1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

The concerning relationship between Peter Thiel, a co-founder of Palantir, and J.D. Vance, who Thiel bankrolled and helped secure a Senate seat, raises serious questions about potential conflicts of interest and improper conduct. With Palantir's technology being widely adopted across federal agencies to consolidate Americans' personal data, Vance's ties to the company through his benefactor Thiel cast doubt on proper oversight and checks against abuse of this massive data trove. Stringent transparency measures are critical to ensure this dangerous consolidation of private information does not enable unchecked government surveillance or exploitation for political gain in violation of civil liberties. This type of influence from a financial backer is not draining the swamp.