Michael Beckel
Research Director: @issueonereform.bsky.social. Following money in politics and dark money since 2009. Alum: @opensecrets.org
- Senators warn that “unusually timed contributions” to IRS Commissioner-nominee Billy Long “potentially violate federal bribery laws,” reports @levernews.com citing @issueonereform.bsky.social www.levernews.com/senators-pro...
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- No major-party presidential nominee has used our post-Watergate public financing system since John McCain in 2008. Is it time to use that $$ for something else? Former Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) argues in new @wsj.com op-ed that we should use it to fund secure elections www.wsj.com/opinion/chec...
- When are big-money contributions to super PACs corrupting? That question is key to understanding a legal case in Maine working its way through the courts after voters in November passed a ballot measure to limit contributions to super PACs thereformcompass.substack.com/p/when-are-b...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelMy New One at @slate.com: “Two Supreme Court Justices Invited an All-Out Assault on the Voting Rights Act. Now It’s Here.” slate.com/news-and-pol...
- What's the status of the FEC since it lost its quorum and its ability to conduct official business at the end of April? @davelevinthal.com explores for @opensecrets.org www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/05... More from @issueonereform.bsky.social issueone.org/press/fec-co...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelNEW from @propublica.org: Records show that Chris Young is simultaneously working as a political adviser to Elon Musk while helping DOGE gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which regulates Musk's businesses. www.propublica.org/article/doge...
- For our government to be of the people, by the people, and for the people, it cannot be for sale to the highest bidder. That's why a legal case in Maine about the corruption concerns associated with large contributions to super PACs is worth watching thereformcompass.substack.com/p/when-are-b...
- Mysterious Trump inaugural donor unmasked: Trump's inaugural committee originally listed a $1M donation from a tax advisory firm called Wipfli LLP A new doc shows this $$ actually came from someone named Alexander Karp — which is the name of the CEO of Palantir www.fec.gov/data/committ...
- Reposted by Michael Beckel“Most people who have outstanding loans from failed political campaigns don’t have people knocking down their doors to give them thousands of dollars,” says Issue One's @mjbeckel.bsky.social. amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025...
- GOP-aligned #darkmoney group American Action Network has announced a new $7 million ad buy. While dark money groups generally aren’t required to disclose their donors, tax filings show PhRMA, the trade association of the Rx drug industry, has given $38 million to this group since #CitizensUnited
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- The FEC has lost its quorum after Commissioner Allen Dickerson resigned yesterday at the end of his term. The loss of a quorum at the FEC is a breach of trust with the American people who don’t want the nation’s anti-corruption laws to go unenforced. thereformcompass.substack.com/p/campaign-f...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelIt's official — The Federal Election Commission no longer has a quorum, as of today's meeting. It can't conduct business or enforce campaign-finance laws. Analysis from @mjbeckel.bsky.social at @issueonereform.bsky.social.
- GOP FEC Commissioner Allen Dickerson makes it official: He will be resigning tonight at the end of his term, dropping the number of commissioners to 3, below the # needed for a quorum to conduct business Background from @issueonereform.bsky.social thereformcompass.substack.com/p/campaign-f...
- "If Congress surrenders its authorities to an executive branch that is attempting to consolidate power and upend our constitutional order, we will cease to be a government of laws," warns fmr GOP Rep Reid Ribble, a member of @issueonereform.bsky.social ReFormers Caucus issueone.org/press/new-re...
- New @issueonereform.bsky.social report chronicles pattern of executive overreach and corruption during Trump’s first 100 days issueone.org/press/new-re...
- Without a quorum, the FEC is a watchdog without a bark or bite. Losing its quorum defangs the FEC at a time when the robust scrutiny of money in politics is needed more than ever issueone.org/press/fec-co...
- 🚨 Nation’s top campaign finance watchdog to be defanged after Republican commissioner resigns later this week thereformcompass.substack.com/p/campaign-f...
- The nation’s top campaign finance watchdog will soon not have the ability to bark or bite
- NEWS: The FEC will lose its quorum of commissioners next week, meaning the campaign finance agency will endure a de facto shutdown of its high-level responsibilities, such as enforcing laws and issuing rulings and opinions. From me in @notusreports.bsky.social: www.notus.org/policy/feder...
- Editorial by @stltoday.com calls Billy Long "unfit to lead the IRS" in wake of revelations unearthed by @issueonereform.bsky.social & reported on by @levernews.com & others that political donors helped Long pay off a $130K loan after he was nominated to lead the IRS www.stltoday.com/opinion/edit...
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- Corporations facing federal investigations or enforcement lawsuits gave $50 million to Trump’s inauguration, new @publiccitizen.bsky.social analysis finds. Cases against 11 of these corporations have already been dismissed or withdrawn, and 6 have been halted www.citizen.org/news/trumps-...
- After @issueonereform.bsky.social raised concerns about political donors with business before the IRS helping pay off $130,000 in outstanding personal loans Billy Long had from his failed 2022 Senate campaign, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto calls for Long's nomination to lead the IRS to be withdrawn
- Smart reminder from Craig Holman of @publiccitizen.bsky.social ahead of new filings in the coming days that will reveal all of the donors to Trump inauguration: "Buying access to the president and the president’s inner circle is the name of the game" www.citizen.org/news/ahead-o...
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- Reposted by Michael BeckelNew: "Don Jr. And Eric Trump Landed $3 Million In Stock For Joining Firm’s Advisory Board That Had Little Public Presence Before Their Appointment" me, for @forbes.com
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- Reposted by Michael BeckelOn Monday, @popular.info reported that 29 people whose ballots were invalidated by the North Carolina Supreme Court for never living in NC had, in fact, lived in NC On Tuesday, the NC Election Board, citing @popular.info's report, told a federal court the voters would have their ballots restored
- NEW: @issueonereform.bsky.social raises alarm over legalized bribes given to Trump’s IRS nominee issueone.org/press/issue-...
- Political donors just paid off IRS Commissioner-nominee Billy Long's $130,000 debt with this one weird trick. Read more from @levernews.com citing @issueonereform.bsky.social www.levernews.com/trump-irs-pi...
- Billy Long, Trump’s choice to lead the IRS, just had his six-figure campaign debt paid off by donors whose firms have significant, often contentious, business before the IRS, reports @levernews.com citing @issueonereform.bsky.social www.levernews.com/trump-irs-pi...
- When Donald Trump nominated former GOP Congressman Billy Long to lead the IRS in December, Long's failed Senate bid had $130,000 in debt from loans Long had made to his campaign. New FEC filings show Long raised $136,900 in Q1 — more than enough to repay himself docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelNoticed a bunch of these ornate gold medallions slapped all over the Oval Office. We found em on Alibaba. “High-density Home Decoration Polyurethane Appliques Ornament PU Foam Veneer Accessories” from seller Guangzhou Homemax Decorative Material Limited. sherwood.news/power/shop-t...
- New doc: As he challenges Sen. Shelley Moore Capito in #WVSEN, Derrick Evans, a former GOP state legislator who served time for participating in the #January6th attack on the Capitol, raised ~$240K in the first quarter of 2025 — w/ 84% coming from small-dollar donors docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelNew: Trump met with Bukele at the White House today. What didn’t make the readout? A $1.5M foreign lobbying blitz bankrolled by El Salvador’s government to win over Trump’s inner circle. I followed the money: www.influencebrief.com/p/the-15-mil...
- Former GOP Rep. Billy Long, whom President Trump has nominated to lead the IRS, still has a leadership PAC w/ ~$52,000 in its coffers. $45,000 of this sum came within days of Trump announcing Long as his pick to lead the IRS. www.fec.gov/data/committ...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelOne little-known company has made billions running detention camps for asylum-seekers at the border. It's now repurposing its tents to hold some of the thousands of people arrested by ICE and facing deportation. By @micarosenberg.bsky.social, @jeffernsthausen.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
- The SAVE Act is an unfunded federal mandate that would create "an extremely complex administrative burden" for election officials, warns a cross-partisan group of 60 current and former election officials in letter to Congress issueone.org/wp-content/u...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelNew: The independent House Ethics Office can't launch any investigations until it has a board— ✅ Dems named their picks ✅ Two Republicans are ready to return ❌ But Speaker Johnson hasn’t named anyone
- Reposted by Michael BeckelRand Paul says his fellow Republicans come up to him in the hill and whisper, "'free trade is good. Keep going.' But they don't want to say it because of the politics of it."
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- Number of the day: 3,028 — the number of billionaires across the globe today, including 902 in the United States, per new @forbes.com investigation www.forbes.com/billionaires/
- In new letter to Congress, 50+ election officials — many of whom are part of @issueonereform.bsky.social's Faces of Democracy campaign, warn the SAVE Act “places unfunded, operationally unrealistic, and legally precarious burdens on election offices across the country” issueone.org/press/nearly...
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- New @issueonereform.bsky.social report illustrates immense fundraising pressure faced by legislative leaders to boost parties’ political war chests issueone.org/press/new-re...
- Are state legislators' personal financial disclosures in Vermont up to snuff? Experts at @issueonereform.bsky.social @campaignlegal.org & Common Cause have concerns, reports @hannahbassett.bsky.social of Seven Days www.sevendaysvt.com/news/experts...
- 6 people gave nine-figure sums to political candidates & groups during the 2024 election, with Elon Musk topping that list at roughly $290 MILLION, new @opensecrets.org analysis finds www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/03...
- Elon Musk's super PAC (known as America PAC) has dropped $10K apiece for "texting services" supporting Republican House candidates in the #FL01 and #FL06 special elections, new FEC filing shows docquery.fec.gov/pdf/201/2025...
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- Reposted by Michael BeckelElon Musk admitted why he’s spending $18 million & paying voters $100 a pop to flip Wisconsin Supreme Court. It’s all about keeping GOP gerrymandering advantage in US House. If Dems retake House they can investigate Musk, DOGE & his $38 billion in govt contracts www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
- Dismantling CISA will make safeguarding elections harder — watch @issueonereform.bsky.social's recent webinar in full or check out the highlights in our latest Substack post 👇 thereformcompass.substack.com/p/dismantlin...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelThis continues to be the biggest story in the country: DOGE has already squandered half a trillion dollars in 6 weeks. Not billion. half a trillion, $500 billion talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/irs-p...
- Reposted by Michael BeckelIn the hours before IRS leadership fired some 7,000 employees for allegedly poor performance, a top IRS lawyer flagged officials that “no one” at the agency had done such an assessment. The termination notice went out unchanged anyway. By @andykroll.bsky.social
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- "Money’s dominance over politics is the number one problem our nation faces. It is a growing crisis that prevents us from tackling anything else" — former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) americanpromise.net/alan_simpson...
- What is CISA's role in protecting elections? Don't miss this @issueonereform.bsky.social #FacesOfDemocracy webinar NEXT FRIDAY at 1 PM ET featuring a cross-partisan group of election officials who will explain how cuts to CISA make our elections vulnerable issueone.org/events/cisas...
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- The Founding Fathers didn't want kings because they knew unchecked power was dangerous. That's why @issueonereform.bsky.social is urging Congress to #CheckTheExec and uphold its Article I responsibilities. Learn more: CheckTheExec.org
- A 501(c)(4) nonprofit aligned with DHS Sec. Kristi Noem is attacking press coverage critical of Noem. It's not clear who's funding this org. As I told @patricklalley.bsky.social, such orgs could be avenues for people to access & influence the administration www.siouxfallslive.com/news/sioux-f...
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- Advice from Maggie Mulvihill at @ire-nicar.bsky.social #NICAR25 about what it takes to do a great investigative project: Be willing to do tedious work that others aren’t doing — like data entry to analyze 17,000+ trips taken by lawmakers paid for by private entities www.politico.com/news/2024/09...
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- Are you a journalist at @ire-nicar.bsky.social #NICAR25 interested in investigating political #darkmoney? Join me, @robertmaguire.bsky.social of @crew.bsky.social, Shanna Ports of @campaignlegal.org & @albertpbj.bsky.social of Investigate LA today! Our tip sheet: bit.ly/NICAR25-DarkMoneyTips
- How does the cryptocurrency industry intersect with politics and potential corruption in DC? @ceostroff.bsky.social & @jeremybmerrill.com explain at @ire-nicar.bsky.social #NICAR25 ➡️ Crypto people are cozying up to the Trump admin for favors ➡️ Trump is making money off crypto currencies
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- Excited to be sharing tips to track political #darkmoney at @ire-nicar.bsky.social #NICAR25 w/ @robertmaguire.bsky.social of @crew.bsky.social, Shanna Ports of @campaignlegal.org & @albertpbj.bsky.social! Whether you can make our panel or not, bookmark our tip sheet! docs.google.com/document/d/1...
- Business leaders can secure a one-on-one meeting with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago by donating $5 million to a Trump-aligned super PAC called MAGA Inc., reports @wired.com www.wired.com/story/people...
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