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 "political fundraising" ...
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Wal-Mart Goes to Washington
This report offers a glimpse at how corporate America needs to pay lots of money to have influence in Washington. What makes this story stand out from others about how Washington works are videotapes of Wal-Mart's internal meetings where company executives pass the hat looking for money from store managers for Wal-Mart's political action committee. The videotapes actually show the viewer that Wal-Mart understands what they are getting for their contributions to legislators.
Tags: Wal-Mart; lobbyists; corporate lobbying; Washington lobbyists; political action committee; fundraising
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Hillary's Mystery Money Men
This article looks at the use of bundling and fundraising by people formerly tied to transnational interests and foreign dictators as a means to get the ear of a prospective U.S. president. This story revealed the influence of Alan Quasha, an international businessman and early key benefactor of George W. Bush, in Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Tags: campaign finance; campaign donations; special interests; international politics; presidential election; FEC
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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
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Juice vs Justice
According to the Los Angeles Times, Las Vegas Justices rule on matters in cases where they have received donations from lawyers or defendants, without disclosing their financial interests or relationships, and without withdrawing when a conflict of interest exists. The Los Angeles Times reports "A common perception among a dozen out-of-state lawyers interviewed about their experiences in Nevada courtrooms is that justice in Las Vegas is just another form of legalized gambling." The Times reported this series because more than a quarter of all visits to Las VEgas are made by Southern Californians, and over a third of alll business relocating to Nevada come from California.
Tags: Blackstone; judicial corruption; good-old-boy culture; Las Vegas; Nevada Supreme Court; political fundraising; financial contributions; juice; disclosure; campaign funds; endorsements; pay-to-play
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Uncovering "Coingate" and Ohio's pay to play culture
What began as an investigation into Ohio's $50 million investment in a rare-coin fund controlled by one of President Bush's biggest Ohio fundraisers led to a year-long probe of Ohio's pay-to-play system and corruption in the office of Gov. Bob Taft.
Tags: coingate; rare coins; pay-to-play; political corruption; Tom Noe; Gov. Bob Taft; fundraising; President Bush; FOIA; Ohio; corruption
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The buying of the president 2004
This book is the third in a series that provides investigative profiles and personal histories of all of the major presidential candidates and their latest campaign finance data. It reveals how special interests preselect candidates for president and influence their policies and platforms. This edition also notes the top 50 patrons of the two major political parties.
Tags: BOOK; campaign finance; elections; political fund-raising; 527s; politics; CAR; computer-assisted reporting; corporate donations
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Silent Partners: How political non-profits work the system
This online story from the Center for Public Integrity looks at the working of the Section 527 Committees. These tax-exempt associations raised and spent almost half-billion dollars in 2003-04. The increase in the fundraising was driven by 53 committees that focus largely on presidential elections.
Tags: Section 527; nonprofits; presidential campaign; campaign finance; presidential elections; America Coming Together; Media Fund; political non-profits
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Legislation for sale
This investigation of the Ohio Speaker of the House uncovered a campaign fund-raising scheme in which donations are subtly tied to legislation. Among the findings are lobbyists who said they made contributions to gain favorable treatment from the speaker, secret campaign accounts used to promote the speaker's handpicked successors for leadership positions, and allegations that he took kickbacks from vendors involved in House campaigns. The series prompted FBI and IRS investigations.
Tags: government; pay to play; lobbyists; campaign fund-raising; campaign financing; politics
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City Hall Scandals
"These articles delved the influence of money and politics in Los Angeles city government and revealed a system in which government officials pressure private firms to make sizable political donations in return for contracts, a contractor made large sums of money padding the bills it submitted to city government, and the city's mayor used a public relations firm under contract with the water department to advance his own agenda, and a favored mayoral fund-raiser bounced checks to business associates and political candidates, including the mayor, with impunity.
Tags: corruption; bribery; contracts; bidding
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Pay to play: How big money shapes state government
In this special reprint of a series of stories, The Record examines the pay-to-play system in which politicians reward campaign contributors with government contracts. The Record staff sent out almost 1,000 written requests for public records and analyzed more than 500 packages of financial documents. The story focuses on five individuals playing different roles: a government attorney, a New Jersey State Department employee and campaign fund-raiser, a banker, a nominee to the Port Authority, and the governor. The State Department employee and the Port Authority member later resigned following the newspaper's investigation.
Tags: state government; government contracts; political fund-raising; campaign fund-raising; nepotism; pay to play