Sludge
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A non-partisan, independent news outlet exposing the moneyed interests that control U.S. politics. Get our newsletter: https://readsludge.com/
New: AIPAC has poured $100 million into elections for the second cycle in a row, according to a review of FEC records, cementing its status as one of the top spenders in congressional elections.
AIPAC Tops $100 Million in Election Spending for Second Straight Cycle
The pro-Israel group's PAC and super PAC have poured $104.3 million into the midterms, including more than $30.6 million in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, the most it has ever spent on a single...
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New: AIPAC tops $100 million in election spending for the second straight cycle, according to a Sludge review of campaign finance records.
AIPAC Tops $100 Million in Election Spending for Second Straight Cycle
The pro-Israel group's PAC and super PAC have poured $104.3 million into the midterms, including more than $30.6 million in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, the most it has ever spent on a single...
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Cleta Mitchell's Voter Suppression Charity Tripled Its Spending Ahead of the Midterms readsludge.com/2026/07/31/c...
Cleta Mitchell's Voter Suppression Charity Tripled Its Spending Ahead of the Midterms
The FAIR Elections Fund's latest tax filing shows the charity bankrolled ads warning Latino voters that casting a ballot could get them deported, and paid the consulting firm of an ally who now overse...
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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. readsludge.com/2026/07/31/l...
Lobbying Filings Reveal What Companies Paid for Trump's Freedom 250
Freedom 250 isn't required to disclose what its corporate sponsors paid, but new lobbying filings reveal the first documented contribution amounts for some of its biggest backers.
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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. readsludge.com/2026/07/31/c...
Cleta Mitchell's Voter Suppression Charity Tripled Its Spending Ahead of the Midterms
The FAIR Elections Fund's latest tax filing shows the charity bankrolled ads warning Latino voters that casting a ballot could get them deported, and paid the consulting firm of an ally who now overse...
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Haley Stevens' campaign has paid nearly $200k to a fundraising firm that also runs a Google- and Amazon-backed nonprofit that flies congressional staff to meet with AI lobbyists. She's not the only Dem paying them—so are Coons, Rosen, Heinrich, the DSCC, etc. readsludge.com/2026/07/29/d...
Democrats' Fundraisers Are Also Running AI's Congressional Access Operation
Consultants paid by Rep. Haley Stevens and other Democratic Senate campaigns are also managing a nonprofit that gives Google, Meta, Palantir, and other AI companies direct access to the congressional ...
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Haley Stevens' campaign has paid nearly $200k to a fundraising firm that also runs a Google- and Amazon-backed nonprofit that flies congressional staff to meet with AI lobbyists. She's not the only Dem paying them—so are Coons, Rosen, Heinrich, the DSCC, etc. readsludge.com/2026/07/29/d...
Democrats' Fundraisers Are Also Running AI's Congressional Access Operation
Consultants paid by Rep. Haley Stevens and other Democratic Senate campaigns are also managing a nonprofit that gives Google, Meta, Palantir, and other AI companies direct access to the congressional ...
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NEW: Haley Stevens and other Democratic campaigns are paying fundraising consultants who run a Google- and Amazon-backed nonprofit that gives Google, Meta, Palantir and other AI companies direct access to the staff writing AI legislation. readsludge.com/2026/07/29/d...
Democrats' Fundraisers Are Also Running AI's Congressional Access Operation
Consultants paid by Rep. Haley Stevens and other Democratic Senate campaigns are also managing a nonprofit that gives Google, Meta, Palantir, and other AI companies direct access to the congressional ...
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Carville's War on the Democratic Left Is Funded by Centrist Billionaires readsludge.com/2026/07/25/c...
Carville's War on the Democratic Left Is Funded by Centrist Billionaires
James Carville's firm has been paid by American Bridge, a super PAC funded by billionaires who also bankroll groups fighting progressives in primaries—and he advised a lobbying shop the crypto industr...
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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.
Carville's War on the Democratic Left Is Funded by Centrist Billionaires
James Carville's firm has been paid by American Bridge, a super PAC funded by billionaires who also bankroll groups fighting progressives in primaries—and he advised a lobbying shop the crypto industr...
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James Carville is attacking progressives and democratic socialists who won Democratic primaries, earning appearances on Fox News and Newsmax. He hasn't mentioned: he was an advisor to a Democratic lobbying and PR firm paid over half a million dollars by the crypto industry.
Carville's War on the Democratic Left Is Funded by Centrist Billionaires
James Carville's firm has been paid by American Bridge, a super PAC funded by billionaires who also bankroll groups fighting progressives in primaries—and he advised a lobbying shop the crypto industr...
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New: James Carville, who has been calling to purge the left wing of the Democratic Party, was a senior advisor to a lobbying shop that was paid more than half a million dollars by a crypto industry group as crypto money poured in to knock out progressives.
Carville's War on the Democratic Left Is Funded by Centrist Billionaires
James Carville's firm has been paid by American Bridge, a super PAC funded by billionaires who also bankroll groups fighting progressives in primaries—and he advised a lobbying shop the crypto industr...
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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. readsludge.com/2026/07/23/f...
Former Trump Officials Are Lobbying the Agencies They Just Left
A Sludge review of Q2 lobbying disclosures found multiple revolving-door hires from the Trump White House are already lobbying the very agencies they just left, after President Trump declined to issue...
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Former Trump Officials Are Lobbying the Agencies They Just Left readsludge.com/2026/07/23/f...
Former Trump Officials Are Lobbying the Agencies They Just Left
A Sludge review of Q2 lobbying disclosures found multiple revolving-door hires from the Trump White House are already lobbying the very agencies they just left, after President Trump declined to issue...
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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. readsludge.com/2026/07/23/f...
Former Trump Officials Are Lobbying the Agencies They Just Left
A Sludge review of Q2 lobbying disclosures found multiple revolving-door hires from the Trump White House are already lobbying the very agencies they just left, after President Trump declined to issue...
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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.
GOP Stock Trading Bill Leaves Glaring Conflicts Untouched
Senators and reps could continue to hold stock in companies they oversee on their committees under a GOP leadership-backed stock bill that is being fast-tracked through the House.
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NEW: A dark money group led by pharma and weapons industry lobbyists has funneled $10.9 million to the super PAC backing Haley Stevens in Michigan's Senate Democratic primary, nearly all of its money so far. readsludge.com/2026/07/20/d...
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 Grum...
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AI Companies Are Funding the AGs Investigating Them readsludge.com/2026/07/17/a...
AI Companies Are Funding the AGs Investigating Them
OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others sent a wave of donations to both parties’ attorney general groups as AGs move to regulate the AI industry. Elon Musk's xAI contributed as well.
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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.
AI Companies Are Funding the AGs Investigating Them
OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others sent a wave of donations to both parties’ attorney general groups as AGs move to regulate the AI industry. Elon Musk's xAI contributed as well.
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New: AI companies are funding the attorneys general who police them. OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon, xAI, and Anthropic have poured more than $2 million into the Democratic and Republican AG committees, even as AGs investigate and sue them.
AI Companies Are Funding the AGs Investigating Them
OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others sent a wave of donations to both parties’ attorney general groups as AGs move to regulate the AI industry. Elon Musk's xAI contributed as well.
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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: Hakeem Jeffries recently received AIPAC PAC's largest ever earmarked contribution to his joint fundraising committee. Today, he came out against cutting billions in Israel aid. readsludge.com/2026/07/14/j...
Jeffries Opposes Bid to Cut Israel Aid After Record AIPAC Earmark
The House Democratic leader's campaign operation recently took in AIPAC PAC's largest earmarked donation ever, from a billionaire hedge fund investor.
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The 'Dark Money' Web Behind the Biden-Harris Campaign Is Finally Coming Into View readsludge.com/2026/07/13/t...
The 'Dark Money' Web Behind the Biden-Harris Campaign Is Finally Coming Into View
New tax filings reveal $173 million that flowed into the Future Forward dark money group from obscure nonprofits tied to powerful Democratic operatives.
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New tax filings reveal the dark money web behind the Biden-Harris campaign: $173M funneled through three shadowy nonprofits into Future Forward, the biggest dark money political machine in 2024. readsludge.com/2026/07/13/t...
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. readsludge.com/2026/07/13/t...
The 'Dark Money' Web Behind the Biden-Harris Campaign Is Finally Coming Into View
New tax filings reveal $173 million that flowed into the Future Forward dark money group from obscure nonprofits tied to powerful Democratic operatives.
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“The reason we’re worried is because this went from being the exception to being the rule,” Center for Biological Diversity Environmental Health Science Director Nathan Donley, told Sludge. “PFAS #pesticides were very rare 20 years ago, and now they make up nearly every new pesticide approval.”
Sludge@sludge.bsky.social · 4w agoNEW: 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. readsludge.com/2026/07/07/c...
The chemical lobbyist-led EPA has approved five new PFAS pesticides since November, including one that is classified as a likely human carcinogen. readsludge.com/2026/07/07/c...
Chemical Lobbyist-Packed EPA Boosts PFAS Pesticides
The EPA has approved new PFAS pesticides for nationwide use after its pesticide office adopted industry-friendly language excluding certain fluorinated chemicals from the agency’s PFAS designation, in...
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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. readsludge.com/2026/07/07/c...
Chemical Lobbyist-Packed EPA Boosts PFAS Pesticides
The EPA has approved new PFAS pesticides for nationwide use after its pesticide office adopted industry-friendly language excluding certain fluorinated chemicals from the agency’s PFAS designation, in...
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NEW: Promise to America won't disclose who is funding its new anti-socialist pledge. But the group is closely tied to the Welcome Party, whose affiliated PAC has raised most of its money from billionaires and wealthy finance executives. readsludge.com/2026/07/02/t...
The Billionaire Money Behind New Centrist Pledge
Promise to America won't disclose who is funding its new anti-socialist pledge. But the group is closely tied to the Welcome Party, whose affiliated PAC has raised most of its individual donor dollars...
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The day before Trump paused tariffs and sparked a historic 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. readsludge.com/2026/07/01/t...
Trump Bought Hundreds of Stocks the Day Before He Paused Tariffs and Sparked a Historic Rally
The trades weren't made public until yesterday, more than a year later than required by law.
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