mastodon 4.7.3Relentlessly uncovering corruption. An independent, reader-supported newsroom: https://readsludge.com/
James Carville was senior advisor to a corporate lobbying firm—one touting its services to "reduce negative press"—that was paid more than half a million dollars by the crypto industry as crypto super PACs spent against progressives in Democratic primaries.
New: Cleta Mitchell's voter suppression charity tripled its spending ahead of the midterms, per Sludge's review of its latest tax filing. One of the people it's been paying now oversees election integrity at DHS.
The House GOP is readying a vote on a bill to ban stock trading by members of Congress that good-government groups call a "fig leaf" for ethics.
The Stop Insider Trading Act from Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) would allow lawmakers to keep their millions of dollars in shares in oil, bank stocks, and more.
https://readsludge.com/2026/01/13/gop-stock-trading-bill-leaves-glaring-conflicts-untouched/
NEW: The EPA has approved new PFAS pesticides to be sprayed on the nation's crops after its pesticide office adopted industry-backed language excluding certain fluorinated chemicals from the agency’s PFAS designation.
https://readsludge.com/2026/07/07/chemical-lobbyist-packed-epa-boosts-pfas-pesticides/
NEW: Dark Money Group Led by Corporate Lobbyists Funds Pro-Stevens Super PAC
A new FEC filings show nearly all of the $13 million spent so far by the pro-Haley Stevens super PAC A Stronger Michigan came from Center Forward, a dark money group led by lobbyists for Northrop Grumman and funded in part by PhRMA.
The day before Trump paused tariffs and sparked a historic 10% market rally, his accounts bought 327 stocks worth up to $12.8 million. The trades weren't disclosed until yesterday—over a year late. He paid a $200 penalty.
New: Gov. Wes Moore won't say whether he accepted a bonus from Citigroup after the massive federal bailout it helped cause. Citi executives took $5.3 billion in bonuses that year after the taxpayer bailout totaled $517 billion.
NEW: Freedom 250 LLC doesn’t have to disclose what its corporate sponsors paid. But new lobbying filings reveal millions given by major corporate backers.
NEW: Tax filings reveal a hidden web of obscure, interconnected nonprofits that moved $173 million into the record-breaking “dark money” operation backing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2024.
House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Greg Steube's spouse bought her first tech stock soon before the quantum computing company announced it had won a defense contract. No household in Congress had ever bought $IONQ before. The stock surged.
NEW: The Big Bank lobby is quietly routing millions through a dark money network tied to JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BofA, Citi and others to boost corporate-friendly Democrats via New Dem + Blue Dog super PACs.
https://readsludge.com/2026/06/29/big-bank-lobby-pumps-millions-into-corporate-dems-super-pacs/
AI companies are donating millions to the campaign groups of state AGs investigating them.
Elon Musk's xAI is both suing California AG Rob Bonta, seeking to block a new AI transparency measure in the state, and being investigated by Bonta over sexually explicit deepfakes generated by Grok. It donated to the Democratic AG group.
Report for subscribers to our muckraking:
https://readsludge.com/2026/07/17/ai-companies-are-funding-the-ags-investigating-them/
NEW: AI Super PACs Are Unleashing Millions to Tilt Primaries in Their Favor
So far, the industry groups have won nearly all the races they’ve thrown their money at, helping to advance allies who could help shape AI legislation in the next Congress.
Follow-up to yesterday's story: Billionaire hedge fund investor Daniel Och, whose earmarked contributions funded AIPAC's record donation to Hakeem Jeffries' joint fundraising committee, also donated $50,000 in June to Republican Sen. Susan Collins, per new FEC filing.
New: Netflix said it wasn't a monopoly. Then it collected a $2.8 billion windfall and raised prices anyway.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren tells Sludge that the timing of Netflix's price hike is a slap in the face to Americans.
“Corporate consolidation has created a world where, year after year, Netflix has jacked up prices for millions of customers just because it can." 👀
https://readsludge.com/2026/04/28/netflix-raised-prices-after-pocketing-a-2-8-billion-windfall/
A New Web of Secret Money Is Shaping Democratic Races Across the Country
A seven-month-old nonprofit with ties to the Democratic “dark money” machine has helped fund a little-known hybrid PAC that is funneling money into key races.
Report by Donald Shaw, including the states where the secretive new nonprofit Contours Inc. is sending $$:
Crypto and AI super PACs have amassed more than $322 million in the 2026 cycle, according to FEC data, ready to knock out lawmakers who don't support their deregulatory agendas.
New from us at The Nation:
NEW: Former Trump officials are already lobbying the agencies they just left.
A Sludge review of Q2 disclosures found multiple revolving-door hires already lobbying their old agencies—after the White House declined to issue any ethics pledge.
https://readsludge.com/2026/07/23/former-trump-officials-are-lobbying-the-agencies-they-just-left/
New, via ExposedByCMD: The Bayer-funded Modern Ag Alliance has spent millions on ads and lobbying to shape Roundup policy—and shield the company from health-related lawsuits involving tens of thousands of cancer claims.
https://readsludge.com/2026/05/01/bayer-built-a-farm-front-group-to-fight-roundup-cancer-claims/
NEW: While Wes Moore worked as an investment banker at Citigroup, the rescued bank gave out $5.3 billion in bonuses, as unemployment and foreclosures spiked from the financial crisis that Citi helped trigger.
Moore has twice ducked questions about whether he took a Citi bonus that year. Story on the Maryland governor's Wall Street connections:
NEW: Two shadowy Delaware nonprofits have pumped $750k into attack ads against Graham Platner. One faces a straw donor complaint, and both are part of a sprawling dark money network with ties to AIPAC, Kristi Noem, and a Hakeem Jeffries-aligned super PAC.
https://readsludge.com/2026/06/01/the-dark-money-network-attacking-graham-platner/
Our latest: States like California and New York have a combined billions of dollars invested in Palantir as it powers ICE raids and AI weapons systems—sparking protests from public employees over their retirement savings tied up in the company.
List of state pension holdings:
https://readsludge.com/2026/03/31/these-state-pension-funds-invest-in-palantir/
NEW:
Pro-Israel PACs have already poured $50 million into congressional midterm races.
A bipartisan class of political consultants is cashing in on the spending, earning millions for ad creation, media placement, and fundraising services.
https://readsludge.com/2026/05/26/the-consultants-cashing-in-on-pro-israel-campaign-spending/
Breaking: Trump has pivoted from bonds to buying individual stocks in hundreds of American companies, according to a new financial disclosure reviewed by Sludge.
New from us, at @thenation@newsie.social
Who’s Funding the Super PAC Attacking Graham Platner?
NEW: While campaigning on “affordability,” House Democrats just set a single-month record for lobbyist cash, with bundled contributions from lobbyists representing pharmaceutical giants, health insurers, and the nation’s largest corporate landlord.
https://readsludge.com/2026/03/25/dccc-sets-lobbyist-cash-record-as-dems-campaign-on-affordability/
Around four dozen billionaires have given *half* the money to two giant Republican super PACs this cycle, according to our new analysis of FEC data, at least $134 million so far.
Meet the oligarchs bankrolling the GOP's defense of Congress, with names and amounts:
NEW: At least 47% of the money fueling the two super PACs allied with Republican leaders in Congress this cycle has come from billionaire donors, according to a new Sludge analysis of FEC data.
NEW: The spouse of House Intelligence Committee member Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) made an unusual stock purchase in quantum computing company IonQ just weeks before it announced a defense contract, sending its price soaring.
Public pension funds from California to New York hold billions of dollars in Palantir stock, while public employees protest their retirement savings funding the tech powering ICE.
NEW list of 30 state pension fund investments in Palantir:
https://readsludge.com/2026/03/31/these-state-pension-funds-invest-in-palantir/
NEW: DOGE staffer Adam Blake, who was tasked with implementing Trump’s nuclear safety rollbacks, simultaneously served on the board of a VC firm backed by nuclear industry investors with a financial stake in the changes.
Report by Peter Castagno:
New investigation: Musk-recruited NASA chief Jared Isaacman is fast-tracking a space nuclear program that lines up perfectly with what SpaceX needs for Mars.
https://readsludge.com/2026/05/19/musk-recruited-nasa-head-pushes-nuclear-agenda-tied-to-spacex/
NEW: Under contract with Israel, a network run by Trump's former digital chief Brad Parscale has been pumping out AI-optimized content to shape narratives about the Iran War.
