SludgeWe covered the oil industry lobbying background of someone the Democrats hired to staff the Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science.
We examined court records to show how Biden judicial nominee Jennifer Rearden worked to advance Chevron’s case against environmental and human rights attorney Steven Donziger.
We looked into a nonprofit board Sen. Manchin sits on and found that his boardmates include numerous energy industry lobbyists.
https://readsludge.com/2022/01/28/manchin-sits-on-foundation-board-with-lobbyists/
We took a deep dive into NY Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Buffalo Bills stadium deal and how it could enrich her husband while hurting the Seneca Nation’s gambling business.
We highlighted some of the members of Congress who are heavily invested in companies whose regulations they oversee via their committee assignments.
We covered Hakeem Jeffries’ new PAC, which opposes progressive Democratic primary challengers with funds it raises from corporate lobbyists and PACs.
We rely on our readers to support this in-depth coverage of money in politics.
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We tracked how the Pelosis’ net worth jumped by an estimated $39 million in 2021, one of their largest annual gains since 2010, after Paul Pelosi’s stock trades in Alphabet, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
https://readsludge.com/2022/07/25/pelosi-fortune-growing-rapidly-per-new-disclosure/
We listed the congressional Democrats who donated more than $40,000 to the anti-choice Henry Cuellar in his primary against progressive Jessica Cisneros. Cuellar won by only 289 votes.
We drilled in to pinpoint the reps who bought millions in pipeline and oil & gas company stocks before Congress passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill that showers subsidies on the fossil fuel industry.
We found that after Delta called a Georgia Republican bill that restricts voting access “unacceptable,” the company’s PAC donated to five of the bill’s sponsors.
Coca-Cola and other giants similarly made donations counter to their public statements.
In one of our most-read stories this year, we reported that three out of four dollars backing former Republican staffer Steve Irwin in his Democratic primary race with progressive Summer Lee came from groups deeply tied to AIPAC.
https://readsludge.com/2022/05/09/pro-israel-lobby-spends-big-to-defeat-progressive-summer-lee/
We covered a Florida Republican bill—modeled on an ALEC policy—that would make it a crime for public officials to request information about dark money groups spending in elections.
An interlude: this investigative reporting is 100% supported by our readers, who appreciate a relentless focus on money in politics. 🎯
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We brought to light the gunmakers like Beretta and Glock that profit from multimillion-dollar federal contracts while they fund lobbying efforts against gun control measures.
https://readsludge.com/2022/05/25/your-tax-dollars-are-propping-up-the-gun-lobby/
We were first to report that three more senators blew the STOCK Act’s deadlines to report trades. One of them controls the Senate committee that buried bills to ban congressional stock trading.
https://readsludge.com/2022/05/25/three-more-senators-violated-the-stock-act/
