Military-Industrial Complex
The Military-Industrial Complex capture lane traces 352 verified events documenting this mechanism of institutional capture.
Top 10 actors in this lane
10 actors · 1807–2026
Capture lanecorruptiondemocraticexecutivefinancialintelligencejudiciallaborlegislativemediamilitaryotherregulatory
Status
confirmed
alleged
disputed
| Date | Event | Lanes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-10-11 | Trump Vows to Continue Raytheon, Lockheed Arms Sales Despite Khashoggi Murder and Yemen Atrocities
4 src Donald Trump · Raytheon · Lockheed Martin · Boeing · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2018-10-01 | Operation Faithful Patriot deploys 5,200 active-duty troops to border
4 src 101st Airborne Division · Military police battalions · Combat engineers · Pentagon · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2018-08-09 | US-Made Bomb Kills 40 Children on School Bus in Yemen, Triggering International Outrage
4 src Lockheed Martin · Raytheon · General Dynamics · Saudi Arabia · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2018-06-15 | Northrop Grumman Wins $217 Million Cyber Warfare Contract for Unified Platform
3 src Northrop Grumman · U.S. Cyber Command · National Security Agency · U.S. Department of Defense | confirmed | |
| 2018-06-06 | Northrop Grumman Acquires Orbital ATK for $9.2 Billion, Creating Solid Rocket Motor Monopoly
3 src Northrop Grumman · Orbital ATK · Federal Trade Commission · U.S. Department of Defense · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2018-04-22 | Raytheon-Manufactured Bomb Kills 23 at Yemen Wedding, Majority Women and Children
4 src Raytheon · Lockheed Martin · Saudi Arabia · Mohammed bin Salman | confirmed | |
| 2018-03-28 | VA Secretary David Shulkin Fired After Inspector General Finds Ethics Violations on Taxpayer-Funded European Trip
3 src David Shulkin · Vivieca Wright Simpson · Merle Bari · Donald Trump | confirmed | |
| 2017-12-14 | FCC Under Ajit Pai Repeals Net Neutrality in 3-2 Party-Line Vote
3 src Ajit Pai · Donald Trump · Verizon Communications · Mignon Clyburn · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2017-09-13 | Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Requested Military Jet for European Honeymoon, Request Denied After Scrutiny
3 src Steve Mnuchin · Louise Linton | confirmed | |
| 2017-08-21 | Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Uses Military Jet for Solar Eclipse Viewing Trip to Kentucky
3 src Steve Mnuchin · Louise Linton · Mitch McConnell | confirmed | |
| 2017-07-21 | Mark Esper, Former Raytheon Weapons Lobbyist, Becomes Army Secretary in Revolving Door Appointment
4 src Mark Esper · Raytheon · Donald Trump · Elizabeth Warren | confirmed | |
| 2017-06-16 | Anduril Industries Founded by Palmer Luckey and Former Palantir Executives
2 src Palmer Luckey · Peter Thiel · Trae Stephens · Brian Schimpf · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2017-06-01 | Anduril Industries Founded by Palantir Alumni with Thiel Backing, Building Autonomous Weapons Layer
2 src Palmer Luckey · Trae Stephens · Brian Schimpf · Matt Grimm · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2017-04-19 | Fox News Fires Bill O'Reilly After $13 Million Sexual Harassment Settlements - Trump Had Defended Him
2 src Bill O'Reilly · Donald Trump · Rupert Murdoch · James Murdoch · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2017-04-06 | Trump Orders Syria Missile Strike from Mar-a-Lago During State Dinner with Xi Jinping - Military Action as Mar-a-Lago Spectacle
3 src Donald Trump · Xi Jinping · Bashar al-Assad · Rex Tillerson · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2017-02-28 | Trump Exploits Navy SEAL Ryan Owens' Widow at Congress Address to Deflect From Botched Yemen Raid He Approved
2 src Donald Trump · Carryn Owens · William Owens · Ryan Owens · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2017-01-29 | Trump Approves Botched Yemen Raid Killing Navy SEAL Owens and 23+ Civilians Including 8-Year-Old American Girl
2 src Donald Trump · William Owens · Nawar al-Awlaki · Carryn Owens | confirmed | |
| 2016-12-08 | Former Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh Joins Northrop Grumman Board After B-21 Bomber Contract Award
3 src Mark Welsh · Northrop Grumman · U.S. Air Force · Wes Bush · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2016-10-08 | Saudi Coalition Uses US-Made Bombs to Kill 155 at Yemen Funeral Hall in Sanaa
4 src Saudi Arabia · Mohammed bin Salman · Raytheon · Lockheed Martin · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2016-09-20 | CEO Stumpf Testifies Before Senate, Elizabeth Warren Demands Resignation
3 src John Stumpf · Elizabeth Warren · U.S. Senate Banking Committee | confirmed | |
| 2016-09-16 | Oliver Stone's "Snowden" Film Brings NSA Whistleblower Story to Mainstream Audiences
3 src Oliver Stone · Joseph Gordon-Levitt · Edward Snowden | confirmed | |
| 2016-09-10 | Raytheon-Manufactured Bomb Kills 31 Civilians at Yemen Water Drilling Site in Apparent War Crime
4 src Raytheon · Saudi Arabia · Mohammed bin Salman · Human Rights Watch | confirmed | |
| 2016-09-01 | Apollo Global Management Acquires Constellis Holdings (Blackwater Successor) for Approximately $1 Billion
3 src Constellis Holdings · Apollo Global Management · Blackwater · Triple Canopy | confirmed | |
| 2016-08-15 | Raytheon Paveway Bomb Strikes MSF Hospital in Yemen, Killing 11 Including Healthcare Workers
4 src Raytheon · Saudi Arabia · Mohammed bin Salman · Doctors Without Borders · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2015-10-28 | DaVita Pays $450 Million for Drug Wastage Fraud, Largest Unjoined Whistleblower Settlement in History
3 src DaVita · Kent Thiry · Alon J. Vainer · Daniel D. Barbir · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2015-10-27 | Northrop Grumman Wins $80 Billion B-21 Raider Stealth Bomber Contract
3 src Northrop Grumman · U.S. Air Force · U.S. Department of Defense · Boeing · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2015-10-03 | U.S. Airstrike Destroys Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Kunduz, Kills 42
4 src Barack Obama · Doctors Without Borders · U.S. Air Force · Afghanistan | confirmed | |
| 2015-06-18 | Northrop Grumman Pays $11.4 Million for Illegally Billing Executive Compensation to Federal Contracts
3 src Northrop Grumman · Department of Justice · Defense Contract Management Agency · Defense Contract Audit Agency | confirmed | |
| 2015-06-02 | Obama Signs USA FREEDOM Act, Ending NSA Bulk Metadata Collection
3 src Barack Obama · Mitch McConnell · Ron Wyden · Rand Paul · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2015-03-26 | Saudi Arabia Launches Yemen Intervention Armed with Billions in Raytheon Weapons, Beginning Eight-Year Atrocity
4 src Saudi Arabia · Mohammed bin Salman · Raytheon · Lockheed Martin · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2014-12-18 | Congress Appropriates $120 Million for Unwanted Abrams Tanks for Third Consecutive Year Despite Army Opposition
3 src General Dynamics · Mike Turner · Ray Odierno · Rob Portman · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2014-12-09 | Senate Intelligence Committee Releases Torture Report - CIA Program Was Brutal and Ineffective
4 src Dianne Feinstein · Senate Select Committee on Intelligence · Central Intelligence Agency · John Brennan · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2014-12-09 | Senate Report Documents CIA Torture Worse Than Disclosed - Rectal Feeding, Mock Executions, Deaths
4 src Central Intelligence Agency · Gul Rahman · Senate Select Committee on Intelligence · James Mitchell · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2014-08-16 | Gamergate Begins: 4chan Harassment Campaign Becomes Political Mobilization Blueprint
3 src Steve Bannon · Milo Yiannopoulos · Zoe Quinn | confirmed | |
| 2014-07-01 | Academi (formerly Blackwater) Merges with Triple Canopy to Form Constellis Holdings, Third Corporate Rebranding
3 src Academi · Triple Canopy · Constellis Holdings · Blackwater | confirmed | |
| 2014-06-19 | Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank: Supreme Court Restricts Software Patents, Reducing Patent Troll Leverage Over Abstract Business Methods
4 src U.S. Supreme Court · Clarence Thomas · Alice Corp · CLS Bank International · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2014-01-16 | NSA DISHFIRE Program Collects Nearly 200 Million Text Messages Daily Worldwide
3 src National Security Agency · GCHQ · Edward Snowden | confirmed | |
| 2013-08-21 | Chelsea Manning Sentenced to 35 Years for WikiLeaks Disclosures
3 src Chelsea Manning · U.S. Army · Department of Justice · Obama Administration | confirmed | |
| 2013-06-14 | U.S. Charges Edward Snowden with Espionage and Theft of Government Property
3 src Edward Snowden · Department of Justice · Eric Holder | confirmed | |
| 2013-06-06 | Washington Post and Guardian Reveal NSA PRISM Program for Direct Server Access
3 src Edward Snowden · Glenn Greenwald · Bart Gellman · National Security Agency · +5 | confirmed | |
| 2012-10-23 | John Kiriakou Pleads Guilty - Only Person Jailed Over CIA Torture Program
3 src John Kiriakou · Central Intelligence Agency · Obama Administration · Department of Justice | confirmed | |
| 2010-03-17 | Obama Authorizes CIA Signature Strikes - Killing Based on Behavior Patterns, Not Identity
4 src Barack Obama · John Brennan · Central Intelligence Agency · Leon Panetta | confirmed | |
| 2009-04-16 | Obama Releases CIA Torture Memos But Promises No Prosecutions for Torturers
4 src Barack Obama · Eric Holder · Central Intelligence Agency · John Yoo · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2008-08-18 | General Dynamics Pays $4 Million to Settle Fraud Charges for Defective Submarine and Aircraft Parts
2 src General Dynamics · Benton J. Campbell · Defense Criminal Investigative Service · U.S. Navy | confirmed | |
| 2007-10-02 | Erik Prince Testifies Before Congress Defending Blackwater Despite Evidence of 195 Shooting Incidents
3 src Erik Prince · Blackwater · U.S. House Oversight Committee · Henry Waxman | confirmed | |
| 2005-11-28 | Rep. Duke Cunningham Pleads Guilty to $2.4 Million Bribery Scheme
3 src Duke Cunningham · Mitchell Wade · Carol Lam · Donald Trump | confirmed | |
| 2004-03-31 | Four Blackwater Contractors Killed in Fallujah Ambush, Bodies Hung from Bridge, Triggering First Battle of Fallujah
4 src Erik Prince · Blackwater · Scott Helvenston · Jerry Zovko · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2003-10-01 | Christopher Poole Founds 4chan: Anonymous Imageboard Becomes Radicalization Infrastructure
2 src Christopher Poole | confirmed | |
| 2003-06-06 | Oracle Launches Hostile Takeover Bid for PeopleSoft Worth $5.1 Billion
3 src Oracle · Larry Ellison · PeopleSoft · JD Edwards | confirmed | |
| 2003-05-06 | Paul Bremer Begins Issuing 'CPA 100 Orders' to Restructure Iraq's Economy Under Military Occupation
6 src Paul Bremer · Coalition Provisional Authority · George W. Bush · Donald Rumsfeld · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2003-02-01 | In-Q-Tel Invests in Keyhole's EarthViewer During Iraq War Buildup
3 src In-Q-Tel · Keyhole Inc. · National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency · CNN | confirmed | |
| 2002-12-01 | CIA Begins Systematic Use of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques on Detainees
4 src Central Intelligence Agency · Abu Zubaydah · Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri · James Mitchell · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2002-09-07 | WHIG Executes Coordinated Media Blitz Demonstrating Crisis Template
5 src Dick Cheney · Condoleezza Rice · George W. Bush · Andrew H. Card Jr. · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2002-08-01 | DynCorp Bosnia Trafficking Scandal: Contractor Employees Purchase Women and Girls for Sexual Slavery, Face No Criminal Prosecution
2 src DynCorp International · Kathryn Bolkovac · United Nations | confirmed | |
| 2001-01-01 | Purdue Pharma Bonus System Incentivizes Sales Reps to Target Highest Opioid Prescribers
3 src Purdue Pharma · Sackler Family | confirmed | |
| 1999-02-12 | Senate Acquits President Clinton on Both Impeachment Articles
3 src Bill Clinton · U.S. Senate · Senate Republicans · Senate Democrats | confirmed | |
| 1998-12-19 | House of Representatives Impeaches President Clinton on Perjury and Obstruction Charges
4 src Bill Clinton · House Republicans · Kenneth Starr | confirmed | |
| 1998-05-01 | Sandline "Arms-to-Africa" Scandal: UK Parliamentary Inquiry Tests PMC Accountability and Finds It Wanting
2 src Tim Spicer · Sandline International · Robin Cook · Tony Blair · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1998-04-03 | American Petroleum Institute "Victory" Memo Outlines Climate Disinformation Strategy
5 src American Petroleum Institute · Randy Randol · ExxonMobil · Chevron · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1997-08-01 | Boeing-McDonnell Douglas Merger Approved: Defense Contractor Consolidation Creates Oligopoly
3 src Boeing · McDonnell Douglas · Federal Trade Commission · U.S. Department of Defense · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1996-08-22 | Welfare Reform Imposes Five-Year Lifetime Limit on Cash Assistance
3 src Bill Clinton · Republican Congress · Poor Families | confirmed | |
| 1994-10-01 | Operation Gatekeeper Launches Clinton Border Militarization, Funneling Migrants to Deadly Terrain
3 src Bill Clinton · Janet Reno · Doris Meissner · Immigration and Naturalization Service · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1992-12-24 | Bush Pardons Six Iran-Contra Officials on Christmas Eve, Completing Cover-Up
3 src George H.W. Bush · Caspar Weinberger · Robert McFarlane · Elliott Abrams · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1991-06-05 | Trump Plaza Fined $200,000 for Removing Black Employees from Gaming Floor
3 src Donald Trump · Robert LiButti · Kip Brown | confirmed | |
| 1990-02-16 | Reagan Testifies "I Don't Recall" Repeatedly in Iran-Contra Deposition
3 src Ronald Reagan · John Poindexter | confirmed | |
| 1989-12-20 | U.S. Invades Panama to Capture Former CIA Asset Manuel Noriega
3 src George H.W. Bush · Manuel Noriega | confirmed | |
| 1989-05-04 | Oliver North Convicted of Iran-Contra Felonies, Later Overturned on Immunity
3 src Oliver North · Gerhard Gesell · Lawrence Walsh | confirmed | |
| 1989-01-01 | Executive Outcomes Founded in South Africa: First Modern Private Military Company Conducts Combat Operations
2 src Eeben Barlow · Executive Outcomes · Tony Buckingham · Simon Mann · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1987-05-06 | CIA Director William Casey Dies Before Testifying on Iran-Contra Role
3 src William Casey · Ronald Reagan · Richard Secord | confirmed | |
| 1987-02-26 | Tower Commission Report Released, Criticized as Whitewash of Iran-Contra
3 src Ronald Reagan · John Tower · Edmund Muskie · Brent Scowcroft · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1986-10-27 | Anti-Drug Abuse Act Establishes 100-to-1 Crack-Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
4 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress | confirmed | |
| 1985-12-04 | NSC Running Shadow Foreign Policy Through McFarlane and Poindexter
3 src Robert McFarlane · John Poindexter · Oliver North · Ronald Reagan | confirmed | |
| 1985-08-20 | First Secret Arms Shipment to Iran Initiates Iran-Contra Scandal
3 src Ronald Reagan · Robert McFarlane · Oliver North · Manucher Ghorbanifar | confirmed | |
| 1983-12-20 | Donald Rumsfeld Meets Saddam Hussein as Reagan Special Envoy to Iraq
3 src Donald Rumsfeld · Saddam Hussein · Ronald Reagan | confirmed | |
| 1982-01-01 | Reagan Deficit Explosion: National Debt Triples From $1T to $3T in Eight Years
4 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · Office of Management and Budget · Department of the Treasury | confirmed | |
| 1981-08-13 | Reagan Signs ERTA: Massive Tax Cuts for Wealthy Begin Inequality Explosion
4 src Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · Jack Kemp · William Roth | confirmed | |
| 1981-05-01 | Council for National Policy Founded - Secret Conservative Coordination Network
3 src Tim LaHaye · Paul Weyrich · Nelson Bunker Hunt · Howard Phillips · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1981-04-13 | Reagan Appoints William Baxter as Antitrust Chief, Enforcement Collapses as Chicago School Takes Control
4 src Ronald Reagan · William F. Baxter · Department of Justice · Stanford Law School · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1980-03-24 | U.S. Backs El Salvador Death Squad Government Through 12-Year Civil War
3 src Ronald Reagan · Roberto D'Aubuisson · Oscar Romero | confirmed | |
| 1979-06-01 | Moral Majority Founded - Corporate Agenda Masked by Religious Cultural Warfare
3 src Paul Weyrich · Jerry Falwell · Richard Viguerie · Howard Phillips · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1977-01-01 | American Enterprise Institute Budget Surges to $10 Million - Think Tank Infrastructure Expansion
3 src American Enterprise Institute · William Baroody Sr. · Gerald Ford · Howard Pew Freedom Trust · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1976-09-30 | Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Requires Pre-Merger Notification, Last Major Antitrust Strengthening Before Reagan Dismantlement
4 src Gerald Ford · Senator Philip Hart · Senator Hugh Scott · Representative Peter Rodino · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1974-06-21 | Chuck Colson Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of Justice in Ellsberg Case, Serves Seven Months
3 src Chuck Colson · Daniel Ellsberg · E. Howard Hunt · John Ehrlichman | confirmed | |
| 1972-11-01 | Eagle Forum Founded as Permanent Conservative Infrastructure for 'Pro-Family' Organizing
5 src Phyllis Schlafly · Eagle Forum · New Right | confirmed | |
| 1971-06-13 | Pentagon Papers Published Revealing Systematic Government Deception About Vietnam War
6 src Daniel Ellsberg · New York Times · Washington Post · President Richard Nixon · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1971-03-29 | William Calley Convicted of My Lai Murders - Only Officer Prosecuted Despite Widespread Command Responsibility - Serves 3.5 Years House Arrest
3 src Lieutenant William Calley · President Richard Nixon · Secretary of the Army Howard Callaway · Lieutenant General William Peers | confirmed | |
| 1970-09-13 | Milton Friedman's 'The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits' Establishes Shareholder Primacy Doctrine
3 src Milton Friedman · Chicago School economists | confirmed | |
| 1969-12-01 | Draft Lottery Reform Attempts to Address Class Inequality After College Deferments Shield Wealthy from Vietnam Service
3 src Selective Service System · U.S. Congress · Congressman Alexander Pirnie | confirmed | |
| 1969-11-12 | Seymour Hersh Exposes My Lai Massacre Cover-Up After Army Conceals Atrocity for 20 Months - Wins Pulitzer Prize
3 src Journalist Seymour Hersh · Whistleblower Ronald Ridenhour · Lieutenant William Calley · U.S. Army · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1969-03-18 | Nixon and Kissinger Launch Secret Illegal Bombing Campaign Against Cambodia - Operation Menu Kills 150,000-500,000 Civilians
3 src President Richard Nixon · National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger · Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird · Secretary of State William Rogers · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1968-03-16 | My Lai Massacre - U.S. Soldiers Murder Between 347 and 504 Unarmed Vietnamese Civilians in War Crime
3 src Lieutenant William Calley · Captain Ernest Medina · Charlie Company 1st Battalion 20th Infantry Regiment · Hugh Thompson Jr. (helicopter pilot who intervened) · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1967-08-01 | Phyllis Schlafly Launches Monthly Newsletter, Building Conservative Communications Network
3 src Phyllis Schlafly · Eagle Forum · National Federation of Republican Women | confirmed | |
| 1967-07-28 | Reagan Signs Mulford Act Gun Control Law With NRA Support to Disarm Black Panthers Armed Patrols
4 src Governor Ronald Reagan · Don Mulford · National Rifle Association · Black Panther Party · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1967-01-01 | Vietnam War Defense Contractor Profiteering Reaches Peak as Congressional Investigations Expose Waste and Corruption
3 src RMK-BRJ consortium · Halliburton · Lockheed · Boeing · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1966-10-15 | Black Panther Party Formation in Oakland Triggers Immediate FBI COINTELPRO Surveillance and State Repression
4 src Bobby Seale · Huey P. Newton · FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover · California State Legislature | confirmed | |
| 1966-06-13 | Miranda v. Arizona Decision Requiring Rights Warnings Sparks Law Enforcement Backlash and Conservative Law-and-Order Politics
4 src U.S. Supreme Court · Chief Justice Earl Warren · Richard Nixon · Law enforcement organizations | confirmed | |
| 1965-01-01 | Bell Helicopter Profits Surge from $150 Million to $2 Billion During Vietnam War - Huey Production Defines "Helicopter War"
2 src Bell Helicopter · U.S. Department of Defense · Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association | confirmed | |
| 1964-08-07 | Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Passes Based on Fabricated Second Attack Authorizing Vietnam War Escalation
4 src President Lyndon B. Johnson · Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara · National Security Agency · U.S. Congress | confirmed | |
| 1962-01-01 | National Association of Manufacturers Establishes Defense Committee and Hires First Full-Time President
8 src National Association of Manufacturers · Werner P. Gullander · National Defense Committee | confirmed | |
| 1961-01-17 | President Eisenhower's Farewell Address Warns Against Military-Industrial Complex
6 src Dwight D. Eisenhower · Malcolm Moos · Ralph Williams · Milton Eisenhower | confirmed |