How Lobbyists and Insiders Could Override Voters to Choose the Democratic Presidential Nominee
The new superdelegate rules, combined with a crowded field and early elections, could lead to a brokered convention in 2020.
Lee Fang
Lee Fang is a journalist with a longstanding interest in how public policy is influenced by organized interest groups and money. He was the first to uncover and detail the role of the billionaire Koch brothers in financing the tea party movement. His interviews and research on the Koch brothers have been featured on HBO's "The Newsroom," the documentaries "Merchants of Doubt" and "Citizen Koch," as well as in multiple media outlets. He was an investigative blogger for ThinkProgress from 2009 to 2011, and then a fellow at the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute and contributing writer for The Nation.
In 2012, he co-founded RepublicReport.org, a blog to cover political corruption that syndicates content with TheNation.com, Salon, National Memo, BillMoyers.com, TruthOut, and other media outlets. His work has been published by VICE, The Baffler, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Progressive, NPR, In These Times, and the Huffington Post. His first book, "The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right," published by the New Press, explores how the conservative right rebuilt the Republican Party and its political clout in the aftermath of Barack Obama's 2008 election victory. He is based in San Francisco.
In 2012, he co-founded RepublicReport.org, a blog to cover political corruption that syndicates content with TheNation.com, Salon, National Memo, BillMoyers.com, TruthOut, and other media outlets. His work has been published by VICE, The Baffler, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Progressive, NPR, In These Times, and the Huffington Post. His first book, "The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right," published by the New Press, explores how the conservative right rebuilt the Republican Party and its political clout in the aftermath of Barack Obama's 2008 election victory. He is based in San Francisco.
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Investors in Companies Profiting Off Student Loans Are Worried About Democrats' Proposals to Cancel Debt
With ambitious proposals from Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, momentum for canceling student debt is growing.
As San Francisco District Attorney, Kamala Harris's Office Stopped Cooperating With Victims of Catholic Church Child Abuse
Thanks to Kamala Harris’s predecessor, the San Francisco DA’s office had files on clergy sex abusers. But Harris refused to share them with victims.
Ginni Thomas Plans New Conservative Supergroup to "Protect President Trump"
With the help of a who’s who of conservative activists, the Supreme Court justice’s wife aims to open up a new front in America’s political wars.
Targeting Iran
Arms Manufacturers Tell Investors That Iran Tension Fuels Business
With much of the world on edge over simmering tension in the Middle East, and the U.S. threatening war with Iran, defense executives talked of opportunity.
A Major Coal Company Went Bust. Its Bankruptcy Filing Shows That It Was Funding Climate Change Denialism.
Cloud Peak Energy gave contributions to leading think tanks that have attacked the link between the burning of fossil fuels and climate change.
Lobbyists Working to Undermine Medicare For All Host Congressional Staff at Luxury Resort
Blue Dogs and Republicans enjoyed a luxury retreat to discuss ways to beat back public health care.
Joe Biden's Presidential Campaign Pledged Not to Take Special-Interest Money — but Not His PAC
Biden’s American Possibilities PAC is still taking corporate cash.
Chinese Fund Backed By Hunter Biden Invested in Major Chinese Surveillance Firm
The flurry of media reports about private investment in China’s increasingly sprawling surveillance state left out a prominent investor: Hunter Biden.
Making a Killing
GOP Lawmaker Gave Pro-War Speech on Yemen — by Reading Saudi Lobbyist’s Talking Points Verbatim
Rep. Ed Royce spoke on the House floor against ending U.S. support for the Yemen war. His talking points were scripted by lobbyists for Saudi Arabia.