Investigating Power
Fidelity is a Silver sponsor, which means it paid $25,000 for “one 30-45 minute virtual private meeting, potential to contribute a speaker to panel discussion, and sponsorship of ‘e-blasts,” according to the Center for Media and Democracy. As a Bronze sponsor, Wells Fargo paid $15,000 for “invitations to SFOF special events, distribution in conference swag […]
ALEC, Climate, Economy, Environment, SFOF
Not all of Devon’s top brass have been so reticent to declare their side in the ESG war. Devon CEO Rick Muncrief sits on the board of directors of the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance. Earlier this year, DEPA urged board members of the American Legislative Exchange Council to adopt the “Eliminate Economic Boycotts Act” as […]
Democracy, Economy, Environment, RAGA, SFOF
One panel hosted by Republican Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks posed a question increasingly uttered by congressional Republicans and and prospective GOP presidential candidates in recent months, according to an agenda obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy and later reviewed by CNBC.
With a national agenda and a state-by-state focus, NACL is emulating the American Legislative Exchange Council. An infamous corporate front group, ALEC pioneered the strategy of pushing for national political goals by advancing carbon-copy bills through state legislatures. But where ALEC serves far-right billionaire masters and polluting special interests, NACL sees itself as serving the […]
The center sued in December 2020, arguing Yost had violated his duty of disclosure. In its lawsuit, CMD described RAGA and RLDF as “extremely influential pressure groups whose shared mission is to advance the interests of their corporate patrons.” RAGA’s funders include a political organization backed by conservative billionaire Leonard Leo, according to CMD and […]
ALEC, Climate, Democracy, Economy, Environment, RAGA, SFOF
To coordinate messaging among treasurers and comptrollers, SFOF has contracted with CRC Advisors, a for-profit PR shop part-owned by right-wing legal crusader and Federalist Society guru Leonard Leo. Legal entrepreneurs and ESG opponents have found common cause elsewhere, too. The Center for Media and Democracy—a watchdog group that has tracked state-level anti-ESG efforts since their […]
Campaign Finance, Democracy, Elections, SPN
According to a Center for Media and Democracy investigation in 2018, People United for Privacy is a “front group” for the State Policy Network, a web of right-wing think tanks, advocacy groups, and other nonprofits that “provide academic legitimacy for policy ideas through right-wing reports, testimony at legislative hearings, and the media.”
ALEC has existed since the 1970s but rose to prominence in the Obama era for drafting model bills that were increasingly being introduced — sometimes verbatim — in Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country. The organization’s imprint has been clear: In 2015, the progressive Center for Media and Democracy revealed that Wisconsin’s ”right-to-work” bill was almost a word-for-word copy […]
Bradley Files, Democracy, Elections
According to an article published in the New Yorker by journalist Jane Mayer in 2021, the Bradley Foundation has been instrumental in funding voter suppression efforts and 2020 election conspiracy theories. Documents obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy show that Kelly received payments in 2022 from the Bradley Foundation and affiliated organizations.
Democracy, Education, Extremism, Koch
The Center for Media and Democracy’s research is cited multiple times in this important publication