Terry Gross

And she does other consulting too.

Some people wonder who is actually funding her work and if some of the things that she says she's just doing out of a passion for Trump's beliefs in his presidency, is she really getting paid to criticize certain people

And those funders are secret.

You also raised the question that some people have raised.

If she wasn't getting compensated, why would she care so much about Hewlett Packard's acquisition of Juniper Networks?

I don't even know what Juniper Networks is, but why is that suspicious?

Are the questions about funding related to the opposition research that her company gets paid for?

Are there questions that the line is crossing between the opposition research she's getting paid for and the things that she's saying in support of Trump?

And I should mention here, too, that a lot of politicians have opposition research to use against their opponent.

So opposition research is nothing new and no longer considered a radical thing to have.

But it's a question of what you do with that information.

My guest is New Yorker staff writer Antonia Hitchens.

She profiles Laura Loomer in the current issue of the magazine in an article titled Laura Loomer's Endless Payback.

We'll be back after a short break.

I'm Terry Gross, and this is Fresh Air.

On NPR's Wildcard podcast, Padma Lakshmi says she feels better at 55 than 25.

I wouldn't go back to my 20s for all the money in the world.

I really wouldn't.

I was so hard on myself about every little thing or every, you know, imperfection.

Watch or listen to that Wildcard conversation on the NPR app or on YouTube at NPR Wildcard.