Michael Beckel

Pardon Industry Offers Rich Offenders a Path to Trump

NEW: Pardon seekers are routinely being asked to pay $1m+ to lobbyists & lawyers claiming access to Trump, often with bonuses if clemency is granted.

I investigated the Trump Pardon Industrial Complex, & detailed the backstory behind 1 interesting pardon.

Moral of the story? Congressional oversight matters. Congress should do it more.

NEW: Clemency for Tina Peters would be unprecedented, based on my analysis of Gov Polis' 25 commutations. Peters hasn't shown remorse, taken accountability, or sought to restore harm. No Polis commutation was for a harsh sentence alone and Peters' would be the shortest by 30+ yrs

New Investigation into Interior’s Use of Taxpayer Resources for Trump-aligned Freedom 250 Diversion of Funds Raises Serious Questions

🚨Secretary Burgum’s under investigation for the pay-for-play corruption scheme he set up for his boss? The secretive Freedom 250 was set up to peddle influence, whitewash history, and exploit America’s 250th celebration for Trump. https://bit.ly/4cmvNHp

NEW: Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser (D) says Gov Jared Polis (D) offering clemency to Tina Peters "would be a grave miscarriage of justice and dangerous for free and fair elections."

The Feds Targeted Charlotte. Now a Local Democrat Who Helped ICE Faces Voters. - Bolts North Carolina lawmaker Carla Cunningham voted to mandate compliance with ICE, and derided immigrants on the House floor. The Democrat faces an intense March primary.

JUST IN: North Carolina's Dem lawmaker Carla Cunningham gave the GOP the decisive vote to pass a law forcing police to comply with ICE. She said "all cultures are not equal."

She just lost reelection BIG in the Dem primary to a progressive pastor & activist, Rodney Sadler. 70% to 22%!

Context:

"Clemency for [Tina] Peters would do incalculable damage to our state and our nation... Clemency would open the door to more lawbreaking [&] inspire further attacks on the integrity of our elections" warns @protectdemocracy.org www.denverpost.com/2026/01/15/t...

Polling by @issueonereform.bsky.social shows that this idea to undo Citizens United and curb dark money in politics is incredibly popular with Americans across the political spectrum — including 81% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and 60% of independents

issueone.org/press/new-po...

Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) & @aoc.bsky.social (D-NY) are right: The so-called Stop Insider Trading Act won't actually solve the problem of insider trading.

Lawmakers in both parties should continue to push Congress to pass the bipartisan Restore Trust in Congress Act

thehill.com/homenews/hou...

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Trump's properties remain an epicenter of his conflicts and corruption in second term - CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington In his first 365 days back in office, Trump visited his properties 198 times, and visited his golf courses 116 times.

Forbes calls Trump's first year back in office "the most lucrative" of his life.

CREW already found over 3,700 conflicts of interest between the Trump Organization and the presidency during his first term—and his second term is even more outrageous.

The “Corporate Powers Reset” Movement: How States Are Trying to Outflank Citizens United | BillTrack50 An analysis of state bills attempting to circumvent the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

What's the idea behind the corporate power reset?

"If a corporation only exists because state law says it does, the theory goes, then state law can also define what that corporation is allowed to do — including whether it may spend money to influence elections" www.billtrack50.com/info/blog/th...

Three previously unknown donors gave $26 million to Trump-aligned dark money group - Issue One An Issue One examination of tax filings has revealed three previously unknown donors who gave more than $26 million to Securing American Greatness, a dark money group that supported President…

Pro-Trump dark money group Securing American Greatness raised $275 million in 2024 from fewer than 100 unknown donors.

@issueonereform.bsky.social has uncovered 3 of them:

American Prosperity Alliance: $17M
MAGA Action Inc: $7.7M
Bitcoin Advocacy Project: $2M

issueone.org/press/three-...

What Are the Likely Partisan Effects from a Pro-Party Supreme Court Decision in NRSC v. FEC? #ELB I’ve been asked this question a lot by journalists and others, so I thought I’d post my answer. As this recent story from the NYT notes, the Republican Party currently raises more of its money through...

Smart take from @rickpildes.bsky.social about pending NRSC v FEC SCOTUS case about coordinated spending: Republicans would likely get a boost from a pro-party ruling, "but the history of campaign-finance regulation suggests any such short term boost would be short lived" electionlawblog.org?p=154528

Three previously unknown donors gave $26 million to Trump-aligned dark money group - Issue One An Issue One examination of tax filings has revealed three previously unknown donors who gave more than $26 million to Securing American Greatness, a dark money group that supported President…

A Trump-aligned dark money group called Securing American Greatness raised $275 million in 2024.

@issueonereform.bsky.social has uncovered 3 donors that gave a combined $26M.

The Bitcoin Advocacy Project gave $2M, while two pro-Trump dark money groups gave even more

issueone.org/press/three-...

The 75 Elections to Watch This March - Bolts The 2026 midterms really are starting. Five states hold all of their primaries for federal and state offices in March, and voters there face high-profile choices. They’ll decide which Democrat... Read...

NEW: We're there. The midterms really are starting.

March has the year's 1st supreme court race. Primaries for Senate, AG, & legislature. Sheriff & DA races rocked by ICE. Special elections that may flip. Even a minimum wage measure!

My guide of the *75* elections to watch in March:

Henry Waxman: Congressional Chameleon | RealClearPolitics The following is an excerpt from the forthcoming book, “Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress.” Standing five feet, five inches...

"Money is now deciding not just who gets elected, but how much power they have within the chamber" writes @kornbergmaya.bsky.social of @brennancenter.org about the broken party dues system in Congress and the price of power www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/202...

Well, someone is "richer than ever before" anyway...

The 118th Congress’ Fundraising Treadmill - Issue One The presidential election in 2024 wasn’t the only race setting campaign finance records. Recently filed federal filings illuminate the massive sums House and Senate candidates raised during the 2023-2...

Fast forward to 2024: Nearly all members of Congress now have a leadership PAC

Lawmakers raised a combined $260 million through their leadership PACs between January 2023 and December 2024, @issueonereform.bsky.social found

Median amount raised was $177,000

issueone.org/articles/the...

All Expenses Paid: Another Look - Issue One In 1978, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), in coordination with powerful allies in California’s Democratic Party, asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to allow for the creation of “leadership PAC” acco...

What loophole have leadership PACs been abusing?

A loophole that enables some members of Congress to enjoy the perks of lavish living on someone else's dime, as @issueonereform.bsky.social & @campaignlegal.org detailed in this 2021 report

issueone.org/articles/all...

Democrat Henry Waxman pioneered the leadership PAC.

Back in 2020, he told @issueonereform.bsky.social he had concerns about the loophole leadership PACs have been abusing — a loophole that could be fixed by adding a comma and three words to existing rules

issueone.org/articles/swa...

Arnie Arnesen Attitude February 24 2026 Podcast Episode · Attitude with Arnie Arnesen · February 24 · 58m

So great talking with @nharnie.bsky.social about @issueonereform.bsky.social's "Corruption Chronicles" series, which highlights how Donald Trump has sidestepped anti-corruption safeguards and used public office for private gain. Listen to our full conversation podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Generative Influence - Public Citizen

Artificial intelligence boom on K Street:

More than 3,500 lobbyists – a quarter of all federal lobbyists – reported lobbying on AI issues at least once in 2025, finds @publiccitizen.bsky.social

www.citizen.org/article/gene...

Trump's crypto ventures present a danger of foreign nationals seeking access and influence.

~65 wallets control ~90% of the publicly available memecoin launched by Trump last year, each of which holds $1M or more.

~70% of these are likely foreign nationals, per @issueonereform.bsky.social review

8 in 10 Americans, republicans and democrats, think there is too much corporate money in politics. We agree! Help us do something about it at transparentelection.org #CampaignFinance #DarkMoney #TEI #TheMontanaPlan

Polling done last year by @issueonereform.bsky.social found that Americans across the political spectrum agreed that large contributions to super PACs create a risk of corruption and the appearance of corruption issueone.org/press/new-po...

Jasmine Crockett Swears Off Corporate Cash — But Transferred Thousands From Her House Campaign A Democrat running for Senate in Texas has a complicated history with corporate America and the crypto industry.

What’s in a pledge to reject corporate PAC money? @akelalacy.bsky.social @theintercept.com reveals that @crockett.house.gov transferred funds from corporate PACs given to her House campaign to help fund her Senate bid theintercept.com/2026/02/13/j...

Wow. New FEC reports show billionaire Matt Moroun gave Trump’s super PAC $1 million last month.

A few weeks later, Moroun met with Trump officials, and the next day, the president came out publicly against a rival bridge project that would cut into Moroun’s profits. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/w...

New FEC filing shows who gave big money to Trump's super PAC last month:

$5 million from Foris Dax, aka Crypto dot com

$1 million from Matthew Moroun, whose family owns and operates the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Canada

docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...

New FEC filing reveals who got $$ last month from PAC of private prison operator and ICE contractor GEO Group:

NRSC - $15,000
Tom Cotton (R-AR) - $2,500
Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) - $2,500
Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) - $2,500
Aaron Bean (R-FL) - $1,000

docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...