Lodestar News

American news for the American people.

Special reports

Long-form reports built from court records, government documents, tax and election filings, and research datasets. Each report lists its sources at the end. How Lodestar builds these reports.

  1. Lodestar News special report · November 2026

    Political Violence and Official Enforcement in the United States, 2017 to 2026

    A sourced comparison of left-wing, right-wing, jihadist, ethnonationalist and other recorded attacks, street unrest, January 6, and official prosecutions. Every figure below is tied to a cited court record, government document, research dataset or published report.

    Draws on CSIS, Cato Institute, National Institute of Justice and ACLED data; federal, state and county charging papers and judgments; the Senate and House January 6 reports; and the Congressional Record. Figures are current to the documents cited, including researcher datasets through 2025 and court actions through November 2026.

  2. Lodestar News special report · November 2026

    Black Lives Matter's national foundation: what the tax filings, property records, and court files show

    After 2020 donations, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation reported tens of millions in grants, a nearly $6 million Los Angeles property, an $8 million Canadian grant used to buy a Toronto building, and millions of dollars in payments to firms tied to officers or the founder's family. A later lawsuit by grassroots organizers was dismissed. A separate Atlanta-named group is a different case.

    Draws on the foundation's IRS Forms 990, ProPublica's IRS extracts, California and Washington charity-regulator notices, Los Angeles Superior Court filings, the Sixth Circuit's opinion in United States v. Page, and named investigative reporting. Figures are current to the Form 990 public-disclosure copies for fiscal years ended June 30, 2021, 2022 and 2023, IRS extracts for the year ended June 30, 2024, and court and regulator documents reviewed on Nov. 13, 2026.

  3. Lodestar News special report · November 2026

    Political Fundraising and Nonprofit Controversies, Left and Right, 2017 to 2026

    Donor money and the legal record on both sides: criminal convictions in the We Build the Wall and PAC-telemarketing cases, a civil judgment against NRA leaders, spending scrutiny at The Lincoln Project, state inquiries into ActBlue and WinRed, and the separate Black Lives Matter cases, each sorted by what a court or regulator actually decided.

    Draws on federal and New York court records, U.S. Attorney and state attorney-general releases, FEC filings and matters under review, an Eighth Circuit opinion, and attributed Associated Press and OpenSecrets analysis. Court and regulator documents reviewed Nov. 13, 2026. FEC figures for the 2026 cycle are current through the Oct. 14, 2026, coverage date and are incomplete.

  4. Lodestar News special report · November 2026

    George Soros, Democracy PAC, and the Open Society Foundations: Verified Funding and Legal Record

    What federal election filings, IRS extracts and Open Society's own disclosures show about George Soros's political and philanthropic spending, which legal entities made the contributions, how the totals compare with the largest Republican donors in the same tables, and what the U.S. legal record does and does not contain.

    Draws on FEC committee filings for Democracy PAC, Democracy PAC II, America PAC and Justice & Public Safety PAC; IRS extracts for three Open Society entities; Open Society's financial disclosures; and OpenSecrets's biggest-donor tables. FEC figures for the 2026 cycle are current through the Oct. 14, 2026, coverage date and are incomplete. OpenSecrets tables are for the 2020, 2022 and 2024 cycles. Other documents reviewed Nov. 13, 2026.