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Vera Bergengruen
Vera Bergengruen is a political correspondent in the Washington, D.C. bureau.
Recent Articles
The Oath Keepers' Leader Was Just Convicted. The Far Right Will Keep Thriving
The conviction won't dampen an anti-government movement that has moved on from the Oath Keepers
By Vera Bergengruen
November 30, 2022
Vote Officials Breathe "Huge Sigh of Relief"
Pre-election information campaigns helped forestall election denialism and deliver peaceful, orderly vote
By Vera Bergengruen
November 9, 2022
Voting Problems Spark Conspiracy Theories
Arizona election officials reassured voters their ballots would be counted after tabulation machines in Maricopa County malfunctioned.
By Vera Bergengruen and Eric Cortellessa
November 8, 2022
The United States of Political Violence
To better understand how the threat of violence against public officials is transforming America, TIME collected 50 case studies—one from each state—since the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
By Vera Bergengruen
November 4, 2022
How 'Stop the Steal' Became 'Watch the Polls'
Tens of thousands of Americans have been recruited to serve as poll watchers by right-wing groups pushing lies about the 2020 election
By Vera Bergengruen
October 24, 2022
The Battle for Control Over Ukraine's Internet
Inside the scramble to restore communication to Ukraine's liberated areas
By Vera Bergengruen
October 18, 2022
Election Workers Face Surge of Cyberattacks
Local election workers in key battlegrounds states dealt with a rise of phishing attacks coinciding with their primary elections, according to data shared with TIME
By Vera Bergengruen
October 12, 2022
Violence Spikes Ahead of Brazil Election
Candidates Lula and Bolsonaro both wearing bulletproof vests at rallies thanks to sharp uptick in assaults, killings
By Vera Bergengruen
September 30, 2022
What to Know About the Oath Keepers Trial
The case is a test for the Justice Department, which is seeking to successfully prosecute the rare charges for the first time in 30 years
By Vera Bergengruen
September 29, 2022
How Ukraine Turned the Tide of the War
Inside the lightning counteroffensive that stunned Russian troops
By Simon Shuster and Vera Bergengruen
September 26, 2022
Twitter Whistleblower Testifies in Congress
Peiter “Mudge” Zatko characterized Twitter’s deficiencies as a dire global and national security threat
By Vera Bergengruen and Andrew R. Chow
September 13, 2022
The Twitter Whistleblower Needs You to Trust Him
An exclusive interview with Twitter whistleblower Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko, the famous hacker fighting a messy battle with the platform
By Billy Perrigo/Washington , Andrew R. Chow and Vera Bergengruen
August 25, 2022
The Biggest Allegations From the Twitter Whistleblower
Twitter's former head of security claims 'egregious deficiencies'
By Andrew R. Chow , Vera Bergengruen and Billy Perrigo
August 23, 2022
Trump Messaging on FBI Search Mirrors Jan. 6
Trump publicly offered an olive branch to law enforcement on Monday, while continuing to stoke the rage of his supporters over the Mar-a-Lago search.
By Brian Bennett and Vera Bergengruen
August 15, 2022
Analysts Warn Violent Rhetoric After FBI Mar-a-Lago Search Is a Preview of What's to Come
The surge in violent rhetoric drew concerns that it could inspire attacks on law enforcement, as analysts noted a wave of threats.
By Vera Bergengruen
August 11, 2022
Jan. 6 Hearing: Trump Drafted Tweet Urging March to Capitol
Trump and his allies encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol, the Jan. 6 committee said.
By Eric Cortellessa and Vera Bergengruen
July 12, 2022
How Jan. 6 Emboldened Extremist Groups
Emboldened, the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys have regrouped at the local level and are preparing for a broader fight
By W.J. Hennigan and Vera Bergengruen
July 11, 2022
Armed Demonstrators and Far-Right Groups Are Escalating Tensions at Abortion Protests
Armed demonstrators and extremist groups have increasingly gathered at abortion-related protests in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, causing analysts to warn of a rising threat of violence. Eight abortion-related...
By Vera Bergengruen
July 8, 2022
How Lawmakers Are Trying to Protect Abortion Data Privacy
Before Roe v. Wade granted women the constitutional right to abortion in 1973, most abortion procedures were kept hidden, even from close family members. Some women destroyed evidence and traveled in the wee hours of...
By Nik Popli and Vera Bergengruen
July 1, 2022
What Trump Knew
"I think he has gone into a whole different category of potential criminal liability,” says one legal expert, citing Cassidy Hutchinson's hearing.
By Eric Cortellessa and Vera Bergengruen
June 29, 2022
Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers Amass Data
A TIME investigation found the data could expose women to major legal risks in a post-Roe world
By Abigail Abrams and Vera Bergengruen
June 22, 2022
The NRA's Power is Waning. Opposition to New Gun Laws Isn't.
For years, proponents of tougher gun restrictions have placed much of the blame for America's crisis of gun death on the National Rifle Association. So it was no surprise that in the aftermath of the...
By Charlotte Alter and Vera Bergengruen
May 25, 2022
Buffalo Exposes Limits Of Biden's Domestic Terror Strategy
“This is not 2001, where we’re wondering why radicalization happens."
By W.J. Hennigan and Vera Bergengruen
May 20, 2022
'There's No Such Thing As a Lone Wolf.' The Online Movement That Spawned the Buffalo Shooting
The gunman accused of murdering 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket seemed to fit a familiar pattern. Isolated and bored during the pandemic, he had become increasingly radicalized by consuming white-supremacist content online. He had...
By Vera Bergengruen
May 16, 2022
Families of American Hostages Demand Biden Do More
Alexandra Forseth has made eight pilgrimages to Washington during the past four years. The 30-year-old once again made the trip this week from her home in San Diego to push the White House to secure...
By Vera Bergengruen
May 5, 2022
'We're Back.' Far-Right Groups Celebrate Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover
While much of the online world reacted with surprise and skepticism when news broke of Elon Musk's stunning $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Monday, some corners of the Internet broke out in jubilation. "Today...
By Vera Bergengruen
April 27, 2022
How Ukraine Is Crowdsourcing Digital Evidence of War Crimes
It all looks like a game at first. Verified users of Ukraine's government mobile app are greeted with options illustrated by icons of military helmets and targets. An automated prompt helps you report Russian troop...
By Vera Bergengruen
April 18, 2022
How Kyiv Adapted the City's Tech to Save Lives
When Oleg Polovynko thinks of the first days of the Russian invasion of his country, he looks down at his fitness watch. In normal times, the 38-year-old IT director in Kyiv’s city council used his...
By Vera Bergengruen
April 4, 2022
Telegram Becomes a Digital Battlefield in Russia-Ukraine War
Before the Russian military invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Nataliia Nezhynska had never used Telegram. Now she can’t go a day without the messaging app. It feeds her an endless stream of updates from her...
By Vera Bergengruen
March 21, 2022
The Man On Ukraine's Digital Frontline
Ukraine's youngest minister is inventing a whole new way to fight a war online
By Vera Bergengruen
March 15, 2022
Putin May Escalate War, U.S. Spy Chiefs Warn
'Putin is angry and frustrated right now,' CIA head William Burns said
By Vera Bergengruen
March 8, 2022
Crowdfunding Site for Right-Wing Causes Generates Windfall
The trucker-led protests that paralyzed downtown Ottawa and galvanized supporters across the world ended Feb. 20 without achieving their goal of ending Canada's COVID-19 restrictions. But there was one clear winner from the demonstrations: GiveSendGo,...
By Vera Bergengruen and Chris Wilson
March 4, 2022
Ukrainian Officials Appeal Directly to Russian Soldiers and Their Families
As representatives gathered for the United Nation’s first emergency session in decades on Monday, the most pointed moment came when Ukraine’s Ambassador highlighted not the plight of his countrymen, but of the young Russian soldiers...
By Vera Bergengruen
March 1, 2022
The Battle for Hearts and Minds in Ukraine
As Russian troops closed in on Kyiv and battered the Ukrainian capital with missile strikes on Friday, rumors spread by Russian state media said that President Volodymyr Zelensky had fled the country. That evening, as...
By Vera Bergengruen
February 25, 2022
Trump DHS Chief's Election Trips Cost $223,652, Records Show
Five days before the 2020 presidential election, acting Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf flew to Texas to celebrate the construction of the 400th mile of the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. The milestone hadn’t actually...
By Vera Bergengruen
February 9, 2022
Haitian-Americans Say Biden Is Turning His Back
It takes a lot to faze Marleine Bastien. After growing up under the brutal dictatorship of François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, she left Port-au-Prince for Miami in 1981. The 62-year-old thought she had seen it all...
By Vera Bergengruen / MIAMI
February 1, 2022
How the Anti-Vax Movement Is Taking Over the Right
Lee Haywood got the COVID-19 vaccine. He's seen friends lose their lives to the virus, and watched others struggle to recover. A smoker for 37 years, he believes the medical evidence showing that the vaccine...
By Vera Bergengruen
January 26, 2022
Justice Department Launches Unit to Fight Domestic Terrorism
A year after thousands of pro-Trump rioters invaded the U.S. Capitol by brute force, the Biden Administration has a new tool to battle the growing problem of violent extremism inside America. A new unit is...
By Vera Bergengruen and W.J. Hennigan
January 24, 2022
For the Jan. 6 Rioters, Justice Is Still Coming
The FBI's massive investigation of Jan. 6 rioters is delivering convictions—and resistance
By Vera Bergengruen
January 5, 2022
Frances Haugen Warns of Congress 'Inaction' on Facebook
Deep partisan divisions are hampering any legislative or regulatory reforms to hold tech platforms accountable
By Vera Bergengruen
December 1, 2021
‘Give Us a Break!’ Cuban Activists Say U.S. Sanctions Are Blocking Them from Online Services
On Nov. 9, Cuban journalist Elaine Diaz was trying to send out a newsletter to the subscribers of Periodismo de Barrio, her watchdog news site covering human rights issues on the island, when she got...
By Vera Bergengruen
November 19, 2021
Congress Investigates Ivermectin Sales After TIME Story
Spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines has never been more lucrative. The past year has created a thriving online marketplace for unproven COVID-19 “wonder drugs,” fraudulent vaccination cards, fake religious or medical exemptions, and other products...
By Vera Bergengruen
November 17, 2021
Why Political Disinformation in Honduras Is Spreading
At 10:16pm on October 7, a cluster of nineteen Twitter accounts shared identical opinions about the upcoming presidential election in Honduras at the exact same second. Claiming to be supporters of opposition candidate Xiomara Castro,...
By Vera Bergengruen
November 15, 2021
Why Facebook Employees 'Deprioritized' a Misinformation Fix
In May 2019, a video purporting to show House Speaker Nancy Pelosi inebriated, slurring her words as she gave a speech at a public event, went viral on Facebook. In reality, somebody had slowed the...
By Billy Perrigo and Vera Bergengruen
November 10, 2021
Why Families of U.S. Hostages Overseas Are Growing Frustrated with Biden
On Oct. 16, Cristina and Veronica Vadell found themselves frantically following the dotted line of a plane’s path on a flight-tracking website from their homes in coastal Louisiana. The aircraft, which belonged to the U.S....
By Vera Bergengruen
October 27, 2021
How Ravkoo Pharmacy Sold Millions Worth of Ivermectin
A TIME investigation reveals how a company with a history of criminal behavior secured taxpayer funds to prop up a business distributing dubious drugs to misinformed patients
By Vera Bergengruen
October 13, 2021
Inside the U.S. Base Where Afghans Wait
On the last morning of September, dozens of Afghan children cheered on their older brothers as they played a lively game of soccer with U.S. Army soldiers on a military base in rural Wisconsin. As...
By Vera Bergengruen/Fort McCoy, Wis.
October 4, 2021
With All Eyes on Washington, the Real Far-Right Threat Has Moved On
A much-hyped “Justice for J6” rally on Saturday to support individuals being prosecuted for participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was over in little more than an hour. Inside a crowd...
By Vera Bergengruen
September 18, 2021
U.S. Vows to Continue Fight From Afar
The Biden Administration has vowed to keep terrorist threats in Afghanistan at bay from “over the horizon,” by monitoring the situation and deploying drones
By Vera Bergengruen
August 31, 2021
Inside the Group Peddling a Bogus COVID Treatment
Mike says he was struggling with COVID-19 when he felt his breathing getting worse. He did not want to go to the Veterans Affairs hospital near his home, where he believed doctors might put him...
By Vera Bergengruen
August 26, 2021
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