Resource Center

Stories

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 lies" ...

  • Adams' Admission

    Sam Adams, who at the time was Portland City Commissioner, met with a young intern several times. These meetings occurred before the intern’s 18th birthday, but both stated the relationship was platonic. Though, at the same time Adams was being sworn in as the first openly gay mayor, the story was published showing that Adams and the intern had lied about their relationship.

    Tags: government; lies; deception; politicians; legislative; politics; lying; secrets

    By Nigel Jaquiss

    Willamette Week (Portland, Ore.)

    2009

  • Blago Hit Up Burris for Cash

    This series reveals how US Sen. Roland Burris changed his sworn testimony regarding his contacts with Rod Blagojevich. The series also revealed the US senator lied and then he lied about lying. All of this on top of one of the biggest political stories of the year with Blagojevich and Burris.

    Tags: politicians; politics; corruption; perjury; payment; cash; donations

    By Natasha Korecki; Dave McKinney

    Chicago Sun-Times

    2009

  • Speaker Richardson

    Georgia state politics fell apart after House Speaker Glenn Richardson's ex-wife revealed he'd had an affair and had lied about attempting suicide. His wife also had e-mails detailing how a lobbyist had aided her now ex-husband with the adultery. Richardson resigned and eventually the other "top three" House leaders were voted out of their positions.

    Tags: Glenn Richardson; Susan Richardson; affair; ethics; Atlanta Gas Light; Georgia house speaker; Raymon White

    By Dale Russell; Mindy Larcom; Travis Shields; Randall Rinehart; Michael Carlin

    WAGA-TV (Atlanta)

    2009

  • Snipergate

    This CBS Evening News report broke the story of Hillary Clinton's March '08 embellishment of her trip to Bosnia as First Lady in 1996. On several occasions, Mrs. Clinton falsely claimed she'd had to "duck sniper fire" upon landing at Bosnia's airport shortly after the Ward had officially ended. It was a trip on which

    Tags: Hillary Clinton; Bosnia; duck sniper fire; campaign scandal; misstatement; Clinton's account; political lies

    By Sharyl Attkisson; Mary Hager; Steve Chaggaris; Fernando Suarez; Andres Triay; Rick Kaplan

    CBS News

    2008

  • Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives

    Author Edwin Black discusses the world's use of oil, asserting that it is corporate greed that has kept oil a prominent part of society. He examines the history of the dependence going back 100 years, "expos(ing) a century of lies about internal combustion that arose from a millennium of monopolistic conduct in energy."

    Tags: Oil; corporations; energy; monopolies; environmental concerns; politics; energy lobby

    By Edwin Black

    Book

    2006

  • The Nonprofit Gold Rush

    As part of the San Francisco Bay Guardian's annual Freedom of Information issue, this investigation looks into the world of nonprofits and their place in public services and social programs. Every year, nonprofit organizations bid for contracts and provide services which account for 10 percent of San Francisco's spending, and 20 percent of its General Fund. The problem lies in tracking how the money is spent and where it goes. In some cases, nonprofit organizations have diverted public money to finance political campaigns.

    Tags: FOI; nonprofit contracts; public services; outsourcing; privatization; social programs

    By Matthew Hirsch

    San Francisco Bay Guardian

    2005

  • Troubled Bridges

    In this Oregonian three-part series, Zaitz and Long take a look at Oregons deteriorating bridges. The bridges are in bad shape because, as some argue, Oregon allows truck weights that far exceed designed capacity. The bridges are cracking, and Zaitz and Long discover it's not up to bridge designers to fix them. Instead, the problem lies in state politics.

    Tags: Oregon bridges; bridge inspection

    By Les Zaitz;James Long

    Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)

    2002

  • Old Growth Money

    Published by The Register-Guard, this story finds that a few wealthy people contribute to Eugene's politicians and essentially call the shots in some of the political races. Reporters found that most of these families are in the timber business and prefer to lie low in the public eye. This report finds that some of these families use elected government officials to further their own company's needs.

    Tags: campaign financing; timber families in Eugene; Oregon; wealthy families controlling politics

    By Diane Dietz

    Register-Guard (Eugene, Ore.)

    2003

  • Telling Tales Out of School

    "Educators are duping parents, lying to them, and experimenting on their children. That's what legislators nationwide are hearing as they ponder laws that would codify parent rights. The question is: What do these tales, so full of sound and fury, really signify?" Education Week then examines recent political movements and law suits, and attempts to answer that question.

    Tags: education; lawsuit; legislation; parents; civil court; representative; rights; politics; sex education; condoms; birth control; supreme court; constitution; federalism; Chip Angell; counselor; parental rights and responsibilities act

    By Drew Lindsay

    Education Week

    1996

  • The Ethics Omission

    A Riverfront Times investigation chronicles how the Missouri Ethics Commission built "a history of mismanagement and ineptitude dating back to its formation in the early 1990s." The story reveals how a PAC - called Rely on Your Beliefs - contributed significant amounts of money to local Republican candidates Roy Blunt and Matt Blunt, but did not file reports with the ethics commission for more than a year. The ethics watchdog tolerated the late filing, and accepted the PAC's fake excuses, the Times reports. The article examines the background of Mike Reid, the "commission's top ethics cop, a former lawyer twice disbarred for a litany of ethical violations." Reid lied to one of his clients that her divorce procedure was completed, while in fact it was not, and failed to defend another client's interests in a traffic accident lawsuit. The ethics cop blamed his previous missteps to psychological problems at this time.

    Tags: legislature; Federal Election Commission; money and politics; GOP; donors; elections; Jefferson City

    By Bruce Rushton

    Riverfront Times (St. Louis)

    2001