mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Co-founder of @sludge@journa.host, an independent newsletter on money in politics
Trump's former campaign manager, under contract with Israel, is blasting out text messages saying that the destruction in Gaza is fake. “Bombs, starvation, collapsed buildings: all fabricated content…"
New: Jake Sullivan moved to the hedge fund, private equity, defense-contractor speaking circuit, paid more than half a million dollars last year.
The former national security adviser in 2024 defended U.S. weapons to Israel in its assault on Gaza, and now meets with executives from Lockheed Martin, Raytheon (RTX), Boeing, and others.
New @sludge@journa.host :
New analysis: Congress' inaction on AI comes as more than 100 members hold investments in AI stocks.
Full list of names and amounts, for subscribers at @sludge@journa.host — including lawmakers buying AI stocks this year that they oversee on committees.
https://readsludge.com/2026/09/18/here-are-the-members-of-congress-invested-in-the-ai-industry/
Elon Musk's PAC is paying one of his right-wing cheerleaders on his platform X, getting pro-Musk words in front of users:
Who are Mike Johnson, Hakeem Jeffries, John Thune, and Chuck Schumer really listening to? They're not telling you.
More than in one in four dollars to the aligned super PACs of congressional leaders this cycle was routed through their dark money arms, we calculated. New from us at The Nation:
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/gray-money-2026-midterms-super-pacs/
New: We're amid an explosion in "gray money" in elections (dark money funneled to super PACs to spend), and @sludge@journa.host has compiled the most comprehensive analysis of such secret money in the 2026 cycle at The Nation.
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/gray-money-2026-midterms-super-pacs/
You didn't think the AI industry was going to take the data center resistance with stoicism, did you?
AI-backed dark money groups are spending across platforms with state-focused ads cheering data centers, from YouTube to Meta platforms to TV. We chased down some of the tech billionaires behind the messaging, for @sludge@journa.host subscribers at $100 for a full year:
https://readsludge.com/2026/09/03/ai-money-floods-state-fights-over-data-centers/
Gosh I wonder why a brand-new Democratic dark money group, one funding super PACs nationwide, started lobbying on the pro-crypto Clarity Act! I wonder if they might have some interest in peeling off 10 or so Senate Democratic votes this month so that the bill can be sent to Trump to sign into law.
https://readsludge.com/2026/09/01/democrat-aligned-dark-money-group-hires-crypto-lobbyist/
A mysterious Democratic dark money group registered to lobby on the crypto industry's top bill, the Clarity Act,
my Sludge co-founder Donald Shaw found. Turns out, the group has significant ties to crypto billionaire Michael Novogratz.
So that's an interesting aspect to the dark money now hitting voters. Read more at @sludge@journa.host :
https://readsludge.com/2026/09/01/democrat-aligned-dark-money-group-hires-crypto-lobbyist/
Seth Moulton's ads are bankrolled by private equity executives and a super PAC originally funded by Jeff Bezos.
Amazon is being sued by the FTC for rigging $20 billion worth of ads and faces hundreds of unfair labor practice cases nationwide. #MASen #MApoli
https://readsludge.com/2026/08/27/private-equity-execs-bankroll-super-pac-backing-moulton-vs-markey/
Joe Lonsdale's nonprofit the Cicero Institute lobbies on defense procurement through a firm controlled by Lonsdale. The firm lobbies for Lonsdale's portfolio, like Palantir, and is led by a lobbyist for another Lonsdale defense company, who also directs Cicero. So yeah, about its homelessness policy:
The NYT and WaPo published profiles of Joe Lonsdale and the Cicero Institute on the same day this month, on its push to criminalize homelessness.
Neither mentioned Cicero's lobbying on defense procurement, alongside Lonsdale's investments like Palantir and Anduril. The nonprofit he controls even uses a lobbying firm controlled by one of his companies, Arpinum. More in latest:
Billionaire Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale's think tank lobbies on defense spending under an alternate name, using the same lobbyists as Palantir and others in portfolio.
Cicero's push to criminalize homelessness could benefit more 8VC investments like the Citizen app, housing advocates say.
New for @sludge@journa.host subscribers—join today, Aug. 31, and your support will be matched at its full-year value by a generous Sludge reader:
Private equity and VC investors are funneling millions to the super PAC promoting Seth Moulton and attacking Ed Markey. Its top funders have large stakes in AI companies and data centers. The group unleashed millions in ads this week in #MASen. Latest for @sludge@journa.host subscribers—we're in a matching drive through Aug. 31, so your support of $100-a-year for our reporting will be matched by a generous Sludge reader, and you'll have full access to every Sludge story since 2018.
https://readsludge.com/2026/08/27/private-equity-execs-bankroll-super-pac-backing-moulton-vs-markey/
Millions of dollars given by AIPAC PAC to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) this cycle comes 99.9% from out-of-state donors, according to our analysis of FEC data.
The majority are based in Florida, California, and New York; only two donations came from Maine donors. #MESen
NEW: Here is how much AIPAC PAC has given to every member of Congress this cycle, per its latest FEC filing.
Search the full list by name or state at our reader-supported, independent newsroom @sludge@journa.host :
At the White House, the president called to deregulate his crypto business partners, an industry that has delivered an estimated $2.3 billion in income for him and his family since his re-election.
Here's what the companies do for his ventures. Our @sludge@journa.host investigative newsroom is in a matching drive through the end of August—your new subscription will be matched by a reader who supports this follow-the-money reporting:
The CFTC is down to one commissioner (supposed to have five), a Trump nominee who formerly worked for companies that he would now oversee with an avowedly light touch.
This, of course, is the agency that Trump is pushing to have oversight of crypto, the source of $1.4 billion in income for him.
New for @sludge@journa.host subscribers—our nonprofit newsroom is in a matching drive through Aug. 31, so if you join now, your support will be doubled at its full-year value. Read along!
