Reports

CONGRESSIONAL DYSFUNCTION

Why We Left Congress

How the legislative branch is broken and what we can do about it

(December 2018)

COORDINATION

Coordination Watch

How candidates and outside groups work together to evade anti-corruption laws

(January 2020)

DARK MONEY

Dark Money Illuminated

A deep-dive into the top 15 dark money groups

(September 2018)

5 Loopholes That Allow Foreign Interference in Our Elections

How our broken political system allows China, Iran, Russia, and other foreign adversaries to interfere in U.S. elections

(September 2019)

Digital Disaster

A look at the failures of Facebook, Google, and Twitter’s political ad transparency policies

(November 2019)

Mystery Money

How a loophole could allow foreign money to flow into super PACs through secretive shell companies

(July 2020)

ETHICS

The Ethics Blind Spot

How the House and Senate ethics committees fail to foster a culture of high ethical standards in Congress

(February 2018)

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION REFORM

Busted and Broke

Why the Federal Election Commission doesn’t work

(April 2019)

The Price of Power

How political parties squeeze influential lawmakers to boost campaign coffers

(May 2017)

The Continuing Price of Power

How the political parties leaned on legislative leaders for cash during the 115th Congress

(February 2019)

Outsized Influence

The alarming influence that a handful of wealthy donors have in the post-Citizens United era

(April 2021)

LEADERSHIP PACS

All Expenses Paid

How leadership PACs became politicians’ preferred ticket to luxury living

(July 2018)

Leadership PACs, Inc. 

How Washington power players use leadership PAC contributions to buy access and influence

(October 2018)

All Expenses Still Paid

A look at leadership PACs’ latest outlandish spending, October – December 2018

(May 2019)

OTHER RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS

• New Congress, Same “Committee Tax”: How the parties pressured legislative leaders to raise huge sums of campaign cash during the 116th Congress — and are poised to do so again this year (March 2021)
• 60% of President Donald Trump’s post-election tweets sought to undermine legitimacy of presidential race (February 2021)
• In 2018, Liberal Dark Money Groups Outspent Conservative Ones for First Time Since Citizens United (January 2019)
• Super PACs and Dark Money Groups Outspent Candidates in a Record Number of Races in 2018 (December 2018)
• Closing the Digital Loopholes That Pave the Way For Foreign Interference In U.S. Elections (April 2018)

Questions? Please Contact Michael Beckel, Research Director mbeckel@issueone.org or 202-888-6770.