The Federal Election Commission soon marks a dubious anniversary: one year with nobody directing its legal department. That's no trifle for an agency tasked with regulating and enforcing the nation's campaign laws. Read more»

The conservative billionaire's massive grant to the United Negro College Fund is nothing new. Read more»

A change in status allows pro-Clinton group to donate directly to candidates. Read more»

As Sen. Evan Bayh prepared to quit Congress, he called on all Americans to embrace a “spirit of devotion to the national welfare beyond party or self-interest” and declared his “passion for service to our fellow citizens is undiminished.” Four years later, the Indiana Democrat controls nearly $10 million in surplus campaign cash he could, by law, invest in charities — something other former politicos have done. Read more»

The Federal Election Commission today unanimously ruled that federal political committees may accept a limited amount of Bitcoin to fuel their election efforts, but some questions are still unanswered about how political committees may use digital currency. Read more»

Conservative groups spent $10 million bashing Republican candidates so far this year. Read more»

Billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch may rank among the nation’s biggest bankrollers of conservative causes and Republican campaign vehicles. But Koch proselytizing of government deregulation and pro-business civics is increasingly targeted not just at creatures of Capitol Hill, or couch sitters in swing states, but at the hearts and minds of American college students, as well. Read more»

Two congressional leaders — one Republican and one Democrat — are calling for investigations into Federal Election Commission computer security and operational breakdowns that the Center for Public Integrity detailed in a recent report. Read more»

Just after the federal government shut down Oct. 1, and one of the government’s more dysfunctional agencies stopped functioning altogether, Chinese hackers picked their moment to attack. They waylaid the Federal Election Commission’s networks. They crashed computer systems that publicly disclose how billions of dollars are raised and spent each election cycle by candidates, parties and political action committees. Read more»

Key opponents of gun control and proponents of immigration reform invested unprecedented amounts lobbying Congress this spring, bucking a downward trend among many of the nation’s largest companies and nonprofits,newly released records show. Read more»

Carpetbagging super PACs and nonprofit groups are dominating this year’s special congressional elections in a potential foreshadowing of the 2014 midterms, where even the sleepiest locales aren’t immune from out-of-state, cash-flush special interests. Read more»

Tobacco giant Reynolds American Inc. last year helped fund several of the nation’s most politically active — and secretive — nonprofit organizations, according to a company document reviewed by the Center for Public Integrity. Read more»

Most lobbying firms are not in a hurry to pad politicians' political coffers early this election cycle, with only a few either raising or spending significant cash, a Center for Public Integrity analysis of Federal Election Commission records indicates. Read more»

Amid withering accusations the Internal Revenue Service targeted Tea Party and other conservative groups with enhanced scrutiny, the agency faces another problem: it’s drowning in paperwork. Applications for nonprofit status had a banner year in 2012, while staffing was cut. Read more»

Pro-gun organization increases influence spending as congressional debate rages. Read more»