Investigating Power
A CMD investigation reveals the identities of the donors behind a large portion of ALEC’s revenue as the group continues its attempts to hide its backers and its agenda from the public.
Charles Koch’s Americans for Prosperity and the Uihlein-funded Foundation for Government Accountability are actively opposing Medicaid expansion in 12 states that would cover an estimated 4 million uninsured Americans.
The top five defense contractors have spent over $1.2 billion on federal lobbying and campaign donations and scored trillions in Pentagon contracts since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Materials obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy detail a sophisticated, well-funded effort by the America First Policy Institute to engage state-level allies and coordinate with national right-wing groups working on elections to advance voter suppression measures embraced by the far right.
Documents obtained by CMD show that the Tea Party Patriots Foundation was the fiscal sponsor of the organization behind America’s Frontline Doctors, which spread lies about Covid-19 and is scamming customers looking for vaccine alternatives.
ALEC boasted about its role in promoting and passing laws making it harder to vote, barring schools from teaching about America’s racist past, and protecting employers from COVID-related lawsuits at a May meeting of the right-wing Council for National Policy.
ALEC claims that it “doesn’t work on voting issues,” but its CEO told a very different story to her right-wing audience at a Council for National Policy meeting in May.
Both the Kochs and former House Speaker Paul Ryan decry government subsidies, except when it comes to their private interests, such as involvement in SHINE Medical Technologies, one of Wisconsin’s most heavily subsidized companies.
The right-wing Bradley Foundation has earmarked at least $1.7M for ALEC’s distribution of sophisticated voter management software deeply tied to the Republican Party since 2017, the subject of an IRS whistleblower complaint and multiple state campaign finance complaints.
Major companies and law firms, including General Motors, Google, Facebook, and Holland & Knight, signed statements supporting voting rights while funding the Republican State Leadership Committee, which aggressively backs voter restrictions.