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Bill Buzenberg interviews former Representative Lee H. Hamilton

The Center in the News . . .

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.

The New York Times reported that influential Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby's ties run deep in the mortgage industry and local real estate market.

McClatchy Newspapers correspondent Greg Gordon in the Kansas City Star article, "Disclosures understate finances of Clinton, McCain, Obama," reported that Sen. Hillary Clinton excluded nearly $24 million of her husband's earnings from Senate financial statements from 2004 through 2006.

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.

Craig Newmark, Internet entrepreneur and Craigslist founder, mentioned the Center's examination of political 501(c)(4) and 527 committees in the presidential race in his Huffington Post blog. In part II of its series on stealth campaigns, the Center compared Freedom's Watch with MoveOn.org.

The Huffington Post, in "Wal-Mart Plays Politics with Charity," talked about the Center's posted video footage of Wal-Mart manager meetings that discussed employee contributions to the company's PAC.

In the The Politico's blog, "The Crypt," Jeanne Cummings called the Center's Wal-Mart clips "some pretty interesting video."

The Center's Wal-Mart videos were featured in Harper's Magazine Washington Babylon weblog in "Wal-Mart Political Videos: The ABCs of Buying Influence."


On HDNet, Dan Rather Reports examines Wal-Mart's PAC mentality.

The Kansas City Star in "Wal-Mart videos give Lenexa firm a new lease on life" featured the video production company hired to videotape Wal-Mart Store openings, shareholder and manager meetings.

Podcasts
Stealth Campaign
The Independent Committees Shaping the Presidential Race
The Longest Campaign: The Buying of the President 2008, Part 1
The history of big money in presidential politics...and the efforts to do something about it.
Great Lakes Danger Zone?
A report on a suppressed study about environmental hazards in the Great Lakes region.
Iraq - The War Card
Iraq - The War Card: Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War - Wed. Jan. 23, 10 a.m. News Conference at National Press Club - Zenger Room. Leading up to the five-year anniversary of the Iraq War, the Center for Public Integrity's Executive Director Bill Buzenberg and its Founder Chuck Lewis will unveil the most comprehensive chronological analysis of prewar rhetoric in an extensive database of Iraq-related public pronouncements by top Bush administration officials. This project provides a framework for examining how the U.S. war in Iraq came to pass and tracks on a day-by-day basis the private assessments of Bush administration officials and the actual "ground truth" as it is now known.
Iraq - The War Card (Audio Podcast)
Bill Buzenberg presents the IRAQ: THE WAR CARD project, with comments by Center for Public Integrity founder and project director and creator Charles Lewis and former Representative Lee H. Hamilton.
Bill Buzenberg interviews former Congressman Lee H. Hamilton
Bill Buzenberg, the executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, interviews former Representative Lee H. Hamilton, who co-chaired the 9/11 Commission.
The Buying of the President 2008
Brian Thomas of Cincinnati’s WKRC-AM interviews Josh Israel about the launch of the Center's "Buying of the President 2008" website (www.buyingofthepresident.org). 1/14/2008 8:00 AM
Public I: Pakistan (04/03/07)
The Center's Nathaniel Heller explains U.S. military aid to Pakistan.
Public I: The Shadow Government (03/29/07)
The Center's Jim Morris deconstructs the inner workings of federal advisory panels
deconstructs federal panels on public i.
Inside the Center for Public Integrity
Learn more about the Center's work, history and team.
Public I: Bundling (03/19/07)
Sandy Bergo explains the ins and outs of "bundling," a legal loophole that allowed House Majority Leader Steney Hoyer to collect and distribute over $1 million to congressional campaigners.
Power Trips: Enforcement
Comments on enforcement of ethics rules regarding trips. The interview subjects are Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.; James Thurber, director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies; and Craig Holman, campaign finance lobbyist for the advocacy group Public Citizen.
Power Trips: Entertainment
Comments on recreational aspects of sponsored travel. The interview subjects are Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.; James Thurber, director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies; and Craig Holman, campaign finance lobbyist for the advocacy group Public Citizen.
Power Trips: Lobbying
Comments on lobbying activity during sponsored trips. The interview subjects are Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.; James Thurber, director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies; and Craig Holman, campaign finance lobbyist for the advocacy group Public Citizen.
Power Trips: Staff Members
Comments on influence wielded by congressional aides. The interview subjects are Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.; James Thurber, director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies; and Craig Holman, campaign finance lobbyist for the advocacy group Public Citizen.