Investigating Power
After more than a week of frivolous lawsuits attempting to disenfranchise voters, some right-wing groups and an elected official are trying something else: offering cash for evidence of fraud.
#StoptheSteal protests planned for every state capitol tomorrow, while FreedomWorks organizes “Protect the Vote” rallies in five states today.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse draws on CMD research to connect the dots between the dark money forces hand-picking Trump’s Supreme Court nominees and those spending millions to bankroll right-wing, pro-corporate amicus briefs in scores of important Supreme Court cases.
A new review of grant documents, first published on the dark web, provides a snapshot of how groups tied to Leonard Leo–the man who put Amy Barrett on President Trump’s list for the Supreme Court–have been secretly funded to file briefs with the Supreme Court to overturn U.S. laws, including the Affordable Care Act.
Five right-wing funders provided 83 percent of the traceable cash between 2014-2019 for the group’s efforts to crush public employee unions, question climate science, undermine the Affordable Care Act, and privatize schools.
The Republican Party and numerous allied groups are taking an “all-of-the-above” approach to restrict voting as much as they possibly can in this year’s November elections.
Right-wing opponents to vote-by-mail and other reforms that would expand voter participation have been busy this summer trying to whip up opposition to the states’ attempts to accommodate voters during the pandemic and undermine public confidence in mail-in ballots.
The Milwaukee-based foundation funded many of the groups behind the right-wing campaign against coronavirus public safety measures and made specific grants to support rapid reopening efforts. Since then, COVID-19 cases have soared across the U.S. and in Wisconsin.
The Republican commissioners appeared on a podcast made by True the Vote, a right-wing group that promotes voter roll purges, voter ID laws, and using retired military and police officers as poll watchers in minority precincts.
The Milwaukee-based foundation pumped more than $42 million in 2019 into a network of right-wing groups dedicated to attacking unions, blocking climate action, creating obstacles to voting, and promoting the GOP’s political power and policy agenda.