Capture lane

Regulatory Capture

The Regulatory Capture capture lane traces 1573 verified events documenting this mechanism of institutional capture.

1573 events From Jan 1, 1819 To Jun 10, 2026 Open in filter view →
Top 10 actors in this lane 10 actors · 1819–2026
Top actors in Regulatory Capture182018251830183518401845185018551860186518701875188018851890189519001905191019151920192519301935194019451950195519601965197019751980198519901995200020052010201520202025WatergateReaganIran-Contra9/11Citizens UnitedTrump 1.0Trump 2.0Donald Trump1415 eventsTrump Administration363 eventsSecurities and Exchange Commission77 eventsFederal Trade Commission69 eventsDepartment of Justice337 eventsGeorge W. Bush72 eventsU.S. Congress228 eventsElon Musk186 eventsFood and Drug AdministrationFederal Reserve
Capture lanecorruptiondemocraticexecutivefinancialintelligencejudiciallaborlegislativemediamilitaryotherregulatory Status confirmed alleged disputed
DateEventLanesStatus
2012-09-01New England Compounding Center Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Kills 64, Sickens 798 - FDA and State Regulators Ignored Decade of Violations 4 src
Food and Drug Administration · Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Congress
confirmed
2012-08-10FTC Finalizes 2012 Consent Decree Against Facebook — Privacy Order That Did Not Stop Surveillance-Advertising Substrate 5 src
Federal Trade Commission · Facebook · Mark Zuckerberg
confirmed
2012-08-09Google Fined Record $22.5M for Deliberately Overriding Safari Privacy Settings 4 src
Google · Federal Trade Commission · Apple
confirmed
2012-07-30Senate Harkin Report Documents Massive Fraud and Abuse in For-Profit College Industry 3 src
Senate HELP Committee · University of Phoenix · Corinthian Colleges · Education Management Corporation (EDMC)
confirmed
2012-06-28Supreme Court Makes ACA Medicaid Expansion Optional, Enabling State Obstruction 5 src
U.S. Supreme Court · John Roberts · Republican Governors
confirmed
2012-06-0738 Studios Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy After $75 Million Rhode Island Loan Guarantee, Leaving Taxpayers with $38.6 Million Loss 4 src
Wells Fargo · Securities and Exchange Commission
confirmed
2012-06-04Bureau Investigation Exposes CIA Double-Tap Drone Strikes Killing Rescuers and Mourners 4 src
Central Intelligence Agency · Barack Obama
confirmed
2012-05-29New York Times Exposes Obama's Kill List and Terror Tuesday Assassination Meetings 4 src
Barack Obama · John Brennan · Central Intelligence Agency
confirmed
2012-05-18Facebook IPO Market Manipulation by Morgan Stanley 3 src
Morgan Stanley · Facebook
confirmed
2012-05-01Obama Administration Counts All Military-Age Males Killed by Drones as Combatants 4 src
Barack Obama · John Brennan · Central Intelligence Agency
confirmed
2012-04-09Facebook Acquires Instagram for Billion to Neutralize Potential Competitor 5 src
Mark Zuckerberg · Federal Trade Commission
confirmed
2012-04-04STOCK Act Signed into Law 3 src
Barack Obama · U.S. Congress
confirmed
2012-02-0925 Billion Mortgage Settlement Provides Banks Immunity for Minimal Payments 3 src
Eric Holder · Bank of America · JPMorgan Chase · Wells Fargo · +1
confirmed
2012-01-01Hospital Acquisition of Physician Practices Enables Facility Fee Price Gouging, Driving 53% Increase in Outpatient Costs 3 src
Hospital corporations · Private equity firms
confirmed
2012-01-01Nonprofit Hospital CEO Compensation Explodes: 42.5% Increase While Community Benefit Stagnates 3 src confirmed
2011-12-12Erik Prince Sells Xe Services (formerly Blackwater), Rebranded as Academi with John Ashcroft on Board 3 src
Erik Prince · John Ashcroft
confirmed
2011-12-01GAO Audit Reveals Massive $16.1 Trillion in Secret Federal Reserve Crisis Loans 3 src
Federal Reserve · Ben Bernanke · Citigroup · Morgan Stanley · +5
confirmed
2011-11-13STOCK Act Gains Momentum After 60 Minutes Exposes Congressional Insider Trading 3 src confirmed
2011-10-31MF Global Bankruptcy: $1.6 Billion in Customer Funds Missing Under Jon Corzine 3 src confirmed
2011-08-06Rick Perry's "The Response" Prayer Rally: 30,000 at Reliant Stadium as NAR Leaders Launch a Presidential Campaign 3 src
C. Peter Wagner
confirmed
2011-07-13ALEC Exposed: Leaked Documents Reveal 800 Corporate-Written Model Bills 2 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · Center for Media and Democracy · State Legislators
confirmed
2011-07-01ALEC Achieves Systematic Legislative Capture: 200+ Corporate-Drafted Bills Enacted Annually Across States 3 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · State Legislatures · Koch Industries · ExxonMobil · +1
confirmed
2011-07-01Wisconsin Republicans Pass Act 43 Gerrymandering Plan in Secret Process 4 src
Republican Party
confirmed
2011-06-13Department of Education Issues Gainful Employment Rule to Regulate For-Profit Colleges, Industry Immediately Challenges in Court 3 src
U.S. Department of Education · Barack Obama · Arne Duncan · Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities · +1
confirmed
2011-05-11FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker Joins Comcast Four Months After Approving NBC Universal Merger 3 src
Comcast Corporation · Federal Communications Commission
confirmed
2011-05-01Pam Bondi Fires Foreclosure Fraud Investigators After Campaign Donations from Lender Processing Services 3 src
Pam Bondi
confirmed
2011-03-11Wisconsin Act 10 Crushes Public Sector Unions Using ALEC Model Legislation 3 src
Scott Walker · American Legislative Exchange Council · Koch brothers · Americans for Prosperity · +1
confirmed
2011-03-01Chris Dodd Becomes Hollywood's Chief Lobbyist After Promising No Lobbying 3 src confirmed
2011-03-01Prison Labor at $0.12-$0.40/Hour Documented: The Thirteenth Amendment's Slavery Exception in Industrial Operation 3 src
ACLU · CoreCivic · GEO Group
confirmed
2011-01-27Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report Released, No Banker Prosecutions Follow 3 src
Jamie Dimon · U.S. Congress
confirmed
2011-01-19House Republicans Launch Six Years of Symbolic ACA Repeal Votes 5 src
House Republicans · Barack Obama
confirmed
2011-01-01ALEC Grants Corporate Lobbyists 'Equal Vote' on Model Legislation for State Legislatures 3 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · State Legislatures · Koch Industries · ExxonMobil
confirmed
2011-01-01Erik Prince Receives $529M Contract to Build Secret Mercenary Army for UAE Crown Prince 3 src
Erik Prince · United Arab Emirates
confirmed
2011-01-01Pam Bondi Serves as Florida AG 2011-2019, Never Prosecutes Epstein Despite Mounting Evidence 3 src
Pam Bondi · Jeffrey Epstein
confirmed
2011-01-01Wells Fargo Employees Begin Creating 3.5 Million Fake Accounts 3 src
Wells Fargo · John Stumpf · Carrie Tolstedt
confirmed
2010-12-31Donors Trust Becomes Primary Climate Denial Dark Money Conduit 4 src
Koch brothers · Americans for Prosperity · Heartland Institute · Competitive Enterprise Institute
confirmed
2010-12-21FCC Passes First Net Neutrality Rules with Major Wireless Exemption in 3-2 Party-Line Vote 3 src
Federal Communications Commission · Comcast Corporation · Verizon Communications · AT&T
confirmed
2010-12-15FDA Arthritis Drug Reviewer Jeffrey Siegel Joins Genentech After Approving Company Tocilizumab 4 src
Food and Drug Administration
confirmed
2010-11-02Republicans Gain Record 680 State Legislative Seats, Securing REDMAP Objectives 4 src
Republican Party
confirmed
2010-10-13Robo-Signing Scandal Exposes Systematic Foreclosure Fraud by Major Banks 3 src
Bank of America · JPMorgan Chase · Wells Fargo · Office of the Comptroller of the Currency · +1
confirmed
2010-08-13Oracle Sues Google for Copyright Infringement Over Java APIs in Android 3 src
Oracle · Google · Larry Ellison
confirmed
2010-08-04GAO Investigation Exposes Systemic For-Profit College Fraud - Industry Takes 25% of Federal Aid 3 src
U.S. Government Accountability Office
confirmed
2010-07-21Dodd-Frank Act Creates Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to Regulate Predatory Lending 4 src
Barack Obama · Elizabeth Warren · Richard Cordray · Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
confirmed
2010-06-27DOJ charges 'Illegals Program' (including Anna Chapman); 10 plead guilty and are swapped 4 src
Anna Chapman · U.S. Department of Justice · Federal Bureau of Investigation
confirmed
2010-06-24DISCLOSE Act Passes House But GOP Blocks Senate Vote on Citizens United Response 4 src
Chuck Schumer · Chris Van Hollen · Mitch McConnell · Barack Obama · +2
confirmed
2010-06-16BP Agrees to $20 Billion Gulf Coast Claims Fund Amid Deepwater Horizon Fallout 6 src
BP (British Petroleum) · Barack Obama · Henry Waxman
confirmed
2010-06-01Trump University Changes Name to "Trump Entrepreneur Initiative" Under Pressure from NY Education Department 3 src
Donald Trump · Michael Sexton
confirmed
2010-05-27Chelsea Manning Arrested for Leaking Classified Documents to WikiLeaks 3 src
Chelsea Manning · WikiLeaks · U.S. Army · U.S. Department of Defense
confirmed
2010-05-15Wells Fargo Hires SEC Enforcement Chief: Investigation Needed 3 src
Wells Fargo
reported
2010-04-23Arizona Passes SB 1070 Drafted by ALEC and Private Prison Companies 3 src
Jan Brewer · Corrections Corporation of America · American Legislative Exchange Council · GEO Group
confirmed
2010-04-20Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Begins - Environmental Disaster and Corporate Negligence 3 src
BP (British Petroleum) · Halliburton · Barack Obama
confirmed
2010-04-16SEC Charges Goldman Sachs with Fraud Over ABACUS 2007-AC1 Synthetic CDO Deal Where Hedge Fund Manager John Paulson Selected Mortgage Securities to Bet Against While Goldman Sold Package to Investors, Resulting in $550 Million Settlement but No Criminal Charges 2 src
Goldman Sachs · Securities and Exchange Commission · Department of Justice
confirmed
2010-04-08Thomas Drake Indicted Under Espionage Act for NSA Whistleblowing 3 src
Thomas Drake · National Security Agency · Obama Administration · Department of Justice
confirmed
2010-04-05Purdue Reformulates OxyContin as "Abuse-Deterrent" After 14 Years, Drives Users to Heroin 3 src
Purdue Pharma · Food and Drug Administration · Sackler Family
confirmed
2010-03-23ACA Passes with Individual Mandate Requiring Americans to Purchase Private Insurance, Delivering Industry Windfall 3 src
Barack Obama · PhRMA · Max Baucus · Nancy Pelosi
confirmed
2010-01-27Oracle Completes Sun Microsystems Acquisition for $7.4 Billion, Gains Java and MySQL 3 src
Oracle · Larry Ellison · European Commission
confirmed
2010-01-01ALEC Distributes Climate Denial Model Legislation to Kill Regional Climate Pacts 4 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · Koch Industries · ExxonMobil · State Legislatures
confirmed
2010-01-01ALEC's 'Resolution in Opposition to a Carbon Tax' Obstructs Market-Based Climate Solutions 4 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · Koch Industries · ExxonMobil · Peabody Energy · +3
confirmed
2010-01-01Chertoff Promotes Airport Body Scanners on Media While His Firm Represents Manufacturer Rapiscan 4 src
Michael Chertoff · The Chertoff Group · Department of Homeland Security
confirmed
2010-01-01CNP Coordinates Tea Party Movement Through Member Organizations 2 src
Council for National Policy · Jenny Beth Martin · Tony Perkins · Ralph Reed
confirmed
2010-01-01Corporate-Funded Think Tanks Testify to Congress While Hiding Donor Conflicts of Interest 3 src
Heritage Foundation · American Enterprise Institute · Koch brothers · General Electric · +2
confirmed
2010-01-01Foreclosure Crisis Extracts $200 Billion in Black Household Wealth: Largest Destruction of Black Assets in American History 3 src
Wells Fargo · Countrywide Financial · Bank of America · JPMorgan Chase
confirmed
2010-01-01Gig Economy Emerges Using Worker Misclassification to Avoid Labor Protections and Unions 3 src confirmed
2010-01-01Hospital Consolidation Wave (2010-2020): 1,164 Mergers with Only 1% FTC Enforcement Rate 3 src
Federal Trade Commission · Hospital corporations
confirmed
2010-01-01NYPD Counterterrorism Unit Begins Using Palantir for Surveillance Operations 2 src
Palantir Technologies
confirmed
2010-01-01Republican State Leadership Committee Launches REDMAP Gerrymandering Project 4 src
Karl Rove
confirmed
2009-12-21Former CDC Director Julie Gerberding Joins Merck as Vaccine Division President 3 src
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · Merck
confirmed
2009-10-06Senate Passes Franken Amendment Banning Mandatory Arbitration for Sexual Assault Claims by Defense Contractors, 30 Republicans Vote to Protect Corporate Impunity 3 src
Al Franken · Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) · Halliburton · United States Senate · +1
confirmed
2009-07-24Race to the Top Competition Uses Federal Funds to Incentivize Charter Expansion and Teacher Evaluation Reforms 3 src
Barack Obama · Bill Gates
confirmed
2009-06-26Koch Network Mobilizes to Kill Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Climate Bill 3 src
Koch brothers · Charles Koch · David Koch · Americans for Prosperity · +4
confirmed
2009-06-08Wells Fargo Loan Officers Reveal "Ghetto Loans" and "Mud People" Targeting: Racial Predation in Subprime Lending Documented 3 src
Wells Fargo · NAACP
confirmed
2009-06-01Obama Cuts $80B PhRMA Deal Abandoning Medicare Negotiation Promise 3 src
Barack Obama · PhRMA · Billy Tauzin
confirmed
2009-05-20Newburgh Four Arrested in FBI Entrapment Sting - "Buffoonery" Made Into Terrorism 3 src
Federal Bureau of Investigation · Department of Justice
confirmed
2009-03-10Employee Free Choice Act Abandoned Despite Democratic Supermajority, Corporate Lobbying Victory 3 src
Barack Obama · U.S. Chamber of Commerce · Business Roundtable · AFL-CIO · +1
confirmed
2009-02-17SEC Finally Charges Allen Stanford with $7 Billion Ponzi Scheme After Ignoring 12 Years of Internal Warnings 4 src
Securities and Exchange Commission
confirmed
2009-02-13Blackwater Rebrands as Xe Services to Distance from Nisour Square Massacre and Iraq War Crimes 3 src
Erik Prince · Blackwater
confirmed
2009-02-02Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff Founds The Chertoff Group, Immediately Monetizing Homeland Security Expertise 4 src
Michael Chertoff · The Chertoff Group · Department of Homeland Security · Central Intelligence Agency · +1
confirmed
2009-01-23Obama Dramatically Expands CIA Drone Strike Program - Ten Times More Strikes Than Bush 4 src
Barack Obama · Central Intelligence Agency · John Brennan · Leon Panetta
confirmed
2009-01-20Obama Admin Prosecutes Zero Wall Street Executives Despite Crisis Fraud 3 src
Eric Holder · Department of Justice · Lanny Breuer · Covington & Burling
confirmed
2009-01-01Americans for Prosperity Organizational Profile: Koch Brothers' Astroturf Empire Manufacturing Fake Grassroots Movements 4 src
Americans for Prosperity · Charles Koch · David Koch · Koch Industries
confirmed
2009-01-01CNP Member Ralph Reed Founds Faith and Freedom Coalition - Religious Right Coordination Expands 2 src
Ralph Reed · Council for National Policy
confirmed
2009-01-01Energy and Commerce Committee Members Receive $45M From Pharma During ACA Debate 3 src
House Energy and Commerce Committee · PhRMA · Pfizer · Merck
confirmed
2009-01-01LAPD's Joint Regional Intelligence Center Begins Using Palantir for Surveillance 2 src
Palantir Technologies · U.S. Department of Homeland Security
confirmed
2008-12-11Bernie Madoff Arrested for $65 Billion Ponzi Scheme After SEC Ignored Warnings for 16 Years 5 src
Bernie Madoff · Federal Bureau of Investigation · Securities and Exchange Commission
confirmed
2008-10-29Delta-Northwest Merger Approved: Beginning of Airline Industry Consolidation Wave 3 src
Department of Justice · Antitrust Division
confirmed
2008-10-03Bush Signs 00B Bank Bailout with Minimal Oversight 3 src
George W. Bush · Henry Paulson · Goldman Sachs · Citigroup · +2
confirmed
2008-10-03Congress Passes $700 Billion TARP Bailout Without Criminal Accountability Provisions 3 src
Henry Paulson · Goldman Sachs · JPMorgan Chase · Bank of America · +4
confirmed
2008-10-03Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Creates $700 Billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to Bail Out Wall Street Banks with Minimal Oversight or Executive Accountability Requirements, Leading to Just One Criminal Prosecution Compared to 900+ in 1980s Savings & Loan Crisis 4 src
Henry Paulson · George W. Bush · Ben Bernanke · Nancy Pelosi · +5
confirmed
2008-10-03Mental Health Parity Act Signed into Law with No Enforcement Mechanism, Enabling Systematic Insurer Non-Compliance 4 src
George W. Bush · U.S. Department of Labor · Health insurance industry
confirmed
2008-09-29Financial Services Committee Members Who Supported Bailout Received 39% More Wall Street Money 3 src
House Financial Services Committee · Wall Street
confirmed
2008-09-19Paulson Authorizes AIG Bailout Benefiting Goldman Sachs 5 src
Henry Paulson
confirmed
2008-09-16Federal Reserve Provides $85 Billion Emergency Loan to AIG, Eventually Growing to $182 Billion in Total Taxpayer Commitments to Bail Out Insurance Giant That Gambled on Credit Default Swaps, Followed by $165 Million in Executive Bonuses Paid to Employees Who Caused the Crisis 3 src
Federal Reserve · Ben Bernanke · Timothy Geithner · Henry Paulson · +1
confirmed
2008-09-15Lehman Brothers Files Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History with $639 Billion in Assets After Government Refuses Bailout, Creating Arbitrary 'Too Big to Fail' Enforcement Where Bear Stearns and AIG Were Rescued But Lehman Was Allowed to Collapse, Triggering Global Financial Panic 2 src
Lehman Brothers · Henry Paulson · Ben Bernanke · Timothy Geithner · +2
confirmed
2008-09-15Trump Jr. says Russians make up disproportionate cross-section of assets 3 src
Donald Trump Jr. · Trump Organization
confirmed
2008-09-09Iowa Attorney General Files Criminal Complaint Against Agriprocessors for 9,311 Child Labor Violations, Revealing Systematic Use of Minors as Young as 14 in Dangerous Meatpacking Operations with Harsh Chemicals and Power Equipment 4 src confirmed
2008-09-04Jack Abramoff Sentenced to 48 Months Prison and $23 Million Restitution 3 src
Jack Abramoff · Michael Scanlon · Native American Tribes · U.S. District Court · +3
confirmed
2008-08-29Bush Privatizes 70% of Intelligence Budget to Contractors 3 src
Bush Administration · Booz Allen Hamilton · SAIC · National Security Agency · +1
confirmed
2008-08-01FCC Orders Comcast to Stop Throttling BitTorrent Traffic in Historic 3-2 Vote on Net Neutrality 3 src
Federal Communications Commission · Comcast Corporation · Electronic Frontier Foundation
confirmed
2008-07-31Carlyle Group Acquires Booz Allen Hamilton for $2.54 Billion, Private Equity Owns Major Intelligence Contractor 4 src
Carlyle Group · Booz Allen Hamilton · National Security Agency · Central Intelligence Agency · +1
confirmed
2008-07-29Senator Ted Stevens Indicted on Seven Felony Corruption Charges 3 src
Eric Holder
confirmed