Center for Media and Democracy

NEW: In the leadup to a bankruptcy that wiped out ordinary investors, IronNet, a controversial cybersecurity tech startup financed by a board member with alleged ties to a Russian oligarch, paid former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers nearly $725K, filings reviewed by the Center for Media & Democracy indicate.

NEW: The Republican Attorneys General Association spent more than $17 million to keep its grip on states’ chief legal officers in the last quarter, primarily on competitive attorney general races in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Iowa.

"These methods differ in form and intensity, but they reproduce the same political effects: fear, suspicion, sadness, and isolation. These are effects that weaken the relationships through which workers might act together and change their circumstances."

“I have a habit of talking at data center meetings,” said Azalea, 27, a day after she was arrested at a planning commission meeting in Utah County. “But never have I been met with such excessive force.”

“Obviously they had taken care of themselves first and totally ignored all other shareholders in the entity,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist at Public Citizen. buff.ly/6ZfjKee

ICYMI: Michigan’s Mike Rogers Got Big Payout Before Controversial Cybersecurity Firm Went Bankrupt

MAGA candidate for Wisconsin Governor Tom Tiffany is appearing at a Green Bay event organized by the right-wing American Constitutional Rights Union on Thursday Oct. 8 in Green Bay with none other than Ted Nugent.

"DHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say."

"Through platforms like ALEC, Taiwan is able to communicate directly with decision-makers in U.S. states, explaining Taiwan's efforts and achievements in free trade, intellectual property protection, and fair competition."

“School Boards for Academic Excellence is seeking to be a right-wing influence on school boards across the country, " said David Armiak, research director at the Center for Media and Democracy.

We’re Reporters, Not Teachers. We Were Able to Start Private Schools Anyway.

The Supporters Urging Trump to Declare Martial Law for the Midterms

"Tax filings indicate that Consovoy McCarthy, a conservative law firm with ties to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and President Donald Trump, received more than $33.5 million (£25.7 million) from nonprofit organisations whose ultimate donors are not publicly disclosed"

"A city in Oklahoma tried to charge a farmer more than $17,000 to fulfill a public records request for information related to a proposed data center and the farmer’s arrest at a city council meeting."

"A Delaware law requiring organizations that run election-related ads in the state to disclose donors can remain in effect ahead of the November elections, the Third Circuit said Monday."

A photojournalist who says he was struck in the face with a police baton while covering an immigration enforcement protest has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of LA & a LAPD officer, alleging the attack occurred despite a court order protecting journalists covering protests.

NEW: Koch Inc. has a $15-billion stake in the data center building boom, with facilities operating or in the works in 10 states and Europe. www.exposedbycmd.org/2026/08/25/k...

"The Trump administration is attempting to criminalize union members for organizing against its immigration crackdown in Minnesota earlier this year. That’s because it correctly sees labor as a threat to its authoritarian designs."

"The next Sarasota County School board will see a liberal-leaning majority take control after voters rejected the conservative policies and culture wars that for years dominated the board."

Great Replacement conspiracy theorist and pardoned Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang brought his racial grievances to Dearborn & its city council meeting on Tuesday, where the right-wing provocateur told council members Muslim people are “looking to outbreed” white people and “steal our wealth.”

"Private intelligence firms are selling dossiers about critics of artificial intelligence and the data centers powering them, including trying to peddle them to federal regulators, according to documents obtained by the @prospect.org."

Authoritarians Will Target Effective Legal Organizing, Minnesota Defendant Warns: Minnesota defendants charged with conspiracy are alleged to have moderated meetings and posted on social media.

“This kind of clear political interference – that’s not a good way to do science,” said Ann Cohen, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, whose grant was canceled.

“Members of the public – including journalists – should not fear being hauled away in handcuffs merely for asserting these basic rights,” Hamrick went on, saying open access to court proceedings “informs the public, ensures an accurate portrayal of proceedings and promotes government accountability”

"Companies that kept policies did just as well financially, even after Trump’s executive order, as those that didn’t"

"Calls for US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from a major climate case mounted Tuesday after an analysis found that he made as much as $2.9 million from oil and gas stocks from roughly the time he joined the nation’s highest court in 2005 through 2024."

NEW: In the escalating war on women and their right to bodily autonomy, some right-wing groups are pushing a peculiar claim about abortion-inducing drugs — namely, that the most commonly used synthetic steroid, mifepristone, is contaminating the country’s water supply.

A new, bananas argument from anti-abortion activists: medical abortions pollute our water. There is no evidence for this whatsoever. A joint report with @exposedbycmd.bsky.social: prospect.org/2026/08/12/r...

NEW: Abdul El-Sayed delivered the Democratic party’s progressive wing their biggest primary win yet this year, despite being massively outspent. Now, he’ll put to the test whether or not progressive ideas can win in a swing state.

"The supreme court justice Samuel Alito gained up to $2.9m from his fossil fuel interests between 2005 and 2024, a new review of financial disclosures shows."

NEW: The far-right Freedom Foundation, which works to convince public sector union members to revoke their membership and ultimately decertify their union, more than doubled its budget from 2021 to 2024 to pursue its goal of “battering the entrenched power of left-wing government union bosses.”

NEW: For the past month, Acting AG Todd Blanche — nominated by Trump to replace recently fired AG Pam Bondi — has come under constant fire for his conflict of interest as Trump’s former criminal defense attorney & abuse of his position to protect Trump and persecute his political enemies.

ALEC is a pay-to-play operation that brings together state legislators, corporate lobbyists, and right-wing operatives behind closed doors to write model legislation to advance a radical right-wing agenda on everything from gerrymandering to rewriting the Constitution.

Minnesota accounted for nearly 25% of all incidents nationwide documented by the Physicians for Human Rights and the Human Rights Center at the UC-Berkeley. "While rubber bullets were most common in Los Angeles, researchers found federal officers primarily used chemical irritants in Minnesota."

"In fact, our analysis found a strong and statistically significant negative relationship between the expansion of privatization and other indicators of public school support. Privatization and public school disinvestment, it turns out, go hand in hand."

"Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale is overseeing an operation posting hundreds of blog posts on behalf of Israel, with the goal of infiltrating artificial intelligence."

Important read from @exposedbycmd.bsky.social. A collection of ghouls destroying the planet. www.exposedbycmd.org/2026/07/23/a...

Charles Koch and Leonard Leo’s hands are all over a ballot measure to change how judges get on the Kansas Supreme Court.

The right-wing bill mill, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), meets again today in Orlando. Curious what's on the agenda? CMD has it covered. Read 👇

NEW: At the American Legislative Exchange Council's 2026 annual meeting in Orlando this week attendees are considering model policies designed to suppress the vote, shield fossil fuel companies from liability, protect data centers, advance MAGA priorities, and more.

ICYMI: The Republican Attorneys General Association reported $11.3 million in contributions for the second quarter of 2026, but more than a quarter of that was quickly rerouted back to the Republican Governors Association. Read more on RAGA's 2026 second quarter filing 👇

I am presenting a skill-builder session on how to conduct follow the money research at the Network for Public Education conference, Public Schools Build Democracy, Sept. 26–27 near Houston. If you care about the future of public education, join us! networkforpubliceducation.org/2026-nationa...

NEW: The Republican Attorneys General Association reported $11.3 million in contributions for the second quarter of 2026, but more than a quarter of that was quickly rerouted back to the Republican Governors Association. Read more on RAGA's 2026 second quarter filing 👇

"Marco Rubio will open a summit unveiling a new designation branding his political opponents as terrorists...The unveil will happen on the opening day of the over 60-nation summit — which I reported on here — called the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism."