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.
VIDEO: Republic Report Stops By Drug Company GlaxoSmithKline’s Lobbying Office To Ask About Support For Shadowy Lobbying Group ALEC
When GlaxoSmithKline, maker of popular drugs like Nicorette and Zantac, funds a secret lobbying effort that contributes to bad laws across the country, Republic Report is here to call them out. Companies often evade accountability for lobbying efforts by hiding behind undisclosed front groups. But the Travyon Martin shooting may turn out to be a
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Meet the Lobbyists Promoting ‘Pink Slime’ In Your Hamburger Meat
At the core of the controversy over “pink slime” is a story about corporate corruption. Pink slime is a popular name for a filler substance created by combining various beef trimmings and connective tissue that is treated by ammonia before being ground up and added to real beef. The recent news coverage has people wondering:
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Revealed: Coca-Cola, eBay, and Other Major Corporations Shape Congressional Elections Through Undisclosed Attack Ad Machine
Corporate money is already financing the constant stream of political advertising in the campaign this year, but a great deal of it is undisclosed. The Citizens United Supreme Court decision opened the gates for corporations to spend directly on American elections. Now, Republic Report can offer the first look at which major corporations are fueling perhaps
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Koch Lobbyist Helps Fund Obama’s SuperPAC
President Obama ran for office on a pledge to refuse donations from lobbyists and to clean up the outside industry money that continually pollutes American elections. Obama’s recent decision to embrace Super PACs undercuts both promises. That is because Super PACs can collect unlimited corporate and lobbyist contributions. And donations to Obama’s preferred Super PAC,
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Video: Senator Tom Coburn Says He Trades Stock In The Bathroom, Dismisses Ethics Reform Legislation
Republic Report has been highly critical of the watered down and toothless Stock Act, the recently passed law to curb insider trading in Congress. We had hoped the bill would include Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) political intelligence lobbying registration provision, as well as Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) amendment on blind trusts and some form of
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Senator Joe Lieberman, Congressman Jerry Lewis Reject Republic Report’s Backdoor Bribery Campaign
Republic Report investigates political corruption of all types, and we’ve become increasingly concerned about retiring lawmakers. A study we produced earlier this month found that, out of the members of Congress who have become lobbyists and disclosed their salary, lawmakers moving through the revolving door can expect a 1,400% raise on average. The multimillion-dollar salaries
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Joe the Plumber, Now Running For Congress, Gives Up Plumbing for Special Interest Speaking Gigs
Samuel Wurzelbacher became better known as “Joe the Plumber” after he confronted then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008. Wurzelbacher told Obama that his tax policies would impact his ability to create a small plumbing business. Wurzelbacher, now a candidate for Congress, never founded that business. But he has continued playing up his plumbing background. “I’m counting
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Koch Operative Steve Lonegan Offers Rude Gesture When We Ask About Lawsuit Over His Questionable Public Financing
Last year, Steve Lebowitz and I published a story for ThinkProgress revealing that Steve Lonegan, a Republican candidate for New Jersey governor in 2009, made false statements in order to obtain millions in public funding for his election. Our report sparked a qui tam lawsuit by a citizen in New Jersey against Lonegan for defrauding the
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