The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Election Commission" ...
-
Overseas Donors
The Associated Press investigated whether any donors to presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain with foreign addresses were illegal foreign donors; whether the two campaigns were guarding against illegal foreign money by asking overseas donors for copies of their current U.S. passports as the Federal Election Commission instructs; and to what extent the two campaigns were failing to disclose basic information about donors such as their employers and occupations. The AP reviewed hundreds of thousands of donations from around the globe and found evidence that both campaigns took money first and asked questions later. The reporters found a smattering of illegal foreign donations to Obama as well as missing details in federal paperwork the law requires from Obama and McCain. During interviews with 123 donors in 11 countries, The AP found that Obama accepted illegal contributions from at least three foreigners. In one case, a Canadian noted with is donation that he was not an American; the Obama campaign accepted his money anyway, and the Canadian's note about his foreign citizenship actually appeared in Obama's campaign finance report. A donor in Australia admitted to the AP that he entered a phony passport number when making an Internet contribution to Obama. Just five donors, three for Obama and two for McCain, told the AP that the campaigns asked to see copies of their current U.S. passports.
Tags: Barack Obama; John McCain; campaign finance; illegal donations; foreign donations; campaign regulation; 2008 presidential election
-
Lobbying Disclosure and Financial Bailout
Narayanswamy went line by line through the reported contributions to nonprofit organizations that honor members of Congress made by lobbyists. She found that the contributions were numerous and that incumbents received the most. However lobbyists also contributed to new candidates.
Tags: Philip Meyer Award entry; lobbyist; politics; money; campaign finance; Congress; Mark Warner; Jeanne Shaheen; John Sununu; Federal Election Commission
-
Huck's gift-givers ended up in state posts
Records from Virginia and Arkansas showed that 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee received 90 gifts from 21 people in Arkansas he appointed to state posts while governor.
Tags: bribe; Federal Election Commission; donation;
-
Bundle of Trouble
These articles examine the shady fundraising practice of "bundling" campaign donations. The articles spotlight fundraiser Norman Hsu, who has used bundling to raise money for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. The investigation looks at the impact of this practice on modern campaigns, and also delves into Hsu's shady past.
Tags: campaign finance reform; fundraising; Federal Election Commission; politics; data analysis; fraud
-
Brian Ross Investigates: Conduct Unbecoming
"In a year-long series of stories for World News and Nightline, ABC News' chief investigative correspondent and his team reported on a pattern of unbecoming and unethical behavior in offficial Washington that culminated in the revelation's of Congreeman Mark Foley's sexually-explicit internet messages with high school students who served as Congressional pages." Stories in the series also examine some of the consequences from the lack of an ethics code for the Supreme Court and a probe of unethical behavior of a retired U.S. General.
Tags: broadcast; financial disclosure forms; lobbyist Jack Abramoff; Congressman Tom Delay; Congressman Mark Foley; instant messaging; Congressional Pages; House Ethics Committee; Kyle "Dusty" Foggo; CIA; Air Force; Department of Defense Inspector General's Office; Federal Election Commission; Political Money Line; Federalist Sociey; legal ethics; Supreme Court; Congress; Pentagon; influence peddling; FBI; IRS; Brent Wilkes; Taxpayers for Common Sense; Keith Ashdown; Porter Goss; Thunderbirds; General T. Michael Mosely; Senator Tom Coburn; General Hal Hornburg; Project on Government Oversight; Danielle Brian; U.S. Trademark Office; General John Jumper; Blue Angels; midterm elections; access; Campaign Legal Center; Gerry Hebert; pay to play; House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children; sexually explicit messages; sexual exploitation; graphic language; solicitation; Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert; Internet sex; FBI investigation; Congressman Tom Reynolds
-
Judges Under the Influence
The Charlotte Observer found that prominent defense lawyers in three coastal North Carolina counties helped judges get appointed and elected; and rarely lost when they took DWI cases to trial before them.
Tags: Driving while intoxicated; judicial appointment; defense attorneys; lawyers; Department of Human Services; John Nobles; Judicial Standards Commission; buying Judges
-
Al's Secret Admirers
This story looks into irregularities and violations in Al Sharpton's campaign finances. Sharpton set up a meeting between two fund-raisers and a New York city official to arrange investments; Sharpton was caught on tape by the FBI for soliciting $25,000 from the fund-raisers. The story showed that Sharpton wound up on of the men's corporate payroll with a $25,000 salary. It also found reported donations that appear to never have occurred.
Tags: campaign finance; Federal Election Commission; Al Sharpton; corruption; hedge funds
-
Investigation of Election Problems
This series is an extensive look at problems that exist in the election system in Wisconsin. According to this investigation, the state runs a high risk of massive recounts in future presidential elections because of the inaccuracy of the election data and voter registration. What they found were thousands of voters with invalid address, ineligible voters who were allowed to cast their ballots on election day, and polling place log books listing hundreds of people as having voted twice. This series by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel prompted a mayoral task force to investigate election problems in Milwaukee, state-wide audit of the election system, as well as a state-federal investigation into voter fraud.
Tags: CAR; election data; voter fraud; November 2004 Election; absentee ballots; Election Commission; polls; challenged ballots; FOIA; ballots
-
Randy "Duke" Cunningham
The Union-Tribune reveals that Rep. Cunningham was involved in shady dealings with MZM, a Washington, DC-based defense contractor--a bribe that contributed to ending the congressman's career and sending him to prison. Reporters also detail Cunningham's relationship with California military contractor Brent Wilkes, identified as Coconspirator No. 1 in the federal corruption case against Cunningham.
Tags: Randy Cunningham; Duke Cunningham; House of Representatives; Congress; corruption; bribery; conspiracy; Mitchell Wade; Federal Elections Commission; MZM Inc; PAC; ADCS; Brent Wilkes; CAR; Federal Aviation Administration; Lear
-
The corruption of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and the congressional system that permitted that corruption
Stern reveals that Rep. Cunningham sold his California house to a defense contractor at an inflated price that turned out to be a $700,000 bribe--one of many payoffs that ended the Congressman's career and sent him to prison. Copley News Service and San Diego Union-Tribune reporters detail Cunningham's involvement with a shady developer in New York and a small, well-connected defense contractor in San Diego. The reporters also shed light on the explosion of earmarks in federal legislation and how this development led to corruption like Cunningham's.
Tags: Randy Cunningham; Duke Cunningham; House of Representatives; Congress; corruption; bribery; conspiracy; Elizabeth Todd; Federal Election Commission; Mitchell Wade; MZM Inc; PAC