(This post is from our new blog: Unofficial Sources.)
After winning reelection and control of the U.S. Senate, Republican Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appointed Hazen Marshall, a lobbyist for Koch Industries, as his new policy chief.
Marshall, whose lobbying background Roll Call described on Monday, began working as McConnell’s policy director earlier this year. Marshall previously served as a partner with the Nickles Group, where he represented clients including Koch Industries, AT&T, Cigna, Exxon Mobil, Medtronic, Exelon, Comcast, the American Hospital Association and Wal-Mart.
Records show Marshall worked on behalf of Koch Industries to lobby on tax credit legislation as well as against S.J. Res. 19, a resolution seeking to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
Koch Industries’ lobbying team disclosed spending over $13 million to influence the federal government last year. Executives from Koch Industries’ lobbying subsidiary, Koch Companies Public Sector, also help to manage a sprawling network of think tanks, internship programs and campaign-oriented nonprofits.
Last June, McConnell made an appearance at the private donor summit organized by Koch Industries’ owners, Charles and David Koch.
“I want to start by thanking you, Charles and David, for the important work you’re doing,” McConnell said, according to the Huffington Post. “I don’t know where we’d be without you.”
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
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IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
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I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
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