“The group lent its name to a rally that led to an insurrection,” said Don Wiener, a researcher with the left-leaning Center for Media and Democracy in Madison, Wis. “Donors bear some responsibility for the activity of the groups they fund.”
Research Cited
Democracy Organizations Call for Making Coup Donors Accountable
Many are calling out right-wing politicians for aiding and abetting the coup attempt in the Capitol, but what about their donors? The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has outlined in great detail how the Kochs’ PAC machinery has invested over $15 million on the political careers of all 13 US senators who initially publicly […]
How Ginni Thomas and the Shadowy Council of National Policy Advanced the Election Disinformation Campaign
A Dec. 10 letter posted on the Conservative Action Project website, reported by Alex Kotch at Exposed by CMD, asked state legislatures in battleground states to “exercise their plenary power under the Constitution and appoint clean slates of electors to the Electoral College to support President Trump,” and that the House and Senate only recognize […]
Who’s getting rich off child support? (Hint: It’s not the moms)
A 2014 report by the Center for Media and Democracy also questioned Wells’ contribution of $2,000, the state maximum, to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback shortly before the state outsourced the bulk of its child support enforcement program to YoungWilliams. “While YoungWilliams boasted that it landed the contract because of its ‘innovative service delivery structure,’ there […]
The white nationalist ties of the next big civil rights case
To pay for these repeated trips to an increasingly conservative Supreme Court, Blum has long been a beneficiary of millions of dollars funneled through DonorsTrust, the donor-advised fund that shuffles money from anonymous sources to the entire spectrum of right-wing advocacy. And now, as reported by Alex Kotch for the Center for Media and Democracy, […]
Investigation on Weed Killer Dicamba Adds to Pattern of Corporate Deception on Pesticide Hazards
The Center for Media and Democracy’s (CMD’s) PR Watch reported in 2012 on documents it had obtained showing that Syngenta’s “PR team investigated the press and spent millions to spin news coverage and public perceptions in the face of growing concerns about potential health risks from the widely used weed-killer atrazine.” The company used a variety […]
Koch-Funded Group Seeks to Overturn Voter-Approved Tax on Arizona’s Wealthiest 1%
Behind the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling, reporters Scott Zimmerman and David Armiak found at Exposed by CMD, was a 2017 bill passed by Republicans that required a “strict compliance” legal standard for ballot initiatives. That law signed by Gov. Doug Ducey, in turn, had been supported by the right-wing Barry Goldwater Institute for Public Policy […]
Potential Education Secretary Nominee Attacked by Antiunion Group
The group says on its website that it is a nonprofit, “supported by foundations, businesses, union members, and the general public,” that is “dedicated to showing Americans the truth about today’s union leadership.” The Center for Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch, however, calls it a “front group for individuals and industries opposed to union activities” and […]
White Nationalists Sought Resumes for Trump White House, Emails Show
The Center for Media and Democracy reported in December that DonorsTrust, a dark money group that “manages and disperses wealthy conservatives’ charitable funds anonymously,” gave VDARE a staggering $1.5 million in 2019. DonorsTrust bundles money from “Republican billionaire families such as the DeVoses, Kochs, and Mercers,” the watchdog noted.
Fossil Fuel Lobbying Group Floats Model Legislation to Limit Climate Suits
Materials from the Civil Justice Task Force meeting obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy, a non-profit watchdog group, indicate that the task force instead addressed ways to limit the ability of municipalities to bring public nuisance-based suits.