RealClearInvestigations Articles

Topline: In 2012, there was little reason not to close the Lake Murray State Park Airport in Oklahoma. There were no planes stored at the airport, and it averaged only one flight per month. But by keeping the airport open, local officials were able to collect an annual $150,000 check from the Federal Aviation Administration. The airport collected $750,000 from 2008 to 2012, but less than $6,000 was used at the airport itself. Most of the cash was dispersed to other projects around the state. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr....

In December, bestselling author and humorist David Sedaris wrote a New Yorker magazine essay about a recent trip to Portland, Oregon. While on a walk to a donut shop, he “lost count of the strung-out addicts I passed on my way” before eventually encountering four homeless people huddled around an empty baby carriage and smoking drugs right on the sidewalk. Moments later, a dog belonging to one of the addicts rushed out and bit him.  Following the incident, Sedaris, a former methamphetamine addict himself, was struck by the fact that most people in Portland didn’t...

Topline: A Los Angeles advocacy group that sued the city twice was simultaneously being funded by the city itself. Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) has received at least $1.2 million in city contracts since 2020, including $375,000 in 2024. The funding stayed intact even while the group sued Los Angeles over Covid-19 emergency rental assistance and hotel construction. The nonprofit has also advocated for abolishing the Los Angeles Police Department and cancelling the 2028 Summer Olympics, among other social justice issues. The funding was first reported by the New York Post and...

The Republican leader of Pennsylvania's state Senate saluted his allies in labor earlier this month after their successful, years-long effort to defeat what they saw as a job-killing climate initiative. "Thanks to this repeal, the members of this union won't have to pack suitcases to go to a job," Sen. Joe Pittman declared while introducing business agent Shawn Steffee of Boilermakers Local 154 in Pittsburgh. "They'll pack lunchboxes." In the years since state leaders had committed Pennsylvania to joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), membership in the union had dropped by...

Topline: The federal government gives billions of dollars in research grants to universities every year, but not all of it directly funds scientific inquiry. Most universities enjoy contractually negotiated overhead rates of 50% to 60%, allowing them to use grant funds on staffing, building maintenance, security and more. That means for every dollar universities receive in research funding, they get an additional 50 to 60 cents for overhead. Open the Books identified five universities — University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,...

Topline: Taxpayers are often suspicious that government insiders can rewrite the rules to benefit themselves. But in Connecticut, the problem is that the rules were not rewritten. Business consultant Sonserae Cicero received $168,000 in state funding to rewrite the handbook of a local nonprofit and train its staff, but a Jan. 20 audit claims there is no evidence the work was ever completed. Cicero was chosen as a grant recipient by State Sen. Doug McCrory. Federal prosecutors are currently investigating an alleged romantic relationship between the two. Waste of the Day 2.2.26 Open the...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week January 25 to January 31   Featured Investigation: About FACE: Trump Administration Using Abortion-Focused Law To Defend Believers A January 2025 protest that disrupted a Sunday worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, has become a flashpoint in the long-running debate over the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and its enforcement. Ben Weingarten reports for RealClearInvestigations that the Trump administration’s decision to charge protest leaders under the law signals a major shift in how the...

Topline: Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander claims one of the city’s health insurance funds has “no path to solvency” after labor unions used it to cover pay raises, Weight Watchers and more. Key facts: New York’s taxpayer-funded Health Insurance Stabilization Fund owes $3.1 billion to outside vendors and the city that it’s unable to pay. The actual amount is likely much higher because expenses from 2024 and 2025 have not been totaled yet, according to Lander’s Dec. 30 audit. The fund was created in 1985 to help employees afford the city’s...

Looking to reorient U.S. energy policy toward fossil fuels and nuclear plants, President Trump has access to an enormous sum of money made available by an unlikely source: the Biden administration and congressional Democrats. Legislation passed on party-line votes, most notably the $1 trillion Inflation Reduction Act, allocated hundreds of billions to the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency to fund various green energy projects. While some of that money has since been zeroed out by Republicans, more than $280 billion remains – allocated but unspent. Greg...

Topline: In 2012, a study published by Agnes Scott College and Emory University concluded that chimpanzees that know how to throw their own feces have stronger communication skills than those that do not. The National Institutes of Health must have used similarly primitive communication skills when deciding to award the study three federal grants worth $592,000 in 2011. The money would be worth $849,000 today. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these reports shined a white-hot spotlight on federal...

Topline: The State Department did not have consistent oversight requirements for $5.7 billion it contributed to the United Nations and other international organizations in 2024, according to an audit released by the agency’s inspector general on Jan. 15. Key facts: State Department policy recommends that all contributions to international organizations require the recipients to follow U.S. law and executive orders, avoid sending money to terrorist organizations and undergo regular audits. The inspector general reviewed 18 contributions the U.S. made and found the policy was applied...

Instead of the word of the Lord, worshippers at the Jan. 18 Sunday prayer service at Cities Church in St. Paul were met with chants such as “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good.” But that’s not all. Families in the pews were harangued as “pretend Christians” and “comfortable white people,” and even condemned as “Nazis,” who would “burn in hell” by at least one of the dozens of opponents of the Trump administration’s Twin Cities Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge who disrupted church...

Topline: The Grinch did not successfully steal Christmas this season, but he did use up $30,493 in taxpayer money. A viral Grinch-themed house in Dallas drew crowds so large that the city needed extra police personnel hours, vehicles and barricades to control the nightly crowd of visitors, WFAA-TV reported. Key facts: The 9,000-square-foot mansion in the Preston Hollow neighborhood in North Dallas became famous on TikTok in 2024, thanks in part to a Santa statue with President Donald Trump’s face. The house received coverage from the Today Show and an Instagram post from rapper Snoop...

Topline: In fiscal year 2025, Congress funded 1,326 federal programs that had expired legal authorizations to receive taxpayer funding — the most since at least 2019, when the Congressional Budget Office began totaling the annual number. Another 304 funded programs had authorizations that expired later in 2025. These “zombie programs” cost taxpayers at least $500 billion in 2025, although CBO analysts were unable to determine how much money 869 of the programs actually received; the actual dollar total was far higher.  Key facts: “Zombie programs” earn their...

RealClearInvestigations' Picks of the Week January 18 to January 24   Featured Investigation: Obama’s Fingerprints All Over Investigations of Trump And Clinton Paul Sperry reports for RealClearInvestigations recently declassified documents reveal former President Barack Obama's central role in protecting Hillary Clinton while advancing investigations against Donald Trump during and after the 2016 election, raising questions now being examined by federal prosecutors. FBI Director James Comey obtained eight thumb drives containing Clinton's compromised State Department emails...

Topline: The company administering taxpayer-funded health insurance for New York State employees overpaid hospitals by $19.3 million, according to a new audit from the State Comptroller. Key facts: New York’s Department of Civil Service provides health insurance for over 1 million active and retired teachers, police officers and other government employees. Using taxpayer funding, New York pays Anthem Blue Cross to cover claims for employees’ hospital visits. From January 2019 to May 2024, Anthem mistakenly believed that it could not ask hospitals to return money that had...

Topline: The U.S. Agency for International Development had noble intentions when it created the Afghan Civilian Assistance Program. It spent $52 million from 2007 to March 2011 to try and send food, clothing and more to the grieving families of civilians killed by the war in Afghanistan. Tragically, inspector general reports from 2009 and 2011 found that huge portions of the money were lost to waste, fraud and abuse. It would be worth over $76 million today. That’s according to the “Wastebook” reporting published by the late U.S. Senator Dr. Tom Coburn. For years, these...

In the run-up to the 2016 Democratic Party convention, FBI Director James Comey gained access to at least eight thumb drives containing large volumes of former Secretary Hillary Clinton’s sensitive State Department emails – as well as some from President Obama – that appeared to have been compromised by foreign hackers. Instead of investigating the explosive new batch of evidence revealed in recently declassified documents, Comey rushed ahead to close an investigation into whether Clinton improperly transmitted and received classified material from a private, unsecured...

Topline: “Three strikes and you’re out” is an excellent rule for baseball, but apparently not for Medicaid. The Maine health-care company Gateway Community Services LLC was found to have overbilled Medicaid by $1.7 million in three separate audits before the state finally cut off its funding. The business is now under investigation for potential fraud. Key facts: Gateway was founded in 2014 by Abdullahi Ali, a refugee from Somalia. The company specializes in “culturally aware services to refugees and immigrants to help them begin the process of healing and learning to...