Media Capture and Control
The Media Capture and Control capture lane traces 618 verified events documenting this mechanism of institutional capture.
Top 10 actors in this lane
10 actors · 1836–2026
Capture lanecorruptiondemocraticexecutivefinancialintelligencejudiciallaborlegislativemediamilitaryotherregulatory
Status
confirmed
alleged
disputed
| Date | Event | Lanes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-04 | Ex-DOGE worker Coristine attacked, Trump threatens federal DC takeover Edward Coristine · Donald Trump · DC Metropolitan Police · National Guard | confirmed | |
| 2025-08-01 | Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler Resigns Early, Opening Seat for Trump Appointee Adriana Kugler · Federal Reserve · Donald Trump · Jerome Powell | confirmed | |
| 2025-08-01 | Smithsonian Removes Trump Impeachment References from National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution · National Museum of American History · White House · Donald Trump | confirmed | |
| 2025-07-24 | FCC Approves Skydance's Acquisition of Paramount/CBS Federal Communications Commission · Skydance Media · Paramount Global · Commissioner Anna Gomez (dissented) | confirmed | |
| 2025-07-23 | House Speaker Johnson Shuts Down Congress Early to Block Epstein Files Vote Mike Johnson · Thomas Massie · Ro Khanna · U.S. House of Representatives | confirmed | |
| 2025-07-21 | Trump Media buys $2 billion in bitcoin for crypto Treasury plan Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-07-11 | Federal court restrains LAPD use of less-lethal force against journalists U.S. District Court · LAPD · Journalists | confirmed | |
| 2025-07-08 | Musk Floods X with 35+ Posts Attacking Trump Over Epstein "Cover-up" Elon Musk · Donald Trump · X · Twitter · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-07-07 | Ghana Launches Democracy Capture Index Revealing Widespread Institutional Capture in Africa Ghana Centre for Democratic Development · CDD-Ghana researchers · African presidents · Government agencies across 10 African countries | confirmed | |
| 2025-07-02 | Paramount Pays $16M to Settle Trump's 60 Minutes Lawsuit Donald Trump · Kamala Harris · Paramount Global · CBS News · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-24 | Bernie Sanders Returns to Joe Rogan, Warns of Trump Authoritarianism and Media Intimidation - Contributes to Rogan's Subsequent Trump Criticism Bernie Sanders · Joe Rogan · Donald Trump · Elon Musk | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-16 | Trump Media seeks SEC approval for bitcoin and ethereum ETF Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Crypto.com · Yorkville America Digital | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-15 | Federal Judicial System Faces Unprecedented Integrity Challenge Margaret Satterthwaite · UN Special Rapporteur · Supreme Court Justices · Sen. Cory Booker · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-12 | Senator Alex Padilla Forcibly Removed and Handcuffed by FBI Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) · DHS Secretary Kristi Noem · FBI police officers · U.S. Secret Service · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-09 | CPJ: Law enforcement injure multiple journalists covering Los Angeles protests Committee to Protect Journalists · LAPD · Federal Law Enforcement · Journalists and reporters · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-06 | DC Circuit Rules 2-1 That Trump Can Bar AP from White House Events U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · Judge Neomi Rao · Judge Gregory Katsas · Judge Cornelia Pillard · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-06 | Labor Leader David Huerta Arrested During Federal Operation David Huerta · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · SEIU · Federal Law Enforcement | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-05 | Musk Posts "Trump is in the Epstein Files" - 10 Million Views Before Deletion Elon Musk · Donald Trump | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-03 | Trump's Truth Social Takes Step Toward Launching Bitcoin ETF with NYSE Arca Filing Donald Trump · Trump Media & Technology Group · Yorkville America Digital · Foris DAX Trust Company · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2025-06-01 | Palantir builds $30M AI surveillance system linking IRS, Social Security, and immigration data for ICE Palantir Technologies · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · Peter Thiel · Sen. Ron Wyden · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-29 | Paramount Settles Trump's $20 Billion '60 Minutes' Lawsuit for $16 Million Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Paramount Global · CBS News · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-28 | Paramount settles Trump '60 Minutes' lawsuit for $16 million Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-27 | Donald Trump’s media conglomerate is becoming a bitcoin reserve Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-27 | Trump questioned whether U.S. gold is missing. His allies are trying to cash in Donald Trump · Elon Musk · Scott Bessent | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-22 | FTC probes Media Matters over Musk's X boycott claims, document shows Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-14 | U.S. AG Pam Bondi Sells Over $1 Million in Trump Media Shares Amid Tariff Announcement Donald Trump · Pam Bondi · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-10 | V-Dem Institute warns U.S. approaching "Electoral Autocracy" threshold V-Dem Institute · University of Gothenburg · United States | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-09 | Large investors increased stake in Trump Media by hundreds of millions Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-05-04 | Trump says he'll call CEOs when he disagrees with their business decisions Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-22 | Rapid Response Litigation Protocol Developed Constitutional Defense Network · Emergency Legal Response Team · Lawyers for Good Government · Democracy Forward | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-22 | Trump Media Finalizes Crypto ETF Deal with Crypto.com and Yorkville Digital Donald Trump · Devin Nunes · Kris Marszalek · Trump Media & Technology Group · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-21 | Kremlin Explored Moscow Skyscraper Offer to Trump as Diplomatic Leverage Donald Trump · Vladimir Putin · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-16 | Under Trump, consumer watchdog to slash industry supervision Donald Trump · Elon Musk · Russell Vought · National Treasury Employees Union · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-15 | Press Freedom Tracker: White House wrests control of press pool structure White House · U.S. Press Freedom Tracker · White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) · Associated Press · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-15 | White House restructures press pool, removes permanent wire position White House · White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) · Wire services | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-14 | Wolff Reports Trump Team's Media Leverage Attempt with Warner Bros. Discovery Donald Trump · Donald Trump Jr. · Michael Wolff · David Zaslav · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-11 | Meta adds former Trump advisor Dina Powell McCormick to its board Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Dina Powell McCormick · Mark Zuckerberg | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-09 | Trump offers ‘buy’ tip on social media hours before tariff pause that made stocks soar Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-09 | USCIS to screen immigrants' social media for antisemitic activity U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services · U.S. Department of Homeland Security · Trump Administration · Civil liberties groups | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-08 | Judge orders restoration of AP access to White House events U.S. District Court · Associated Press · The White House · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-08 | Justice Department Disbands National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team Donald Trump · Todd Blanche · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-03 | FCC Chair Carr Proposes Section 230 Reinterpretation at DOJ "Big-Tech Censorship" Forum Brendan Carr · Federal Communications Commission · Department of Justice Antitrust Division · Federal Trade Commission | confirmed | |
| 2025-04-02 | Shares in Trump social media company sink following concerns about insider selloff Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-31 | Zuckerberg tries to enlist trump in fight against Meta EU ruling Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-28 | Trump gets $100M deal with Skadden law firm amid pressure campaign Donald Trump · Jeremy London · Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-24 | Trump Media shares jump on announcement of ETF deal with Crypto.com Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-15 | Trump administration coerces law firms into $940 million of free legal work Trump Administration · Major law firms · Paul Weiss · Kirkland & Ellis · +7 | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-15 | Trump Administration Used Diplomatic Pressure to Advance Starlink in Gambia Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Sharon Cromer · Lamin Jabbi · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-10 | Amazon pays $40 million for Melania documentary in apparent quid pro quo arrangement Amazon · Jeff Bezos · Melania Trump · Donald Trump · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-09 | CIVICUS reports U.S. civic freedoms in decline, democracy at risk CIVICUS Monitor · United States · International civil society organizations | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-05 | Musk's America PAC launches $1 million TV ad buy touting Trump's first 6 weeks in office Donald Trump · Elon Musk · America PAC | confirmed | |
| 2025-03-01 | Investigation Finds 58% of Accounts Supporting Far-Right Portuguese Parties Were Fake Cyabra (investigator) · Far-right Portuguese parties · Fake account networks · Russian disinformation operations | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-26 | White House Seizes Control of Press Pool, Removes Reuters and Bloomberg Alongside AP White House · Associated Press · Reuters · Bloomberg News · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-20 | X Threatens Interpublic Group with Potential Government Interference Over Ad Spending Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Elon Musk · Linda Yaccarino · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-18 | Trump Administration Terminates Critical Privacy Officials at OPM, Blocking Public Information Access Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Elon Musk · Department of Government Efficiency | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-18 | White House Posts "ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight" Video Packaging State Violence as Entertainment White House · Donald Trump · deportees | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-15 | DOJ Kleptocracy Initiative Shuttered: Major Setback for Anti-Corruption Enforcement Pam Bondi · Department of Justice · Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative · KleptoCapture Task Force · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-13 | How the Trumps Turned Social Media Platform Litigation into a Profitable Strategy Donald Trump · Alphabet Inc. · Google · YouTube · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-12 | State Department Plans $400 Million Purchase of Tesla Cybertrucks State Department · Tesla · Elon Musk | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-11 | Associated Press barred from White House events; later restored by court Associated Press · White House | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-07 | Trump Media Offers $800,000 Stock Award to Kash Patel Before FBI Director Confirmation Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Kash Patel · Donald Trump Jr. · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-05 | Trump Administration Shuts Down KleptoCapture Task Force Pam Bondi · Donald Trump · Merrick Garland · Gary Kalman · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-04 | Trump Signs Executive Order Restoring 'Maximum Pressure' Campaign Against Iran Donald Trump · Marco Rubio · U.S. Treasury Department | confirmed | |
| 2025-02-02 | Trump administration purges 8,000+ climate web pages from federal agencies Trump Administration · Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · NOAA · Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-30 | Amazon Raises Ad Spending on Elon Musk's X Platform Jeff Bezos · Elon Musk · Andy Jassy · Donald Trump · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-30 | CBP Journalist Watchlist and Border Surveillance Program Documented U.S. Customs and Border Protection · Targeted Journalists · Immigration Advocates · DHS (Department of Homeland Security) · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-30 | Paramount in settlement talks with Trump over ‘60 Minutes’ lawsuit Donald Trump · Trump Administration | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-29 | Meta agrees to pay $25 million to settle Trump lawsuit over suspended accounts Donald Trump · Mark Zuckerberg · Meta Corporation | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-29 | Trump Media Launches Truth.Fi FinTech Brand with $250M Investment Strategy Donald Trump · Devin Nunes · Trump Media & Technology Group | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-25 | Brendan Carr chairs FCC after writing Project 2025 FCC chapter Brendan Carr · Federal Communications Commission · Trump Administration · Heritage Foundation | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-23 | DOJ Expands Surveillance of Journalists Covering Administration U.S. Department of Justice · Federal Bureau of Investigation · National Security Division · Journalists · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-20 | Pam Bondi Rescinds Journalist Protection Safeguards as AG Pam Bondi · U.S. Department of Justice · Merrick Garland · News Outlets · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-19 | Melania Trump launches $MELANIA coin with suspicious trading netting insiders $99.6M Melania Trump · Cryptocurrency traders · World Liberty Financial · Sen. Chris Murphy | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-15 | Patrizia Cavazzoni's FDA to Pfizer Move Epitomizes Regulatory Capture Patrizia Cavazzoni · Food and Drug Administration · Pfizer · Robert F. Kennedy Jr. · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-07 | Donald Trump Jr. Makes Unofficial Visit to Greenland, Distributes MAGA Hats Donald Trump Jr. · Donald Trump · Greenland Government | confirmed | |
| 2025-01-07 | Meta Eliminates Fact-Checking Program Citing "Political Bias" After Trump Pressure Mark Zuckerberg · Meta · Donald Trump · Joel Kaplan | confirmed | |
| 2024-12-03 | South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol Declares Martial Law, Triggering Democratic Crisis Yoon Suk Yeol · South Korean National Assembly · South Korean protesters · Democratic Party | confirmed | |
| 2024-12-03 | South Korean Democratic Resistance Against Presidential Martial Law Yoon Suk Yeol · Lee Jae-myung · South Korean Parliament · Civil Society Organizations · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2024-11-24 | Vitali Klitschko Confronts Joe Rogan for Promoting Russian Propaganda on Ukraine, Rogan Defends Kremlin Narratives Joe Rogan · Vitali Klitschko · Volodymyr Zelenskyy · RT (Russia Today) | confirmed | |
| 2024-11-14 | Milo Yiannopoulos Launches Tarantula Management Firm Offering Trump Administration Access Milo Yiannopoulos · Kanye West · Martin Shkreli · Marjorie Taylor Greene · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2024-11-04 | Joe Rogan Endorses Trump on Election Eve, Marking Major Podcast Influence on Political Discourse Joe Rogan · Donald Trump · Elon Musk · Kamala Harris · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2024-10-25 | Joe Rogan Gives Trump Unchallenged 3-Hour Platform 11 Days Before Election, Interview Reaches 50M+ Views and Cited as 'Deciding Factor' by Voters Joe Rogan · Donald Trump · Elon Musk · JD Vance | confirmed | |
| 2024-10-01 | Musk Coordinates Political Operations Through America PAC and X Platform Information Warfare Elon Musk · Donald Trump · America PAC · Twitter | confirmed | |
| 2024-09-09 | Vance Spreads Debunked Anti-Haitian Immigrant Hoax in Springfield, Ohio J.D. Vance · Haitian immigrants · Springfield Police · Bryan Heck · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2024-08-15 | Grok AI Implements Enhanced Safety Protocols After Regulatory Pressure Elon Musk · xAI · AI Ethics Review Board · U.S. AI Safety Institute | confirmed | |
| 2024-07-23 | House Oversight Releases Damning PBM Report After 32-Month Investigation: Anticompetitive Policies Exposed U.S. House Oversight Committee · James Comer · Adam Kautzner · David Joyner · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2024-07-20 | Vance White Nationalist Social Media Connections Exposed J.D. Vance · Raw Egg Nationalist · Bronze Age Pervert · Richard Hanania · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2024-07-17 | SEC Files Securities Fraud Lawsuit Against Former DWAC CEO Patrick Orlando Securities and Exchange Commission · Patrick Orlando · Digital World Acquisition Corp · Trump Media & Technology Group | confirmed | |
| 2024-07-16 | xAI Faces Major Criticism Over Grok AI Safety Failures Elon Musk · xAI · Samuel Marks · Boaz Barak · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2024-07-13 | X Algorithm Modified to Amplify Musk and Right-Wing Content Following Trump Endorsement Elon Musk · Donald Trump · Timothy Graham · Mark Andrejevic · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2024-07-09 | FTC Report Reveals PBM Oligopoly: Top 3 Control 80% of Market, Extract $7.3 Billion Through Markups Federal Trade Commission · Lina Khan · CVS Caremark · Express Scripts · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2024-06-26 | Meta Fixes Bug in Political Content Filter on Instagram and Threads Meta · Instagram · Threads | confirmed | |
| 2024-06-26 | SCOTUS: Plaintiffs lack standing in social-media coercion case (Murthy v. Missouri) Supreme Court of the United States · Justice Amy Coney Barrett · Justice Samuel Alito · Justice Clarence Thomas · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2024-06-15 | xAI Implements Controversial AI Safety Framework Amid Industry Scrutiny Elon Musk · xAI · The Midas Project · AI Safety Experts · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2024-05-22 | House Oversight Launches Comprehensive Investigation into Grok AI's Safety and Government Deployment Robert Garcia · Stephen Lynch · Elon Musk · xAI · +5 | confirmed | |
| 2024-05-15 | xAI Announces Enhanced Safety Protocols for Grok Chatbot at AI Seoul Summit Elon Musk · xAI · AI Ethics Consultants · Boaz Barak · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2024-05-07 | Stormy Daniels Testifies in Graphic Detail About Sexual Encounter, Trump Visibly Angry Stormy Daniels · Donald Trump · Juan Merchan | confirmed | |
| 2024-05-03 | Noem caught lying about meeting Kim Jong Un in memoir Kristi Noem · Kim Jong Un | confirmed | |
| 2024-03-26 | DJT Stock Begins Trading as Trump Owns Majority of $8.4 Billion Media Company Donald Trump · Trump Media & Technology Group · NYSE · Digital World Acquisition Corp · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2024-03-22 | Candace Owens Fired from Daily Wire After Antisemitism Controversy Candace Owens · Ben Shapiro · Jeremy Boreing · Daily Wire | confirmed |