Veteran political reporter Michael Beckel joins Issue One

Veteran political reporter Michael Beckel today joined Issue One as manager of investigations, research and policy analysis.

In this role, he will lead and manage research projects related to Congress and running for office, as well as unearth the untold stories on and off Capitol Hill that deal with government ethics and political reform.

“With his long investigative record, Michael has proven he can drive the conversation about our broken political system,” said Nick Penniman, co-founder and executive director of Issue One. “He is a tremendous addition to Issue One’s arsenal as we continue to push for bipartisan solutions to reducing the power of money in politics.”

“Michael brings years of experience and a deep knowledge about the ways money can unduly influence policymaking,” said Meredith McGehee, Issue One’s chief of policy, programs and strategy. “We are delighted to welcome him to our team as we continue to build up Issue One’s expertise.”

“Issue One is playing an important role bringing Democrats, Republicans and independents together to make our political system more responsive to all voters, not just special interests who buy a seat at the table” said Beckel. “I look forward to helping Issue One highlight the ways we can fix the current system.”

Prior to joining Issue One, Beckel worked as a reporter for more than five years at the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative journalism organization. He also previously worked for three years as a reporter at the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that tracks money in federal elections.

At both organizations, Beckel researched and wrote about the changes to political fundraising rules in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United and McCutcheon rulings and chronicled the proliferation of super PACs and “dark money” groups on both sides of the aisle.

Beckel has uncovered donors to secretive “dark money” groups, both liberal and conservative, and he has exposed shady political operations, including a purportedly pro-Bernie Sanders super PAC that collected nearly $50,000 from “James Bond” actor Daniel Craig. His reporting has led to official complaints being filed with the Federal Election Commission, Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service.

Furthermore, Beckel’s findings and expertise have been cited by scores of media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, TIME, Newsweek, McClatchy, PolitiFact, National Public Radio, CNN and C-SPAN.

His writing has also been honored by the National Press Club, Online News Association and the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.