Research Cited

Join the Intercept in Documenting the Conflicts of Interest of Hundreds of Trump Appointees

Source: The Intercept | Published: 5/25/2017

To shed light on these appointees’ backgrounds, The Intercept and the Center for Media and Democracy have requested the Office of Government Ethics Form 278, the standard financial disclosure document, for hundreds of Trump officials. We have now received over 150 of them and compiled them in a public Google Documents table, and will be adding more as they arrive.

The Other Special Prosecutor We Need

Democracy, Trump

Source: Moyers & Company | Published: 5/25/2017

Meanwhile, another scandal is brewing in the White House that demands equal attention — Trump, his family and his inner circle cashing in on the presidency for personal profit.

Let’s face it, Trump and his close associates have turned their backs on ethical norms and the anti-corruption protections written into the US Constitution and federal law in a way we haven’t seen in modern times.

The Truth Behind the Stand – Walter Carpenter

ALEC, Koch

Source: Caledonian Record | Published: 5/24/2017

According to the Center for Media and Democracy, “ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through the secretive meetings of ALEC, corporate lobbyists and state legislators vote as equals on “model bills” to change our rights that often benefit the corporations’ bottom line at public expense (www.alecexposed.org/wiki).” Member dues and donations, usually untraceable, from such conservative and libertarian groups as the Koch Brothers, fund ALEC. This group has been noted, for example, to be behind voter ID laws and other forms of voter suppression. It is hardly surprising that they rated Vermont as they did, using their “15 state policy variables,” created by their lobbyists and member legislators.

‘You Can’t Make This Up’: Comcast Threatens Legal Action Against Net Neutrality Proponents

Democracy, Trump

Source: Common Dreams | Published: 5/23/2017

Indeed, the fake comment scandal in addition to the FCC’s failure to process comments in favor of net neutrality drew sharp criticism in the wake of the FCC’s vote, and raised concern over how much influence the telecom industry holds over Pai, and now the FCC.

In case there was any question on that front, The Intercept’s Lee Fang and Nick Surgey reported on Tuesday on an internal email from GOP leadership instructing House Republicans on how best to defend the FCC’s decision.

Lawsuit Targets Trump’s Climate-Change Censorship

Climate, Environment, Trump

Source: Common Dreams | Published: 5/23/2017

On March 23 the [Center for Biological Diversity] joined conservation biologist Stuart Pimm and the Center for Media and Democracy in a separate Freedom of Information Act request to prevent the administration from removing hundreds of environmental data sets on government websites.

Cable Industry Lobbyists Write Republican Talking Points on Net Neutrality

Democracy, Trump

Source: The Intercept | Published: 5/23/2017

Following the vote last week by the Federal Communication Commission to unwind the net neutrality rules enacted during the Obama administration, House Republican lawmakers received an email from GOP leadership on how to defend the decision. The email was shared with The Intercept and the Center for Media and Democracy.

Pruitt’s ‘Political Ambition’ Could Imperil Overhaul — Ebell

SPN, Trump

Source: E&E News | Published: 5/22/2017

Speaking in a closed-door session at the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy in Fairfax County, Ebell said the Trump administration has made a series of errors that could trip up efforts to cut red tape — chief among them delays in appointing key EPA officials.

“This is an impending disaster for the Trump administration,” Ebell said in the recording provided to the Center for Media and Democracy and shared with Reuters.

Maine Resolution Would Aid Scheme to Rewrite U.S. Constitution

ALEC, Democracy

Source: Portland Press Herald | Published: 5/22/2017

“These are three sweeping areas that amount to a rewrite of the Constitution,” said Arn Pearson, general counsel for the Center for Media and Democracy, a Wisconsin-based organization that closely tracks ALEC. “I really see it as a return to the Confederacy. They want the ability for states to override Supreme Court rulings and any federal law they don’t like.”

Trump EPA Transition Chief Laments Slow Pace in Killing Green Rules

Climate, Environment, SPN, Trump

Source: Newsline | Published: 5/22/2017

In closed-door remarks to members of the conservative Jefferson Institute in Virginia on April 18, a recording of which was obtained by Reuters, Ebell said Trump’s administration had made a series of missteps, including delays in appointing key EPA officials, that could hamper efforts to cut red tape for industry.

“This is an impending disaster for the Trump administration,” Ebell, a prominent climate change doubter, said in the recording provided to the Center for Media and Democracy and shared with Reuters.

Report: Out-of-State Group Bankrolls Attacks on CO Workers

Bradley Files

Source: Public News Service | Published: 5/17/2017

The Bradley Foundation, a Wisconsin-based conservative powerhouse, is taking its successful strategies targeting unions and public education to swing states including Colorado, according to new, separate reports by the Center for Media and Democracy and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.