Sludge

@sludge.bsky.social

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A non-partisan, independent news outlet exposing the moneyed interests that control U.S. politics. Get our newsletter: https://readsludge.com/

FEC filing row released 07-15-26 showing $50,000 donation from Daniel Och to a joint fundraising committee (JFC) of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
screenshot of August 2024 appearance of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a close ally of Kamala Harris, discussing her antitrust posture on CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/07/kamala-harris-tim-walz-antitrust-regulation-wes-moore-election.html
FEC-reported contributors from Jan. 1, 2025 - March 31, 2026 to the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) and Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF). Table compiled by Sludge, link: https://readsludge.com/2026/04/21/gops-outside-money-edge-is-being-built-by-billionaires-oil-and-crypto/
FEC filing from Q1 2026 for Win for America, showing super PAC donations from FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics
Sludge headline February 2026: Here Is How Much AIPAC Has Funneled to Every Member of Congress - link: https://readsludge.com/2026/03/01/here-is-how-much-aipac-has-funneled-to-every-member-of-congress/
Sludge headline October 2025: While Some Democrats Ditch AIPAC, Cory Booker Cashes In - link: https://readsludge.com/2025/10/16/while-some-democrats-ditch-aipac-cory-booker-cashes-in/
Paragraphs two and three from Hell Gate newsletter Morning Spew, on ICE contracts with the Hudson River Park Trust in New York: https://hellgatenyc.com/hudson-river-park-trust-not-canceling-ice-contract/
Roll call information on the Iran war powers resolution vote held in the U.S. House on March 5, 2025: https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/202685 - if the two GOP members had stayed with the yeas, and the Republican member not voting did not vote, and the four Democratic members voted yea with their party, the measure would have narrowly passed the House.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) speaking into a microphone. In the 119th Congress, Collins is a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and a senior GOP member of the Select Committee on Intelligence.
Paragraph from Sludge story, Feb. 11, 2026: "The City of Hartford, Connecticut is also moving to end an ICE contract with the Hartford Parking Authority (HPA) that has been in place for a decade, according to Cristian Corza-Godinez, deputy chief of staff of Hartford, who spoke with Sludge." ... “The contract was brought to our attention about two weeks ago through a constituent submission on our city website,” Corza-Godinez told Sludge. “Once we learned of the contract, we immediately moved to cancel it.”
Section of Politico Influence, Feb. 6, 2026: "BALLARD’S FOREIGN CASH BONANZA: Ballard Partners “has drawn a surge of high-paying clients with foreign interests seeking access to the administration and federal agencies,” Sludge’s David Moore reports.... Several more of Ballard’s top lobbying clients have foreign ties: one is the New Era Fund … a defense and aerospace investment fund for ventures with Saudi Arabia... — “Nearly all of these clients hired Ballard Partners after Trump’s election win—quickly becoming among the firm’s top lobbying spenders." - https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2026/02/06/iceland-lobbies-up-after-52nd-state-crack-00769961
section of NYT article: Pro-Israel Group Targets a Former Ally in an Early Congressional Race (Jan. 25, 2026)
headshot of Todd L. Boehly, CEO of Eldridge Industries
Screenshot of FEC Schedule A Form 3X, of Securing American Greatness donation of $7.5 million to MAGA Inc. on Jan. 31, 2025: https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202601319808906876
screengrab from Footprint NYC post today, Jan. 23, 2026: A group of local elected officials sent a letter to the trust’s CEO, Noreen Doyle, echoing Hoylman-Sigal’s call for early termination. “We urge the Trust to make every effort to terminate this contract immediately,” they wrote. “
screenshot of Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) on NewsNation re: household stock purchase in non-public xAI stock, Jan. 14, 2025
U.S. Department of War post, Dec. 29, 2025: "The Boeing Company, St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a ceiling $8,577,700,000 hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee, fixed-price incentive (firm-target), firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action for the F-15 Israel Program."
Screenshot of the top of a Sludge table of crypto industry federal lobbying in the first half of 2025, showing disclosed lobbying spending January–June by Coinbase, Crypto dot com, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) compared with all of 2024.
Top search bar of a new interactive from More Perfect Union on the favors received by donors to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee and the White House ballroom: https://perfectunion.us/trumps-corporate-colluders/
Top of table from Sludge article, "Crypto Industry Is Spending More on Lobbying Than Ever" (July 23, 2025) showing top three industry spenders: Coinbase and others
screenshot of Wall Street Journal headline: Private Equity Worries That Trump Might Bundle Crypto Into 401(k) Order
screenshot of HFSC signers letter to SEC Chair Atkins from Chair French Hill and others, dated 09-22-25
screengrab of the Blue Dog Coalition website, in the 119th Congress, showing two of the conservative Dem group's co-chairs, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA) and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX)
section 2 on recusals from AG Pam Bondi's ethics agreement signed in January. Source: https://extapps2.oge.gov/201/Presiden.nsf/PAS+Index/FC3B6F6F496E257B85258C150032F344/$FILE/Bondi%2C%20Pam%20%20finalEA.pdf
Photo of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) by Gage Skidmore on Flickr—at the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.
screengrab of table for Sludge subscribers, titled Crypto Industry Lobbying in First Half of 2025, from Sludge's article published in July titled "Crypto Industry Is Spending More on Lobbying Than Ever"
Screenshot of Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) at an Aspen Security Forum event from an online video, via CSPAN in July 2025.
Screenshot of Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) from CSPAN in July 2025
The top section of a Sludge table, Crypto Indusry Lobbying in First Half of 2025, showing federal lobbying spending totals by Coinbase, Crypto .com, and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) spending millions to influence Congress and D.C. policymakers. A column shows a comparison with 2024's lobbying spending.
A screengrab of C-SPAN feed of Elon Musk, in his former DOGE role, standing with President Trump in the Oval Office, addressing the media.