockets. July 20, 2026 By Peter Castagno and René Kladzyk (Illustration: Luna Velez / POGO) America Lunsford was desperate to get out of military housing.
Chemical Lobbyist-Packed EPA Boosts PFAS Pesticides
💡 Share this on X and Bluesky! The Environmental Protection Agency quietly greenlit the use of three pesticides containing toxic “forever chemicals” last Tuesday. The public officials who oversee their regulation previously worked as lobbyists for trade groups representing the agrichemical firms that applied for their approval.
The Big Tech Campaign to Fast Track Nuke Energy. Senators Whitehouse and Booker Take the Lead in Congress
The Big Tech Campaign to Fast Track Nuke Energy. Senators Whitehouse and Booker Take the Lead in Congress The ADVANCE Act passed 393-13 in the House and 88-2 in the Senate, where only Markey and Sanders voted no. Both senators have repeatedly opposed building new nuclear plants due to environmental concerns, such as the ongoing absence of a long-term solution to the nation’s roughly 100,000 tons of radioactive waste.
The Big Tech Campaign to Fast Track Nuke Energy. Senators Whitehouse and Booker Take the Lead in Congress
By Peter Castagno (This article was originally published on the front page of the May/June 2026 print edition of the Capitol Hill Citizen newspaper. To get a copy of the print newspaper, go to capitolhillcitizen.com) In September 2014, a Google engineer hosted a private meeting at the company’s Mountain View headquarters. The guests included a nuclear energy investor and staff from the influential think tank Third Way.
Musk-Recruited NASA Head Pushes Nuclear Agenda Tied to SpaceX
🚀 Share this on X and Bluesky! In November 2024, Elon Musk called his friend and business partner Jared Isaacman to ask him if he would lead NASA. A year and a half later, the agency had a new administrator, a new space nuclear strategy, and plans to develop the exact reactor technology that SpaceX says it needs to colonize Mars. The arrangement is another clear example of private business interests shaping federal science and technology policy.
Washington Post Promotes Nuclear Agenda Tied to Bezos’ Investments
Washington Post Promotes Nuclear Agenda Tied to Bezos’ Investments The piece contains no disclosure about Bezos’ financial ties to the nuclear energy sector, continuing a trend previously identified by FAIR (11/20/25). Bezos is the largest individual shareholder of Amazon, which has invested $500 million in small modular reactor nuclear (SMR) startup X-Energy. X-Energy recently signed a letter of intent to explore deployment in areas that include Illinois.
Washington Post Promotes Nuclear Agenda Tied to Bezos’ Investments
The Washington Post (1/15/26) describes as “the world’s largest source of clean energy” a technology that has, in Illinois alone, produced 11,000 tons of radioactive toxic waste. The Washington Post has devoted four editorials to supporting the expansion of nuclear energy in the past three months, relying on factual errors and distortions to make the case for the Trump administration’s unprecedented cuts to nuclear safety regulation.
DOGE Operative Behind Nuclear Safety Rollbacks Sat on Industry-Backed VC Board
☢️ Share this on X and Bluesky The Department of Government Efficiency staffer who led the implementation of President Trump’s nuclear safety oversight rollbacks last year was simultaneously serving on the board of a venture capital firm backed by nuclear industry investors. He is one of multiple DOGE agents with financial ties to nuclear firms that benefited from the rollbacks, drawn from a Silicon Valley investor network that has long pushed to weaken nuclear safety regulation.
NC State researcher finds high PFAS concentrations in sea foam along local beaches
By Peter Castagno | Port City Daily | March 25, 2025 Read the full article by Peter Castagno (Port City Daily) "An expert panel discussion on Cape Fear region water contamination included new research finding high levels of PFAS in local sea foam samples. Clean Cape Fear partnered with the Women’s Ministry Team of St. Andrew’s Covenant Presbyterian Church to host an expert panel discussion Saturday on upstream PFAS and 1,4-dioxane pollution in the tri-county region.
Fight over offshore oil and gas drilling reopens after Trump rescinds coastal protections
Share NORTH CAROLINA — The second Trump administration is seeking to open expansive coastal areas to offshore drilling a decade after several local communities passed resolutions opposing the practice. A coalition of environmentalist groups filed a lawsuit to block the initiative. The groups include the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Surfrider Foundation.
Chemours’ stock plummets after releasing annual report, NC litigation driver of $238M in net losses
By Peter Castagno | Port City Daily | March 28, 2024 Read the full article by Peter Castagno (Port City Daily) "The multinational chemical corporation at the heart of North Carolina’s PFAS controversy reported $238 million in annual net losses this week, primarily due to litigations in the state and multiple other fronts.
Superior Court rules in favor of AG Stein’s suit to put DuPont’s subsidiaries on the hook for PFAS damages
By Peter Castagno | Port City Daily | February 13, 2024 Read the full article by Peter Castagno (Port City Daily) “A superior court judge put forward an order Wednesday to make DuPont’s subsidiaries liable for PFAS contamination caused by the original company if deemed responsible for damages alleged in a lawsuit filed by attorney general Josh Stein.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Is Awash In AIPAC Cash
We condemn the attacks by Hamas deliberately targeting Israeli civilians for killing and kidnapping. And we condemn Israel’s aerial bombardment of Gaza, which is again killing large numbers of Palestinian civilians. We grieve for all the lives lost and for all those injured and traumatized. The root of the current violence is the oppression and abuses suffered daily by Palestinian people as a whole under decades of cruel Israeli occupation and expansionism.
Awash in AIPAC Money, House Foreign Affairs Committee Oversees Support for Israel
In 1991, former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Lee Hamilton claimed “there’s no lobby group that matches” the pro-Israel lobby. More than 30 years later, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel groups remain an important influence on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
‘Not paying attention to history’: Environmentalists concerned over loosened wetlands rules
SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality estimates about 2.5 million acres of wetland lost protection in North Carolina after two landmark rulings in 2023 removed federal and state jurisdiction of isolated wetlands. READ MORE: N.
‘We’re plowing the same field over and over again’: OKI board clashes over tree policy
OAK ISLAND — A heated debate on the balance of environmental concerns and development was evident in a Brunswick County beach town earlier in the week. READ MORE: More tree protection on the table in Oak Island Town forester Richard Patterson called for changes to Oak Island’s tree and vegetation program at a planning board meeting Tuesday. Chair Terri Cartner immediately signaled opposition to his request.
Carolina Beach town council seeks to refine its sidewalk café regulations
CAROLINA BEACH — The Carolina Beach town council is seeking to balance the public interest in outdoor dining options with orderly pedestrian traffic. READ MORE: Restaurants want more space for sidewalk cafes on Carolina Beach Boardwalk ALSO: Bars and nightclubs in Wilmington can now extend footprint into sidewalk cafes At a Tuesday workshop, its four-member council and Mayor Lynn Barbee took up the issue of sidewalk cafes.
Navassa to hire new police chief after 5-month vacancy
NAVASSA — Navassa’s city council may be in the final stages of hiring a new police chief after a five-month vacancy in the position, according to the town’s mayor and interim lead officer. The new development follows years of disorder and turnover in the town police department.
Amid push for more casinos, area legislators benefit from gaming industry donations
Despite a major push for the gambling industry to expand in the state, Republican leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly announced Tuesday night they forfeited a months-long fight to include a controversial casino expansion bill in their compromise budget. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger has vied to not let the legislation die, however.
Pender County in planning stages to spend $6.8M in opioid settlement funds
PENDER COUNTY — Pender County officials discussed the allocation of national opioid settlement funds at the county commissioners meeting Monday, reviewing both achievements and struggles in the county’s ongoing fight to address the opioid epidemic.
Chemical Company-Funded Senators Float Watered-Down PFAS Bill
The chair and the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works floated draft legislation in late June on the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS that critics argue would fail to regulate the toxic substances by implementing a restrictive legal definition of the compounds that is more aligned with chemical industry interests than the public health. Notably, the two senators who drafted the legislation are among the Senate’s top recipients of chemical industry donations.
Epistemic Vice: A Critique of Quassim Cassam's "Conspiracy Theories"
“Virtues are praiseworthy personal qualities that are beneficial to us and to our fellow human beings. Vices are blameworthy personal qualities that are harmful to us and to our fellow human beings. Among our virtues and vices are intellectual or epistemic virtues and vices. Their main impact is on our intellectual and epistemic flourishing. Open-mindedness, intellectual humility and sensitivity to evidence are epistemic virtues.
Lawmakers Call For 9/11-Style Commission Into Capitol Riot: FYI 9/11 Chairs Said Commission Was "Set Up To Fail"
“It is shocking to invoke the 9/11 Commission as a positive model in a Congressional call for inquiry into the January 6th assault on capitol.
'Wild and Timely' Report Details Infiltration of Far-Right Militias and White Supremacist Groups in US Police Departments
The study comes amid unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the latest high-profile police shooting of a Black man and the shooting deaths of two protesters by an alleged far-right militia member.
Bolivia Headed for a Showdown as Mass Protests Erupt Against US-backed Anez Administration
Clashes between protesters and government-backed paramilitaries are growing increasingly violent as tensions in Bolivia reach a boiling point following the US-backed Anez administration’s decision to cancel elections for the third time this year. (By: Alan Macleod, Mintpress News) Bolivia is heading for a showdown between the government and the people after nearly two weeks of continuous, nationwide protests have paralyzed the country.
At Least 70 Killed And Thousands Injured After Massive Explosion In Beirut
“I went around Beirut today after the blast. The damage is shocking. Every single residential building, every shop, every hotel, every restaurant, almost nothing left untouched by the pressure from the blast. The streets are covered in broken glass, as if it rained shards of glass.” A massive explosion devastated the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and injuring thousands.
UN Warns Yemeni Tanker Spill Would Be "Four Times Worse Than Exxon Valdez"
Yemen is being devastated by brutal war and COVID. They do NOT need an oil spill poisoning their coasts on top of everything else. Yemen is being devastated by brutal war and COVID. They do NOT need an oil spill poisoning their coasts on top of everything else. #YemenCantWait https://t.co/N8j7GZcy2E — Win Without War (@WinWithoutWar) July 19, 2020 Such a spill would have a tangible impact on the world economy, according to a recent report published by the Atlantic Council.
Leaked FBI Memo Warns Private Equity And Hedge Funds Are Threats For Money Laundering
“With private debt funds, there is no bank involvement and no involvement with any institution subject to regulatory review.
Evictions Projected To Skyrocket In Coming Months
“Eviction is a very public experience that impacts the entire community. Your belongings are dumped on the street while your children and neighbors watch.
Will The New Supreme Court Decision Finally Release Trump's Tax Returns To The Public?
“No other president has retained ownership of a massive global business while serving, so this president’s self-enrichment and conflicts of interest represent a unique and unprecedented affront to the democracy.” The Supreme Court rejected President Trump’s claims of total immunity in the ongoing battle to release his tax returns in a 7-2 decision on Thursday, sending two cases back to lower courts in a ruling that checks executive power but will most likely protect the president from having...
Fossil Fuel Companies Have Used At Least $3 Billion In Federal Covid-19 Aid
“We should not be wasting taxpayer dollars on an industry that’s in a tailspin of its own making, especially when it seems intent on bringing the whole planet down with it.” Over 5,600 fossil fuel companies, many of which were already struggling and heavily debt-burdened before the pandemic, have taken at least $3 billion in Covid-19 bailout aid from the federal government, according to an analysis by Documented and the Guardian of data released on Tuesday from the Small Business...
How Movements Can Turn Public Support Into Lasting Change
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Citizen Truth.) Taking “movement moments” to change, from the Red Summer to Black Lives Matter.
Wilmington NC Police Officers Fired After Genocidal Comments: “We Are Just Going to Go Out and Start Slaughtering Them F—— Ni—–." - Citizen Truth
“This cannot be viewed as isolated from the Sheriff Deputy-led lynch mob that gained national notoriety last month. Governor Roy Cooper needs to send in the SBI to conduct an independent investigation of all WPD and NHC Sheriff.” Three police officers in Wilmington, North Carolina were fired on Wednesday after making viciously racist comments accidentally recorded by a patrol car camera, including one officer’s prediction of a coming ‘Civil War’ caused by ongoing Black Lives Matter protests.
Polls: Four Weeks of Protest Have Radically Altered American Views on Police
American voters now support sweeping changes to policing; 83 percent want a ban on racial profiling, 92 percent want police to be required to wear body cameras and White Americans’ concern over police violence has increased by 50 percent since 2019. (By: Alan Macleod, Mintpress News) Just four weeks of protest have radically altered Americans’ views on the police and what their role in society should be.
Blackrock And Other Mega-Corporations Are Using Covid Bailout To Buy Bad Corporate Debt
Even amidst an unprecedented nationwide crackdown on protesters, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to reauthorize the questionably named USA FREEDOM Act. Even as the president has overseen a nationwide wave of police brutality in response to the George Floyd protests, Democrats are voting to increase the executive branch and the national security state’s powers.
Landmark Wall Street Scandal Implicates Top Trump & McConnell Donor
The Kentucky Attorney General’s lawsuit not only targets Wall Street’s predatory pension management practices, but singles out Blackstone CEO and top McConnell and Trump donor Steve Schwarzman.
Study: Coronavirus Has a Been a Massive Boon for America’s Billionaires
A new study found that in the past eight weeks alone, the country’s super wealthy have added a further $368.8 billion to their already enormous fortunes. (By: Alan Macleod, Mintpress News) America’s billionaires have seen their wealth increase by 12.5 percent during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
Trump-Linked Mercenaries Implicate Themselves in Failed Venezuela Coup
The Trump administration immediately denied all involvement, “it has nothing to do with our government,” the president said yesterday.
The Coronavirus Bailout Will Redistribute Wealth Upwards, Enrich Corporations And Investors
The “bailout is going to repeat a lot of mistakes of the 2008 interventions,” said Amanda Fischer, the policy director for the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a left-leaning economic think tank. After those rescue efforts, “Corporate America’s profits bounced back quickly, but most working people have not seen their conditions improve.”
Capitalism Can’t Be Repaired—Coronavirus Shows Its Huge Weaknesses - Citizen Truth
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Citizen Truth.) “Profit-driven capitalism proved extremely inefficient in its response to the virus.” Consider this absurdity: The U.S. government’s policy in the face of the current capitalist crash is to “return the economy to the pre-coronavirus normal.” What?
Big Banks Sued for Putting Large Corporations Ahead of Main Street Small Business Owners for Covid-19 Rescue Loans
“This is why oversight is important. No matter when or who it hurts, big business and corporations will always try to cash in.” (By: Julia Conley, Common Dreams) Small businesses filed class-action lawsuits against three large banks Monday, accusing them of manipulating the application process for a government program aimed at providing relief for smaller companies amid the coronavirus crisis.
Private Equity Backed Medical Companies Cut Doctor's Pay While Spending Millions On Political Ads
Peter Castagno April 21, 2020 Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., called on the companies’ private equity backers to reverse the pay cuts, citing ProPublica’s earlier reporting. “As business leaders who direct and manage billions of dollars, you should be stepping up to protect the financial security of frontline essential workers,” Porter and Warren said in an April 15 letter.
Judges Rule Against Epstein Victims In Ruling To Uphold Plea Deal And Protect Accomplices
“This is impossible to understand — the government intentionally misled the victims but found a way to get away with it by working with a child molester to get around the law. And the judges ruled in their favor. How?â€� Despite acknowledging that federal prosecutors “affirmatively misled” Jeffrey Epstein’s teenage victims in the secret 2008 plea deal that granted immunity to the child sex trafficker’s accomplices, a three judge panel ruled on Wednesday to uphold the agreement.
Smithfield CEO: US Meat Supply "Perilously Close" To Shortage
“The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply.” Smithfield chose to close one of its largest pork-producing plants indefinitely on Sunday after nearly 300 employees tested positive for COVID-19, prompting CEO Kenneth Sullivan to warn that the pandemic is pushing the country “perilously close to the edge” in its meat supply as other food...
Saudi Arabia Violates its Own Ceasefire As Yemen Announces First Cases of Coronavirus
The Saudi regime has engaged in a number of questionable activities since the global outbreak of COVID-19, including moving masses of African refugees deported from areas with coronavirus to the Yemeni border. (By: Ahmed Abdulkareem, Mintpress News) Thursday proved to be a tragic day for internally displaced people in the Al-Mazraq Refugee Camp in Yemen’s northern Hajjah Province. The camp lies on the outskirts of Haradh city near the Yemen-Saudi border.
Progressive Group Slams McConnell For Pushing Through Judges During Coronavirus
“Mitch McConnell is blocking help for Americans hurt by the COVID-19 crisis while ramming through judges who could kick millions off their health care.” Progressive advocacy group Demand Justice slammed Mitch McConnell’s efforts to fast-track Trump’s latest nominee to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, Justin Reed Walker, a Kavanaugh protégé who was deemed “not qualified” by the American Bar Association and has repeatedly expressed opposition to expanding public healthcare.
Leaked Amazon Memo Details Plan to Smear Fired Warehouse Organizer
Peter Castagno April 4, 2020 “He’s not smart, or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on us versus him, we will be in a much stronger PR position than simply explaining for the umpteenth time how we’re trying to protect workers,” wrote Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky in notes from the meeting forwarded widely in the company. 2. This conversation occurred at a CEO level. What big tech is doing to address the pandemic is largely a mirage, and often deeply cynical.
EPA Using Coronavirus To Roll Back Environmental Protections
Peter Castagno April 1, 2020 Andrew Wheeler, head of the Environmental “Protection” Agency (EPA), argued today that his administration’s rollback of auto efficiency standards “sets realistic standards, will reduce pollution, and save lives.” “This EPA statement is essentially a nationwide waiver of environmental rules for the indefinite future.
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