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Bill Buzenberg interviews former Representative Lee H. Hamilton

The Center in the News . . .

A recent Council on Foreign Relations backgrounder titled U.S-Pakistan Military Cooperation cited the Center's Collateral Damage project, which found among its major findings that Pakistan was the largest recipient of U.S. military aid, receiving almost $5 billion since 9/11, with little in the form of federal oversight and accountability.

The House of Representatives recently amended the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). Among the newly expanded public provisions, White House task forces will be prohibited from operating in secrecy, transcripts or recordings of committee meetings will be electronically available, and advisory committee appointments must be made without regard to political affiliation or activity. The Center's Shadow Government project investigated FACA loopholes and several conflict of interest cases more than a year ago.

The Wall Street Journal featured the Center's latest analysis of the lobby spending by the pharmaceutical industry, health product manufacturers, and their trade groups. The Center found that the pharmaceutical manufacturers and their trade groups spent a record $168 million on federal lobbying last year, a 32 percent increase from 2006.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), requested by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tasked the Defense Department with providing greater oversight in the way it handles Pakistan reimbursement claims for coalition support funds (CSF), a program created after 9/11 to reimburse key U.S. allies in the global war on terror. In May 2007, the Center's Collateral Damage project found that post-9/11 U.S. military aid to Pakistan, totaling more than $5 billion, was subject to virtually no congressional oversight.

Washington Post national politics reporter Shailagh Murray in the paper's daily campaign 2008 blog, 'The Trail,' cited a Center interview with James A. Johnson, who recently resigned from Senator Obama's vice presidential search committee. In the interview, Johnson had "kind words" to say about veteran senator, and potential VP contender, Christopher Dodd.

On Thursday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released its Phase II report on prewar Iraq intelligence. Committee Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller said: "It is my belief that the Bush administration was fixated on Iraq, and used the 9/11 attacks by Al Qaeda as justification for overthrowing Saddam Hussein. To accomplish this, top administration officials made repeated statements that falsely linked Iraq and Al Qaeda as a single threat and insinuated that Iraq played a role in 9/11. Sadly, the Bush administration led the nation into war under false pretenses." To read more about the Bush administration's false statements about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, check out the Center's War Card project.

A Morning Call.com editorial cited a 2003 Center survey that ranked all 50 states' lobby disclosure laws. Until 2006, Pennsylvania had no lobbying law at all and was ranked 50th in the nation by the Center's survey. Currently, the legislature will consider a measure that would forbid gifts and entertainment from lobbyists to public officials.

Harry Shearer, actor, entertainer, musician, artist, and creator of the song 935 Lies - featured in his upcoming CD, Songs of the Bushmen - said in The Huffington Post, "Just in case Scott McClellan wasn't keeping count, the Center was: at least 935 falsehoods told by the president and his aides in the run-up to the [Iraq] war."

The Sunlight Foundation's SunSpots blog featured the "eye-popping reports" from the Center's Shadow Government project. The Center's Shadow Government project investigated a few federal advisory committees, part of a vast maze of committees, tasked with influencing federal government agencies on a variety of safety and policy issues, often done under secretive conditions with little public accountability.

Douglas Feith, President Bush's undersecretary of defense for policy from July 2001 to August 2005, was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart May 12 and talked about the Iraq War. He said, "I think a lot of what the administration said was correct." The Center's Iraq War Card project, which documented 935 false statements made by Bush and six top administration officials in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, would prove otherwise.

Watch the world premier video of Harry Shearer's video "935 Lies." Shearer, best known for his work on The Simpsons, This is Spinal Tap, Le Show, Saturday Night Live, For Your Consideration and A Mighty Wind, unveiled a video satire based on the Center's Iraq War Card project, which documented the 935 false statements orchestrated by top Bush Administration officials in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune's Kirsten Mitchell reported that Sen. Pete Domenici and 16 other Republican senators, who support the easing of offshore drilling restrictions on the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas, have received more than $3 million in campaign contributions from individuals and PACS affiliated with the oil and gas industry since Jan. 1, 2007.

The Washington Post's Matthew Mosk reported that Steven A. Betts, a top presidential campaign fundraiser for Sen. John McCain, was one of several Arizona developers who benefited from McCain-engineered land swaps.

TheStreet.com's John Stout cited the Center's Buying of the President 2008 chapter on Stealth Campaigns in "How Much Does It Cost to Buy a Presidency?" Political non-profit groups, such as MoveOn.org and the American Leadership Project, "will probably play an important role in this presidential election," he said.

Investigations
Iraq: The War Card (1/15/2008)
For a year and a half after 9/11, President Bush and seven top officials of his administration waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of misinformation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
The Buying of the President 2008 (1/10/2008)
It's official: THE BUYING OF THE PRESIDENT 2008 is online, with its own website. The Center for Public Integrity's signature political project is bigger than ever before, with new features that range from an anecdotal history of money in presidential campaigns to wide-ranging interviews with presidential candidates, strategists, donors, fundraisers, and others.
Windfalls of War II (11/15/2007)
U.S. government contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan grew from $11 billion in 2004 to more than $25 billion in 2006, a Center study shows, with KBR topping the list and more than $20 billion in contracts going to unidentified companies.
States of Disclosure (7/19/2007)
How easy is it to find information on the private interests of public officials? The Center for Public Integrity researched state requirements on the filing of Personal Financial Disclosures by all three branches of state government — executive, legislative and judicial — to help the public hold officials accountable and determine the potential for conflicts of interest.
Collateral Damage (5/22/2007)
After more than a year of reporting and research, combing through thousands of foreign lobbying records and haggling with government officials over Freedom of Information Act requests, we have published one of the most comprehensive resources on U.S. military aid and assistance in the post-9/11 era. Collateral Damage couples the reporting of ten of the world's leading investigative journalists on four continents with a powerful database combining U.S. military assistance, foreign lobbying expenditures, and human rights abuses into a single, easily accessible toolkit.
City Adrift (5/2/2007)
"City Adrift" highlights the Center's commitment to covering Katrina's aftermath, which originated with "Katrina Watch," a daily online summary and newsletter offering the best of Katrina-related news articles and links to the latest government contracts.
Wasting Away (4/26/2007)
Toxic waste still plagues American communities 27 years after the U.S. government set up a program to identify and clean up the country’s worst sites. A one-year investigation by the Center for Public Integrity reveals the beleaguered state of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund effort, uncovers the companies and government agencies linked to the most sites and tracks progress of the clean up.
The Shadow Government (3/29/2007)
At least 900 committees, boards, commissions, councils and panels give advice to federal agencies and the White House, forming a vast but largely unnoticed network that influences policy and spends nearly $400 million a year. The Center launches an ongoing investigation into these panels with a look at the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health.
Divine Intervention (11/28/2006)
How restrictive funding and emphasis on abstinence has hindered President Bush's $15 billion initiative to fight HIV/AIDS abroad. A year long investigation into how rigid rules and restrictions of President Bush's initiative to fight HIV/AIDS have affected countries struggling with the pandemic
Well Connected (10/3/2006)
Tracking the Players in Broadcasting, Cable and Telecommunications
Campaign Consultants (10/1/2006)
Tracking professional advice in the 2004 races
Power Trips (6/5/2006)
How private travel sponsors gain special access to Congress
Katrina Watch (9/12/2005)
Daily Updates
Pushing Prescriptions (7/7/2005)
The pharmaceutical industry is among the largest lobbying interests in Washington. This project investigates its political influence and the consequences on the American public.
LobbyWatch (4/7/2005)
Tracking how private interests influence public policy
Outsourcing the Pentagon (9/29/2004)
Who's winning the big contracts?
Our Private Legislatures (9/24/2004)
A state-by-state investigation into legislators' private interests
Oil (7/15/2004)
How one of the world's biggest industries influences government and policy
Genetics (6/2/2004)
An investigation into the politics of stem cell research
Global Integrity 2004 (4/29/2004)
Tracking corruption, openness and accountability in 25 countries
State Parties (3/25/2004)
An investigation of the players and money in state politics
Windfalls of War (10/30/2003)
A comprehensive examination of who won contracts to do business in Iraq and Afghanistan
Silent Partners (9/25/2003)
How political non-profits work the system
Harmful Error (6/26/2003)
Who suffers when prosecutors break the rules?
Hired Guns (5/15/2003)
Study finds more than 1,300 ex-legislators among 2005 state lobbying ranks.
The Water Barons (2/3/2003)
How a few powerful companies control the world's most precious resource
The Buying of the President 2004 (1/27/2003)
Who bankrolled Bush and his democratic challengers – and what they expected in return
Making a Killing (10/28/2002)
How private military companies have grown in power and influence