Chris Dehghanpoor

Washington, D.C.

Open-source Investigative Reporter
Chris Dehghanpoor is an investigative reporter at The Washington Post specializing in open-source research. Dehghanpoor has worked as an information security engineer for Twitch, Amazon and, most recently, Google. For nearly three years, he has been reporting on disinformation campaigns under the Twitter handle Trapezoid of Discovery. In 2023, he left tech to pursue investigative reporting full time.
Latest from Chris Dehghanpoor

On social media, a bullied teen found fame among child predators worldwide

A troubled 15-year-old in rural Texas was shunned as an outcast in his community. He found refuge on social media, where he became the anonymous leader of a global online group that preyed on vulnerable children.

September 9, 2024

    How China extended its repression into an American city

    Events in San Francisco illustrate how the Chinese Communist Party is willing to target people exercising their First Amendment rights in an American city.

    September 3, 2024

    Al Jazeera rejects Israeli allegation that slain journalist was Hamas fighter

    Ismail al-Ghoul, the channel’s Gaza correspondent, was killed in an Israeli airstrike this week. Al Jazeera said allegations that he was a member of Hamas’s military wing are “baseless.”

    August 2, 2024
    Mourners and colleagues carry the body of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, killed along with cameraman Rami al-Rifi in an Israeli strike during their coverage in Gaza on Wednesday.

    On popular online platforms, predatory groups coerce children into self-harm

    A global network of online groups has targeted thousands of children with a sadistic form of social media terror that authorities and technology companies have struggled to control, an examination finds.

    March 13, 2024

    Video is said to show U.N. relief worker taking body of Israeli shot on Oct. 7

    The footage of the person Israel identified would be the first to surface publicly of any of the individuals Israel accused of participating in the Oct. 7 attack.

    February 21, 2024

    ‘Problematic pockets’: How Discord became a home for extremists

    According to interviews with current and former employees and moderators, Discord’s rules and culture allowed a racist and antisemitic community to flourish.

    December 12, 2023

    Mike Lindell’s $5 million contest winner takes him to federal court

    A Nevada man is chasing a prize that arbitrators ruled he is owed in a contest over the 2020 election. The MyPillow CEO wants a state court to vacate the award.

    May 19, 2023
    Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 4 in Fort Washington, Md.

    Alleged leaker fixated on guns and envisioned ‘race war’

    Previously unpublished videos and documents reviewed by The Washington Post reveal Jack Teixeira’s preparations for a violent social conflict, his racist thinking and a deep suspicion of the government he served.

    May 14, 2023

    Mike Lindell’s firm told to pay $5 million in ‘Prove Mike Wrong’ election-fraud challenge

    The MyPillow founder and election denier offered the money to anyone who could disprove his claim about data he said showed China manipulated the 2020 U.S. election.

    April 20, 2023