On this week’s episode of the RealClearInvestigations Podcast, RCI Editor J. Peder Zane and RCI Senior Reporter James Varney speak with Jeremy Portnoy, a researcher for OpentheBooks.com who writes RCI’s Waste of the Day feature, about rampant fraud, waste and abuse in government spending.

In our round-up of the week’s best investigative reporting, Zane and Varney discuss the Daily Caller’s report on Chinese researchers working on US defense projects, the Daily Mail’s article on a Chinese spy’s effort to recruit American figure skater Alysa Liu and the New York Times piece on Russia’s campaign to create mayhem across Europe.YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/UbbcWrjKLYA

0:00 Intro

01:33 Daily Caller: US Funded Defense Projects Riddled with Chinese Researchers

05:15 Daily Mail: Chinese Spies Tried to Turn Skater Aylsa Liu

07:04 New York Times: Ex-Cabbie Driving Russia’s Shadow War

10:30 RealClearInvestigations: Bad Bets: Massive EV Subsidies Not Paying Off

13:18 Jeremy Portnoy, OpentheBooks.com, RCI’s Waste of the Day feature

Articles mentioned in this Podcast:

RealClearInvestigations: Bad Bets: Massive EV Subsidies Not Paying Off
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2026/02/26/bad_bets_federal_and_state_ev_subsidies_are_not_paying_off_1167122.html
Daily Caller: US Funded Defense Projects Riddled with Chinese Researchers
https://dailycaller.com/2026/02/23/exclusive-us-intel-defense-grants-chinese-researchers/
Daily Mail: Chinese Spies Tried to Turn Skater Aylsa Liu
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/winterolympics/article-15591857/olympics-alysa-liu-father-china-spy-truth.html
New York Times: Ex-Cabbie Driving Russia’s Shadow War
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/world/europe/russia-sabotage-europe.html
RealClearInvestigations: Waste of the Day Archive
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/stream/?topic=waste_of_the_day

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