BERNARD CONDON

Investigative reporter

Condon is an Associated Press investigative reporter covering breaking news. He has written about the Maui fire, the Afghanistan withdrawal, gun laws, Chinese loans in Africa and Trump’s business.

Takeaways from AP analysis on the rise of world’s debt-laden ‘zombie’ companies

They are called zombies, companies so laden with debt that they are just stumbling by on the brink of survival, struggling to pay even the interest on their loans and often just a bad business hit away from dying off for good.

Zombies: Ranks of world’s most debt-hobbled companies are soaring, and not all will survive

They are called zombies, companies so laden with debt that they are just stumbling by on the brink of survival, barely able to pay even the interest on their loans and often just a bad business hit away from dying off for good.

Rooting for Trump to fail has made his stock shorters millions

Rooting for Donald Trump to fail has rarely been this profitable. Just ask a hardy band of mostly amateur investors who have collectively made tens of millions over the past month by betting that the stock price of his social media business – Truth Social – will keep dropping despite wild swings tha

Trump avoids ‘corporate death penalty’ in civil fraud case, but his business will still get slammed

A New York judge has spared Donald Trump a “corporate death penalty” ruling, but his business did get hit hard with bans and cash penalties.

Key points from AP analysis of Trump’s New York civil fraud case

Within days, Donald Trump could potentially have his sprawling real estate business empire ordered “dissolved” for repeated misrepresentations on financial statements to lenders, adding him to a short list of scam marketers, con artists and others who have been hit with the ultimate punishment for v

Dissolving Trump’s business empire would stand apart in history of NY fraud law

Within days, Donald Trump could potentially have his sprawling real estate business empire ordered “dissolved” for repeated misrepresentations on financial statements to lenders.

Why was Maine shooter allowed to have guns? Questions swirl in wake of massacre

Authorities face mounting questions about how a gunman with a history of mental illness, an array of weapons and who police knew had a potential for violence was still able to own guns and commit the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history.

Maine mass shooter’s family reached out to sheriff 5 months before rampage, sheriff’s office says

Maine’s authorities are trying to piece together the events that led to the worst mass shooting in the state’s history.

Maine police were alerted weeks ago about shooter’s threats

Police across Maine were alerted weeks ago about “veiled threats” by the man who authorities say would go on to carry out the worst mass shooting in the state’s history.

A judge found Trump committed fraud in building his real-estate empire. Here’s what happens next

A judge’s ruling that Donald Trump committed fraud for years as he built his real-estate empire tarnishes the former president’s image as a real estate titan turned political powerhouse.

Takeaways from AP report on Maui fire investigation

Melted remains of an old car tire. Two burned trees. A stump of an abandoned utility pole. These are among the pieces of evidence investigators are examining as they seek to solve the mystery of last month’s Maui wildfire: How did a small fire sparked by downed power lines and declared extinguished

An old car tire, burnt trees and a utility pole may be key in finding how the Maui wildfire spread

Melted remains of an old car tire. Two burned trees. A stump of an abandoned utility pole. These are among the pieces of evidence investigators are examining as they seek to solve the mystery of last month’s Maui wildfire.

Bare electrical wire and leaning poles on Maui were possible cause of deadly fires

In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows -- those wires were bare, uninsulated metal that could spark on contact.

Videos put scrutiny on downed power lines as possible cause of deadly Maui wildfires

Videos showing downed power lines apparently sparking some of the early blazes in the Maui wildfires have become key evidence in the search for a cause.

3 charged in insider trading case related to taking Trump media firm public, accused of making $22M

Three Florida men have been charged with making $22 million through illegal insider trading before the public announcement that an acquisition firm was going to take former President Donald Trump’s media company public.

China’s loans pushing world’s poorest countries to brink of collapse

A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China.

Takeaways of AP’s report on Chinese loans pushing poor countries to brink of collapse

A dozen poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse because of a common, undeniable factor: their struggle to pay back hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China.

Amid soaring crime, Memphis cops lowered the bar for hiring

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Beyond the beating, kicking, cursing and pepper spraying, the video of Tyre Nichols’ deadly arrest at the hands of young Memphis police officers is just as notable for what’s missing — any experienced supervisors showing up to stop them.

Cops took 5 hours to warn that dance hall shooter was loose

A five-hour police delay in alerting the public that the California dance hall killer was on the run is throwing a spotlight on the nation’s flawed, patchwork system for warnings of mass shooters at large.

Details in 2021 case with Colorado shooter suggest missteps

Documents released in the 2021 dropped prosecution of the Colorado gay nightclub shooter paint a picture of potential missteps by prosecutors.

Warnings on gay club shooter stir questions about old case

A California woman who warned a judge last year about the danger posed by the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter says the deaths could have been prevented if earlier charges against the suspect weren’t dismissed.

Club shooter’s 2021 bomb case dropped, family uncooperative

The Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooter had charges dropped in a 2021 bomb threat case after family members who were terrorized in the incident refused to cooperate.

‘Next mass killer’: Dropped case foretold Colorado bloodbath

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Anderson Lee Aldrich loaded bullets into a Glock pistol and chugged vodka, ominously warning frightened grandparents not to stand in the way of an elaborate plan to stockpile guns, ammo, body armor and a homemade bomb to become “the next mass killer.”

Gay club shooting suspect evaded Colorado’s red flag gun law

The suspect in the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooting allegedly threatened his mother with a homemade bomb last year.

Trump strikes new overseas deal and raises old ethics issue

Donald Trump’s company is licensing its name to a golf resort in Oman in the first of what it hopes will be several overseas deals, raising conflicts-of-interest issues as the former president has announced a third run for the White House.

Documents show big foreign gov’t spending at Trump hotel

The Trump hotel in Washington took in more than $750,000 from six foreign governments at sensitive moments in their U.S. relations, with guests spending as much as $10,000 per room a night.

Russia recruiting U.S.-trained Afghan commandos, vets say

Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside American troops and then fled to Iran after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last year are now being recruited by the Russian military to fight in Ukraine, three former Afghan generals told The Associated Press.

Suspect in assault at Pelosi home had posted about QAnon

The man accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and severely beating her husband with a hammer appears to have made racist and often rambling posts online, including some that questioned the results of the 2020 election, defended Donald Trump and echoed QAnon conspiracy theories.

House panel: Trump’s bills to Secret Service ‘exorbitant’

Donald Trump’s private company arranged for the Secret Service to pay for rooms at his properties in excess of government-approved rates at least 40 times — including two charges for more than $1,100 per room, per night.

NY probe found potential crimes. Why isn’t Trump in cuffs?

New York’s attorney general isn’t arresting former President Donald Trump even though she says her three-year investigation uncovered potential crimes in the way he ran his real estate empire.