emptywheel media bias and reliability
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place emptywheel as leaning left. We have seen it on 21 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is emptywheel biased?
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place emptywheel as leaning left. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is emptywheel left or right?
Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check place emptywheel as leaning left. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Left.
Is emptywheel reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for emptywheel are Ad Fontes Media: High factuality; Media Bias/Fact Check: High factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What emptywheel has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with emptywheel’s own report linked underneath.
Democrats are projected to win a majority in the House of Representatives and have taken control of the Senate following the US midterm elections. The results mark a significant setback for Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
emptywheel reported it asStephen Miller Turned Texas Blue (Open Thread) (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Gold prices surpassed $4,000 per ounce and silver neared $52 as the US dollar index dropped to a five-week low. Markets reacted to potential Democratic control of Congress and geopolitical tensions.
emptywheel reported it asStephen Miller Turned Texas Blue (Open Thread) (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Former FBI Chicago head Douglas DePodesta is suing the U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois, and FBI director. He alleges he was forced to resign and scapegoated for failed immigration prosecutions, specifically the Broadview Six case.
emptywheel reported it asDouglas DePodesta Accuses US Attorney Andrew Boutros of Lying (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Former FBI Chicago head Douglas DePodesta is suing the U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois, and FBI director. He alleges he was forced to resign and scapegoated for failed immigration prosecutions, specifically the Broadview Six case.
emptywheel reported it asPredictably, Stan Woodward Contemptuously Stomped into the Broadview 6 Case (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Alina Habba, former attorney for Donald Trump, has accused Ric Grenell, ex-executive director of the Kennedy Center, of not depositing a $5.6 million donation from her husband. The White House Counsel's office is investigating the claims, which Grenell denies.
emptywheel reported it asKnives Out! Habba versus Grenell and Zampolli versus Landau and Guilfoyle versus Everyone and Everyone versus Wiles (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was absent from public campaign events for nearly two weeks. His campaign stated he was recovering from the flu. Commentators Benny Johnson and Nick Sortor shared an audio recording they claim links Talarico to an Ohio mental health facility.
emptywheel reported it asThe James Talarico HIPAA Crime and Stephen Miller's Apparent Advance Knowledge (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Two senior Democratic lawmakers have urged FBI Director Kash Patel to cancel a reported trip to Russia, citing national security concerns. The FBI has not confirmed the travel plans, which are reportedly scheduled for mid-October.
emptywheel reported it asKash Patel Colluded with Russian Spies to Frame Jim Comey, and He Probably Will Again (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sent a "snarky" letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren, dismissing her concerns about the 10-year treasury yield and accusing her of lacking financial market knowledge. Warren had previously written to the Treasury Department requesting information on actions taken to lower borrowing costs.
emptywheel reported it asEvidence Is Evidence: The Questions Scott Bessent Couldn't Answer (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Newly released documents reveal that former special counsel Jack Smith's team monitored the phone activity of Susie Wiles, a top aide to Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. The monitoring, conducted from February to May 2023, involved a pen register and trap-and-trace device, recording metadata of calls.
emptywheel reported it asJohn Solomon Confirms Todd Blanche is FAR More Abusive Than Jack Smith (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Kyle Frankovich and Maureen Foody are suing Benny Johnson for defamation, alleging he falsely portrayed them as 'left-wing terrorists' and violent extremists in videos produced during a protest outside an ICE facility. The lawsuit stems from content Johnson created while embedded with Homeland Security officials.
emptywheel reported it asThe Protestors Benny Defamed Finally Come After Him (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
A judge has permanently dismissed the case against former Olympian David Hearn, who was accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The judge cited political pressure from President Donald Trump and evidence of a flawed installation as reasons for the dismissal.
emptywheel reported it asIn Ending Case against Davey Hearn, Judge Declares: No Crime Was Committed (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Donald Trump obtained financial data from at least 4,782 individuals who donated to Trump and allied groups. The data includes checks from all 50 states, with some donations as small as $1. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley released documents related to the collection.
emptywheel reported it asChuck Grassley and Far Right Propagandists Covering Up How Trump Defrauded MAGAts (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
The US government has formally asked to join Elon Musk's legal fight against a €120 million fine imposed by the European Union on his platform X. Washington claims EU regulators exceeded their authority by fining an American company not operating within the bloc's jurisdiction.
emptywheel reported it asDOJ Intervenes in EU to Help Elon Musk Defraud Users (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Prosecutor Sheri Mecklenburg resigned from the 'Broadview Six' case, accusing U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros of interference. She stated Boutros directed felony charges against her objection, while the Justice Department rejected her claim.
emptywheel reported it asAndrew Boutros' Hot-and-Cold Privilege Claims (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Representative Thomas Massie has introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Massie alleges Hegseth continued U.S. military operations in Iran without congressional approval and criticizes his actions in Venezuela and Yemen.
emptywheel reported it asTom Massie's Impeachment Gambit (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
US Senator Jon Ossoff criticised Donald Trump’s executive assistant Natalie Harp in a campaign speech, calling her part of the president’s detachment from leadership. The White House responded with personal insults, while Harp’s influence and proximity to Trump drew scrutiny from outlets across the political spectrum.
emptywheel reported it asNatalie Harp Is the Unsupervised Gatekeeper to the Man with the Nuclear Buttons (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Natalie Harp, a close aide to Donald Trump known as his 'human printer', has become a focus of media attention after a Democratic senator mocked their relationship. Reports describe her role in printing articles and social media posts for Trump, while her estranged brother calls her dedication unhealthy.
emptywheel reported it asNatalie Harp Is the Unsupervised Gatekeeper to the Man with the Nuclear Buttons (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
US prosecutors investigate Democratic fundraising firm linked to Trump trial judge's daughter
Trust 86The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago has spent a year investigating Authentic Campaigns Inc., a Democratic fundraising firm once co-owned by Loren Merchan, daughter of the judge who oversaw Donald Trump’s hush-money trial. The probe centres on client communications and a $468 payment from Kamala Harris’s campaign.
emptywheel reported it asAmong the First Things Attorney Matthew Skiba Did Was Target Democrats (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
The Department of Homeland Security opened an investigation into left-wing groups in Minnesota following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents. The probe, which included undercover surveillance and financial subpoenas, targeted unions and activist organisations but concluded without evidence of wrongdoing. Fifteen organisers were later indicted under a national security directive.
emptywheel reported it asTrump's Government Responded to Murdering Alex Pretti by Spying on the Entire Anti-ICE Community in Minnesota (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
US President Donald Trump flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft last month after an Iranian assassination threat was detected, according to reports. The White House had stated he was aboard Air Force One, but the press was left on a decoy flight as part of an elaborate ruse to conceal his departure.
emptywheel reported it asFrom Flying Bribery Palace to Failed Leak Investigation to Catering Truck (opens emptywheel in a new tab)
Who says so
2 organisations have published a rating for this outlet, in their own words. Where they disagree, the disagreement is the useful part and it is left standing.
How reliably it reports fact
A rating of the newsroom in general, by others, and a different thing from the Trust score we publish on each story, which judges one piece of reporting.
High factuality
Who owns it
We hold no ownership record for emptywheel.
Where it publishes from
- Official site
- emptywheel.net
- Seen publishing on
- emptywheel.net
- Access
- Free to read
What we have seen ourselves
Counted across the stories this site has published, which is the only denominator a reader can check: every one of them has a page, and every page lists the reports it was written from.
- Stories
- 21
- Reports listed
- 22
- We could read
- 1
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
21 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 1 we could open, not on everything it published.
On 6 of those stories, outlets rated left were largely absent from the coverage and emptywheel ran the story anyway.
Across the 21 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, another outlet was always ahead of emptywheel: its report arrived a median of 28 hours after the earliest one we logged.
Measured 6 November 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 6 November 2026. Ratings pulled 8 October 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as emptywheel, ordered by how often we have seen them on a story. Sharing a rating is not the same as being alike.
Think this page is wrong?
The leanings above are published by AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check, and we republish them rather than make them. If you think one is misapplied, the strongest place to say so is with the organisation that made it, and every verdict here links to their page.
What we are responsible for is everything else: the ownership chain, where emptywheel publishes from, which of our stories we have listed it on, and whether we have the right publisher at all. Tell us what is wrong and an editor reads it.
Report something wrong on this page
Anything we correct is written up in the public corrections log. We do not publish reader votes as a rating, because an unattributed rating is the thing this site exists to argue against.
Every rating on this page is a named third party’s published work, republished with its author and, where one exists, a link to it. Our own coverage record is the section we measure ourselves. Neither is a judgement of any individual report: those are scored story by story, and the reasoning is on our methodology page.