Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

1. Mysterious Colorado group has deep ties to GOP establishment

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 24, 2012 11 a.m.

   DENVER -- A newly created nonprofit organization here, which jumped into the presidential fray last week by dropping nearly $1 million in independent expenditures against President Barack Obama, has connections deep in Colorado's Republican establishment.

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2. Romney, Obama blitz Colorado with ads and visits

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 23, 2012 8:13 a.m.

   When GOP nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama arrive in this battleground state for campaign rallies over the next 24 hours, they'll be accompanied by a barrage of television ads on programs ranging from news broadcasts to The View to Jimmy Kimmel to General Hospital.

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3. Stealthy Wealthy: Who gave big in September?

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 22, 2012 12:47 p.m.

   It sounds like a scenario straight from central casting. A liberal Hollywood mogul and conservative Texas billionaire are among the exclusive 25-member million-dollar check writing club whose members forked over additional cash for super PACs in September, according to a recent Sunlight Foundation analysis.

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4. Stealthy Wealthy: Franklin Haney built real estate empire with government help

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 18, 2012 10:37 a.m.
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5. Who leases office space to the feds remains a mystery

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 18, 2012 10:37 a.m.

   After deciding to profile Franklin L. Haney as part of our Stealthy Wealthy series, an obvious question soon posed itself: Exactly how much have Haney's companies collected over the years in leasing office space to the federal government?

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6. Haney campaign contributions hard to follow

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 18, 2012 10:37 a.m.

   Franklin L. Haney is a case study on how hard it can be to get a comprehensive picture of the campaign contribution clout of a particular individual or company given the limits of state and local level disclosure. 

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7. Stealthy effort fuels get out the vote effort--in Israel

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 16, 2012 7:51 a.m.

   An assertive bipartisan get-out-the-vote effort known as “IVoteIsrael” and aimed at Americans living in that country appears to have ties to conservative billionaire Ronald S. Lauder, a supporter of Republican causes and of the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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8. Conservative stars gather for apres-debate confab in Denver

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 4, 2012 9:46 a.m.

   This post has been updated.

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9. Colorado: Team Romney keeping a low profile in a swing state?

   By Nancy Watzman Oct 3, 2012 9:07 a.m.

   The campaign activity that's visible so far calls into question how much the Republican nominee and his backers plan to invest in a state where recent polling shows Obama ahead of Romney, and public records show the president outspending his rival in major television markets.

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10. Show us the Obama and Romney Super PAC donors

    By Nancy Watzman Sep 4, 2012 1:56 p.m.

    On the eve of the Democratic convention, Priorities USA Action, the super PAC that is supporting President Barack Obama's reelection campaign, has announced that it raised $10 million in August, via this report in the New York Times. However, we won't know who has donated this money until official reports are due at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) later this month.

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11. Corporate funded nonprofit works at nexus of politics and entertainment

    By Nancy Watzman Aug 31, 2012 12:17 p.m.

    A corporate-funded nonprofit organization that operates out of a Washington, DC lobbying firm's offices and describes itself as working in the "nexus between the entertainment community and Washington" will be helping to host a "high-profile evening event" on Tuesday at the Democratic convention in Charlotte.

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12. House freshmen: GOP insiders fuel Scott Tipton's campaign

    By Nancy Watzman Aug 21, 2012 11:50 a.m.

    There’s a gold nugget in the middle of GOP freshman Rep. Scott Tipton’s Colorado congressional district, which sprawls across the western, largely rural, part of the state, and its name is Aspen. 

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13. From cigars to coins to repealing health care reform: GOP frosh pursue mostly expected legislation

    By Nancy Watzman Aug 20, 2012 12:12 p.m.

    They rode into office on a wave of disgust with Washington insiders whom the public perceived as catering to special interests. Yet among the roughly two dozen bills that congressional freshmen have rallied to support is one that would benefit an icon of political cronyism.

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14. Stealthy Wealthy: To Robert Rowling, political giving makes business sense

    By Nancy Watzman Aug 8, 2012 12:52 p.m.

    Texas-based billionaire Robert Rowling has given a total of $6.8 million to American Crossroads, the super PAC that has run ads criticizing President Barack Obama for, among other things, bailing out and bankrolling private businesses with public money. Yet Rowling, seen at right, a member of the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans who inherited his fortune, hasn't been averse to seeking taxpayer assistance in his own business ventures. And he's been willing to use his private fortune to seek public dollars. 

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Investigations by Sunlight Foundation reporter Nancy Watzman