Money and Politics

President Bush chose to fill two high-level positions yesterday with federal judges who had given him campaign contributions while under consideration for their judgeships.

In conjunction with National Public Radio, the Center for Investigative Reporting helped research and report on one of the largest recipients of federal farm subsidies, the legendary King Ranch of Texas. As NPR’s Peter Overby reports, from 1999-2005 King Ranch raked in $8.3 million in subsidies for growing cotton.

On November 28, 2005, California Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned from office after pleading guilty to taking more than $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors seeking government contracts.

The Reno Gazette-Journal used CIR's reporting on hidden earmarks to hold the paper's homestate senators accountable.

The story, using documents CIR acquired through the Freedom of Information Act, shows that while Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) boasted of earmark reform, he was lobbying for earmarks behind the scenes. The paper also follows up to see whether the lobbying paid off.

This week The Economist featured Mark Schapiro's Exposed, calling it "a gripping new book." The article, "Brussels Rules OK," points out:

With the Senate set to debate its version of the farm bill this fall, sugar policy will be a controversial part of the agenda. As NPR’s Peter Overby reports on All Things Considered, sugar growers and their allies in Congress want the government to protect the industry from Mexican imports by diverting surplus sugar into ethanol production. CIR contributed research and reporting for Overby’s piece.

In order for the SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL reporters to figure out who was receiving federal disaster aid, they first needed names and addresses from FEMA. When FEMA denied their request, the SUN-SENTINEL took them to court. This past June a federal appeals court ruled in the newspaper's favor, requiring FEMA to release the addresses, though not the names, of disaster aid recipients.

EXPOSÉ's "Crisis Mismanagement" premieres on PBS tonight. Check local listings. Find out how the SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL uncovered massive waste and mismanagement at FEMA a year before Hurricane Katrina.

Whatever happened to FEMA's former director, "heck-of-a-job" Michael Brown?
View our timeline of the federal aid crisis after Hurricanes Frances and Katrina, and the ensuing fallout at FEMA.

In the wake of Hurricane Frances, reporters at the SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL got down to business reporting the aftermath. But while analyzing maps of FEMA aid recipients, they noticed a strange pattern: The storm hit in the north, but the aid dollars were flowing south.