Washington, D.C. — A new Congressional Integrity Project investigation shows Capital Research Center’s climate denial campaign runs on oil money, a democracy watchdog explains how Trump’s crackdown on nonprofits copies autocrats abroad, and new reporting shows federal agents were digging into Susan Collins’ ties to a defense contractor before Trump’s FBI killed the investigation.
Capital Research Center’s Climate Denial Runs on $5 Million in Oil Money
A new CIP investigation documents that Capital Research Center, the right-wing smear shop feeding Republican attacks on civil society, has taken more than $5 million from foundations built on oil and gas fortunes. That includes $2.4 million from the Sarah Scaife Foundation, whose heir holds millions in Exxon and Chevron shares. The money buys exactly what you’d expect: a series branding climate science a heist, more than 500 “Green Watch” articles attacking environmental groups, and a report smearing 15 environmental organizations as “anti-energy NGOs.” House Judiciary Republicans cited CRC’s work to go after the Environmental Law Institute, and Trump’s Justice Department pushed an investigation based on a CRC report its own president later admitted showed no evidence of illegal funding.
Trump’s Assault on Nonprofits Comes Straight Out of the Authoritarian Playbook
In a new interview, Protect Democracy policy strategist Shanna Singh Hughey explained how Trump’s memo attacking progressive nonprofits, known as the NSPM-7 memo and marketed as “counterterrorism,” defines extremism so loosely that routine nonpartisan advocacy falls inside it. It also lets agencies target the leaders and staff of any group the administration simply accuses of enabling violence. She tied Trump’s tactics to crackdowns in Hungary, Russia, and Brazil, where regimes use bogus audits and politicized probes to muzzle critics. She argued nonprofits are targeted because they stand between would-be autocrats and unchecked power. The strategy depends on “anticipatory obedience,” scaring organizations into quitting before the government has to lift a finger. Protect Democracy has sued multiple agencies, including the IRS, to pry loose the administration’s nonprofit target lists. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department and the IRS are reportedly weighing stripping tax exemptions from progressive groups like Open Society Foundations and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Trump’s FBI Buried a Corruption Case That Led Straight to Susan Collins
New ProPublica reporting shows former defense contractor Navatek CEO Martin Kao told federal agents his firm secured government money after showering lawmakers with campaign cash. Senator Susan Collins, he said, was his most valuable ally. After the head of Collins’ super PAC asked Navatek executives for $500,000, Kao routed money to the PAC through a shell company. Two months later, he told colleagues Collins had promised to back $32 million in Navy funding. In a private meeting, Kao says that Collins told him, “You’ve seen me deliver.” By late 2024, federal agents believed they had enough to open a broad bribery investigation. Once Trump was inaugurated, Kash Patel gutted the FBI’s public corruption squad, forcing out the agents on the case, and the probe went nowhere. The same fundraiser and super PAC chair are running Collins’ 2026 reelection campaign.
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