About: Lee Fang
Bio: Lee Fang is a reporter for The Intercept. He has a longstanding interest in how public policy is influenced by organized interest groups and money. He was the first to uncover and detail the role of the billionaire Koch brothers in financing the Tea Party movement. His interviews and research on the Koch brothers have been featured on HBO’s “The Newsroom,” the documentaries “Merchants of Doubt” and “Citizen Koch,” as well as in multiple media outlets. He was an investigative blogger for ThinkProgress (2009-2011) and then a fellow at the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute and contributing writer for The Nation. In 2012, he co-founded RepublicReport.org, a blog to cover political corruption that syndicates content with TheNation.com, Salon, National Memo, BillMoyers.com, TruthOut, and other media outlets. His work has been published by VICE, The Baffler, The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Progressive, NPR, In These Times, and The Huffington Post. His first book, “The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right,” published by The New Press, explores how the conservative right rebuilt the Republican Party and its political clout in the aftermath of President Obama’s 2008 election victory. He is based in San Francisco.
State Political Parties Dominated By Lobbyists
Polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans view lobbyist and big money influence as the main problem in our politics today. But the two major political parties, on both the state and federal level, have done little to substantively reform the system. Republic Report interns Nick Lyell and Mehrad Yazdi took a look at the
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In Recorded Message To Drone Lobby Group, Congressman Rick Berg Brags About Loyalty To Industry
With little debate, lobbyists slipped language into an FAA reauthorization bill earlier this year that will allow some 30,000 drones to fly over domestic airspace in coming years. While the shift may lead to a marked loss of privacy for millions of Americans, one congressman is bragging about carrying the drone industry’s water. Congressman Rick
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E-Mails Show Congressman Buck ‘Drone’ McKeon And His Wife Accepted Bribes From Mortgage Giant Countrywide
Armed Services Committee Chairman Congressman Buck McKeon (R-CA) is best known today as the weapon industry’s go-to lawmaker for expanding the use of domestic drones in America. But in 1998, the congressman accepted a discounted mortgage from subprime mortgage giant Countrywide as part of the company’s wide-ranging efforts to bribe public officials. (No one has
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Analysis: Opponents Of Health Reform Spent More On Ads Trashing The Law Than Obama Spent On Ads For President In 07/08
The New York Times recently ran a very important story showing that opponents of health reform, mostly industry-funded groups, overwhelmed the airwaves with negative advertising against the law. The reported numbers, $235 million against health reform versus $69 for it, only show part of the picture, since the Times decided to quantify only the money spent
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Eric Cantor’s Aide Departs For Bank CEO Lobbying Group
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has led every major pro-bank legislative drive in recent years: He rallied supporters of the bank bailouts, killed efforts to cap banker bonuses, fought measures to allow those under foreclosure to renegotiate the terms of their mortgage, and marshaled opposition to the sweeping reforms known as Dodd-Frank. Now, a
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VIDEO: Congressman Tom Reed Gives Earmark-Tariffs To His Top Contributors, Defends Practice
Though Republicans came into power promising a moratorium on earmarks — the special legislative deals that benefit a single company or interest group — Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY) explained to Republic Report that an array of bills he recently introduced that only benefit one or two companies in his district are not, in his opinion,
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VIDEO: Outside Of Supreme Court, GOP Front Group Funded With Secret Health Insurance Cash Tries To Hide Affiliation
Earlier this month, health insurance company Aetna accidentally leaked a document that revealed that the company secretly funneled $7.7 million to Republican front groups in 2010. The money was earmarked for the Karl Rove’s American Action Forum ($3.3 million) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($4.4 million), two groups that led the charge in fighting
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Northrop Grumman Lobbyist On Staff With Armed Services Committee Also Owns Stock In His Former Firm
Republic Report has broken a series of stories this month showing that a surprising number of high level congressional staffers either maintain a financial relationship with a lobbying firm, or were paid six-figure bonuses by lobbying firms shortly before becoming staffers last year. We’ve reported on Senator Marco Rubio’s chief of staff, Speaker John Boehner’s
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