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Wondering who’s shaping our politics behind the scenes?
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opensecrets.org/newsletter/s…
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NEW: An OpenSecrets investigation shows Publix heiress Julia "Julie" Jenkins Fancelli steered millions more than previously reported to "dark money" groups involved in the rally preceding the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021 🧵 1/
crp.org/jan6
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NEW: Financial disclosures revealed that Ginni Thomas was paid $700,000 by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group that has weighed in on Supreme Court justice confirmation processes, filed multiple amicus briefs and had cases before the Court. 1/🧵
crp.org/ginni
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Today, we unveil "All the President's Profiting" - a tool you can use to track payments from political entities to properties still financially benefiting the #Trump family
goo.gl/3Sa2UP
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NEW: Prosecutors are probing Trump’s political operation after it shelled out over $44 million to lawyers and law firms that have also represented witnesses in cases against him. 1/🧵
crp.org/witness
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Job Creators Network, which sponsored billboards criticizing @AOC and calls itself "the voice of Main Street,” is backed and funded by a number of prominent GOP mega-donors
readsludge.com/2019/02/22/gr…
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @Ocasio2018 got 62% of her campaign contributions from donors giving less than $200 - giving her the highest rate of funding from small donors of any House member in the 116th Congress.
crp.org/smdnzaoc by @KarlEvers1
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During the same period in which she received travel reimbursements of >$22K that drew criticism of ethics watchdogs, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert paid off the last of nearly $20,000 in state tax liens that had accumulated on her restaurant.
coloradonewsline.com/2021/02…
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When factoring in small donors (via ActBlue) Bernie Sanders has raised more $$ from Women than any other 2020 candidate
crp.org/wd1119
#WomenForBernie
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We've unearthed more than $3.5 million in direct payments from Trump’s 2020 campaign operation to individuals and firms involved in the rallies that devolved into violence on January 6th.
crp.org/tqj6
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/5 The special counsel’s office wrote that Trump's pattern of obstructive conduct supports the court’s conclusion that Trump presents a risk of jeopardizing investigations.
Trump is now facing allegations of witness tampering in multiple ongoing cases.
crp.org/witness
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Filing an FBI complaint, @CREWcrew is demanding an investigation into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in pharmaceutical and medical company stock held by Marc Short, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff.
huffpost.com/entry/crew-mark…
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An unnamed contributor made a donation to a #darkmoney group tied to the Republican Attorneys General Association, contingent on the release of a robocall encouraging people to attend the march that ultimately led to the violent storming of the Capitol.
montgomeryadvertiser.com/sto…
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Political groups and nonprofits aligned with the Democratic Party have spent nearly $44 million to boost the profile of far-right candidates.
Democrats strategy is rooted in the belief that these candidates will be easier to defeat in a general election. crp.org/dmgp2
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2/ In a new filing, the DA’s office in Fulton County, Ga., prosecuting Trump in an election interference case provided a list of potential witnesses — several of whom have been represented by lawyers or firms that were paid by Trump’s political network.
abcnews.go.com/US/pro-trump-…
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4/ Court records from the fight over Special Council Jack Smith’s search warrant for Trump’s Twitter account highlight Trump’s propensity to retaliate and called Trump’s paying legal fees for “potential witnesses against him” as an “obstructive effort.”
themessenger.com/politics/ju…
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President Donald Trump owns more than $130 million in assets across 30 countries under the trust controlled by his children. Those assets generated more than $100 million in income in 2017 and 2018 combined.
latimes.com/politics/story/2…
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Sen. Joe Manchin's net worth is being scrutinized because of his opposition to climate change provisions in the reconciliation package. Manchin made between $591,950 and nearly $1.5 million in 2020 from a coal brokerage company he founded in West Virginia. crp.org/mnnw
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Donald Trump contributed to John McCain multiple times btwn 1998 - 2008
In 2008, he gave 3 separate contributions totaling $5,600 - pushing him over the legal limit & prompting the McCain campaign to refund him $1,000
(during this time, Don Jr also gave)
crp.org/trmc
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3/ Billionaire Harlan Crow reportedly treated Thomas and his wife, conservative activist Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, to luxury travel for over two decades, most of which did not appear on Thomas’ financial disclosures, @ProPublica first reported.
propublica.org/article/clare…
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3/ The political network’s payments to lawyers and firms representing witnesses and defendants in the former president’s ongoing legal cases have raised concerns about Trump pressuring witnesses citing a history of allegedly trying to influence witnesses.
edition.cnn.com/2022/07/01/p…
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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) received $768,859 from the oil and gas industry, making him the top recipient during the 2022 election cycle.
Now, he vows to oppose every one of President Joe Biden’s nominees for the EPA. 🧵1/
crp.org/manc
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A $10,000 contribution would violate contribution limits.
crp.org/limm
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Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley will apply for federal farm aid dollars
littlevillagemag.com/sen-gra…
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New ethics rules from @POTUS Biden are stricter than those implemented by Trump and Obama - cracking down on so-called "shadow lobbying"
crp.org/bideth by @KarlMEvers
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Last week Kamala Harris said that work done by the law firm Kirkland and Ellis while representing Jeffrey Epstein “calls into question the integrity of our legal system”
Later that day, her husband headlined a fundraiser hosted by 6 partners of the firm
apnews.com/c70a21451ac64c99a…
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Today, @CampaignLegal Center filed a complaint with the Justice Department, insisting that former Senator Joe Lieberman needs to register as a foreign agent under FARA for his work on behalf of a Chinese telecom company bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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.@BernieSanders has outpaced @realDonaldTrump when it comes to financial support from Active-Duty troops
rollingstone.com/politics/po…
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/5 Ginni Thomas has a long public history of involvement with a variety of conservative activists and organizations, some of which have filed amicus briefs or had interest in cases before the Supreme Court.
Read more: crp.org/ginni
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4/ Justice Thomas’ new financial disclosure covering 2022 also reveals that Ginni Thomas continued to draw a salary through her for-profit consulting firm but because of the disclosure loophole, the amount of money she received and the sources remain hidden.
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Contributions from megadonors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson account for roughly 90% of money raised by Preserve America PAC in September. Created August 31st, the super PAC will report spending $77 million, almost all of it spent on attacking Joe Biden.
politico.com/news/2020/10/15…
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Update: Parler is working to hide posts tied to the super PAC's efforts and anything using the hashtag #WriteInTrumpForGA
newsweek.com/parler-censorin…
The Committee for American Sovereignty, a group tied to Roger Stone, wants Trump supporters to either sit out the #GASen runoffs or #WriteInTrumpForGA instead...
thedailybeast.com/roger-ston…
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Virginia Senator Mark Warner (D) has introduced a bill that would require political campaigns to report attempts to influence elections by foreign powers. cbs19news.com/content/news/W…
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2/ Thomas filed the new disclosure on Aug. 31 after receiving a 90-day filing extension around when news of Thomas’ undisclosed trips and entanglements with Harlan Crow broke earlier this year.
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In the current election cycle, Sen. Joe Manchin has received more campaign donations from the oil, coal and gas industries than any other senator. nytimes.com/2021/09/19/clima…
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NEW: A newly unsealed indictment charges Omar Navarro, a recurring GOP candidate who has repeatedly failed to oust Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) from Congress, with funneling campaign funds back to himself through friends, family and sham companies.
crp.org/omar
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We've got a list of top donors to lawmakers who objected to the Electoral College results.
Dataset includes the top PAC donors, individual donors & industry donors to Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Kevin McCarthy & all others who objected.
Follow the money here: crp.org/36fd
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Newly appointed Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler will sit on the Agriculture Committee, where she will oversee her husband's company.
ijr.com/kelly-loeffler-gop-s…
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Having aligned himself closely with Trump and having told the crowd on 1/6 to “start taking down names and kicking ass” shortly before a violent mob stormed the Capitol, Alabama Rep Mo Brooks has lost much of the corporate support he previously relied on.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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Our Revolution can raise unlimited sums, but (unlike a super PAC) doesn’t have to disclose donors.
It may now be violating a law forbidding orgs founded by candidates from using large donations to finance election activity
NEW: @BernieSanders says he doesn't want a super PAC and has attacked rivals who do. Yet he does have @OurRevolution, a nonprofit he founded that functions much like one.
Now legal experts tell @AP the group appears to be violating campaign finance law
apnews.com/345bbd1af529cfb1e…
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Most of Bernie Sanders' increased income comes from the strength of book sales.
We know this thanks to the required financial disclosures he has filed.
We have such disclosures for every 2020 candidate with the exception of Mike Bloomberg.
See them: crp.org/20presnw
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2/ Fancelli is the sole funder and president of the George Jenkins Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit that made a $1.3 million contribution to Moms for America — a dark money group that sponsored the Jan. 6 rally — in 2020. The contribution is previously unreported.
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Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is calling on the IRS to review the tax-exempt status of pro-Trump group Turning Point USA, alleging the group broke Covid regulations when it reportedly hosted two large ‘superspreader’ events in Florida.
cnbc.com/2021/01/19/sheldon-…
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/6 “These are the problems of Citizens United. A wealthy person can conceal the candidates they are supporting and the Supreme Court has ratified that by making it so difficult to get to the bottom of where the money is coming from.” (@SGhoshCLC)
Read: crp.org/jan6
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Strong fundraising from Democratic challengers combined with hesitant GOP donors spooks Congressional Republicans
nationaljournal.com/s/659667…
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NEW: The Federal Election Commission is urging Congress to close a loophole in federal law that allows foreign corporations to finance ballot measures.
crp.org/loophole
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ICYMI - Former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has officially filed as a lobbyist for Chinese telecom company ZTE
crp.org/lieb
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Around 1,550 business PACs poured more than $57 million of that into political contributions directly to the campaigns of 142 of the members of Congress who voted against the certification of 2020 election results. crp.org/jan62
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Flashback to June 2019, when @jsscppr wrote about how Virginia "Ginni" Thomas - wife of Justice Clarence Thomas - was creating a number of outside spending groups with the goal of protecting President Donald Trump.
crp.org/vitom
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Hours after an angry mob of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol Wednesday 147 Republican lawmakers objected to the Electoral College results.
We've put together a list of which PACs, individuals and industries have given them the most cash.
crp.org/objectors
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Trump's CIA Director pick, @RepMikePompeo is the #1 all time recipient of #KOCH Industries $$$ #TrumpTransition bit.ly/2f8hfec
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Persist PAC, a super PAC backing Elizabeth Warren, has now spent more than any other outside group in the 2020 cycle.
Despite pleas from Warren herself, the group will not disclose its donors until March 20th, when it is required to do so.
crp.org/warsp @KarlMEvers
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ActBlue is a fundraising platform used by Democrats & progressives. Like WinRed on the right, many candidates use it to process donations but that money isn't pooled to be shared across candidates or groups. A donation to BLM through ActBlue goes just to BLM, not any other group
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BREAKING: Leaks show DNC asked White House to reward donors w/ slots on boards & commissions: opensecrets.org/news/2016/07… via @AlecGoodwin
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.@Forbes continues to track the number of billionaires giving to @JoeBiden and @realDonaldTrump
Biden currently holds the lead, 106 - 93
forbes.com/sites/michelatind…
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Big spending by some of Wall Street's most powerful figures couldn't bring down @AOC
markets.businessinsider.com/…
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Between the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, properties owned by @realDonaldTrump and his family have made over $17 million from the his campaigns... and counting
cnbc.com/2020/07/17/trump-pr…
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4/ Among other donations, America’s Future Inc., a dark money group that helped fund the unprecedented review of 2.1 million ballots in Arizona after the 2020 presidential election, received $500k from the George Jenkins Foundation in 2020.
opensecrets.org/news/2021/06…
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Four House members—Republican @RepJohnKatko and Democrats @RepTedDeutch @RepMcGovern @RepRaskin —have introduced the Democracy for All Amendment that would overturn the Citizens United decision.
auburnpub.com/news/local/gov…
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ActBlue is a fundraising platform used by Democrats & progressives. Like WinRed on the right, many candidates use it to process donations but that money isn't pooled to be shared across candidates or groups. A donation to BLM through ActBlue goes just to BLM, not any other group.
Wow this video is really important and every person needs to watch and share it. Black Lives Matter donations go directly to a superpac called “ACT BLUE” that has given hundreds of millions to Democrats running for President.
How is this legal? #BLM is LITERALLY a shell company.
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5/ Deposition transcripts indicate Fancelli steered at least $800k to a super PAC that spent $1.2 million supporting GOP Sens. David Perdue & Kelly Loeffler in Georgia’s runoffs.
But the super PAC’s FEC records don’t disclose contributions from Fancelli.
opensecrets.org/news/2022/11…
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3/ In the years leading up to 2020, the George Jenkins Foundation reported receiving exactly $746,248 from Fancelli. But in 2020, the foundation shifted gears as Fancelli poured nearly $3.5 million into the foundation.
documentcloud.org/documents/…
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Between July and September, #TXSen candidate @RepBetoORourke raised over $38 million from over 800,000 individual contributors - a record for a Senate candidate
crp.org/bfrsm
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Former President Donald Trump’s political operation reported paying more than $4.3 million to people and firms that organized the Jan. 6 rally since the start of the 2020 election. crp.org/trjn
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NEW: Billionaires Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein have a web of financial influence that connects them to “dark money” groups, super PACs, ballot measure campaigns and activists spreading disproven theories after Trump’s 2020 election loss. 1/🧵
crp.org/uline
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How can Elon Musk donate 1,363,500% MORE in one month than the legal campaign contribution limit?
⬇️ Let's break it down
The legal max a person can donate to a candidate is $3300.
But, when billionaires like Elon Musk exploit our broken campaign finance laws to donate $45 million a month to a candidate, we’re no longer a democracy and it’s no longer an election — it’s an oligarchy and an auction.
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A number of key Senators now serving as jurors in the #ImpeachmentTrial have received campaign contributions from members of @realDonaldTrump's legal team. Some as recently as 2019
crp.org/sntri
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Members of Congress are heavily invested in industries like tech and pharmaceuticals - industries they are tasked with regulating.
The most popular stock? Apple Inc, in which 79 members of Congress are invested.
crp.org/cong2stock
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Boyfriend of alleged Russian spy Maria Butina (who agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges Monday) claimed to have set up a “very private line of communication” between Russia and the #Trump campaign using the #NRA salon.com/2018/12/12/maria-b…
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You can follow the money on all political spending at Trump properties here: crp.org/prop
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Sens. Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris are among potential 2020 candidates who have been contacting Democratic financiers on Wall Street cnbc.com/2019/01/07/wall-str…
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55 of the largest corporations in the U.S. paid no federal corporate income taxes but spent nearly $450 million on lobbying & political contributions in the past three election cycles, according to @Public_Citizen's new report using OpenSecrets data citizen.org/article/the-pric…
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.@IronStache - DEM challenger to @SpeakerRyan is exciting progressives and raising big $ from small donors huffingtonpost.com/entry/ran…
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NEW: An initiative called Progress 2028 appears to be Kamala Harris' liberal counter to the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.
But our investigation reveals Project 2028 is actually run by a dark money network boosting Donald Trump. opensecrets.org/news/2024/10…
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BIG NEWS: In the wake of the priciest election cycle ever comes a new, one-stop shop for money-in-politics data. The new @OpenSecretsDC combines federal info from the Center for Responsive Politics with the state-level data of @MoneyInPolitics
Learn more:
crp.org/osmpr
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Senate currently voting on nom of Betsy DeVos. Weve got the top recipients from her family in the Senate #DeVosvote opensecrets.org/news/2016/12…
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Independent #truckers who've spent millions on lobbying are pleased @USDOT rejected new insurance hike for big-rigs bit.ly/2vHj3mT
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New ethics rules implemented by President Joe Biden go farther than those put in place by Trump or Obama, tackling "shadow lobbying" as well as “golden parachute” payments and addressing foreign lobbying.
crp.org/bideth
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OpenSecrets editorial and investigations head @annalecta joined @jaketapper to discuss the dark money network tied to Elon Musk that is behind "Progress 2028," a fake pro-Harris campaign aimed at boosting Trump's 2024 election bid.
Read the investigation:opensecrets.org/news/2024/10…
Tracking the dark money behind a fake Harris site
Watch the full video here: tinyurl.com/yc3sbh2w
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A federal judge in Manhattan on Monday refused to halt a lawsuit against President Trump and his family alleging that they promoted a pyramid scheme.
thehill.com/regulation/court…
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NEW, from @annalecta - Lobbyists steering millions of dollars to President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican Party have landed federal appointments, serving in the Trump administration while lobbying for the agendas of special interests.
crp.org/trmapp
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Of the eight House seats flipped by Republicans, six have been by women.
That didn't just happen - there was a concerted effort by Republicans (most vocal among them @EliseStefanik) to direct funds to boost GOP women in key House races.
csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2…
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Organizations tied to billionaire Charles Koch bankrolled advocacy efforts pushing the Supreme Court to curb regulatory power over carbon emissions in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. crp.org/epka
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As @POTUS #Trump prepares to pull out of the #ParisAgreement a look at the top recipients of the Oil & Gas industry
opensecrets.org/industries/r…
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In investigating #Russia ties, @SenatorCollins (R) is open to issuing subpoenas for @POTUS' tax returns politico.com/story/2017/02/m…
#Trumprussia
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We've been denied press creds. by RNC, though we've had them every convention back to '96. Any other nonprofit news orgs in the same boat?
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Continue to follow the money the personal net worth of Senators here: crp.org/pfds
Net worth of the 8 Democrats who just voted down $15 minimum wage:
Chris Coons: $10.13 million
Angus King: $9.49 million
Joe Manchin: $7.62 million
Tom Carper: $5.73 million
Jeanne Shaheen: $3.82 million
Jon Tester: $3.67 million
Maggie Hassan: $3.47 million
Krysten Sinema: N/A
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Those who objected to certifying the electoral college results yesterday may have lost some significant donors.
axios.com/hawley-cruz-busine…
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Russian media outlets reported spending more than $146 million on foreign influence operations and propaganda in the U.S. since 2016, with over $16 million on propaganda targeting the U.S. in 2021. crp.org/rsfr
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JPMorgan Chase wants the SEC to block activist investors from forcing the bank to provide a fuller accounting of its political spending.
The bank’s PAC gave $136,500 during the 2020 cycle to Republicans who opposed certifying the election results.
washingtonpost.com/business/…
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Trump’s campaign has disclosed paying millions to many of the people & firms behind the 1/6 rally that led to the storming of the Capitol—but shell companies & "dark money" loopholes hide the full details of the former President's ties.
crp.org/ttdcp
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She's raised $580K and isn't giving up. @SpeakerRyan challenger @CathyMyersWI may not lead in fundraising, but she's picking up momentum
elitedaily.com/p/who-is-cath…
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Headline maker Maria Butina has some friends worthy of headlines in their own right:
NRA leader David Keene, Jack Abramoff & GOP operative Paul Erickson have history of lobbying together for a dictator discovered in FARA records from over a decade ago
crp.org/nramb
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Current state officeholders received $20.6 million in law enforcement contributions since 2012. Six such state officials have received more than $225,000, all Democrats from mostly California or New York. crp.org/plcu
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By keeping his assets in a family-managed trust, @realDonaldTrump is in a unique position to profit from political groups attempting to gain the favor of the White House.
#FollowTheMoney here: goo.gl/9uqKEo
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That Ambassador, Gordon Sondland is a major Republican donor and bundler who funneled $1 million into @POTUS #Trump's inaugural committee.
crp.org/ukrdips
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NEW: Political groups backed by dark money and wealthy donors have spent $1.7 million on candidates this election cycle, raising concerns about transparency and the influence of outside money in the battle for control of the General Assembly. 1/🧵
crp.org/drkva
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Since 2012, the 22 Senators who urged @POTUS to pull from #ParisAgreement got $10Mil from oil, gas, coal interests bit.ly/2sif13u
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National Democrats are investing in the GOP Senate primary in West Virginia, hoping to secure the nomination for a controversial candidate that they believe incumbent @Sen_JoeManchin will have an easier time defeating washingtonexaminer.com/news/…
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In Kentucky, there are 419 voting precincts in using a total of 777 voting machines made by a company called Election Systems & Software.
That company has made significant contributions to partisan groups dedicated to electing Republican candidates.
gritpost.com/22-kentucky-cou…
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As recently as last month, the #Trump2020 campaign funneled money to a shell company tied to the same ad buyers caught up in an alleged illegal coordination scheme with the #NRA
One of the buyers signed records as an “agent of Donald Trump”
crp.org/sh3ll2 by @annalecta
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