Capture lane

Regulatory Capture

The Regulatory Capture capture lane traces 1551 verified events documenting this mechanism of institutional capture.

1551 events From Jan 1, 1819 To May 26, 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 Trump1373 eventsTrump Administration360 eventsSecurities and Exchange Commission77 eventsFederal Trade Commission66 eventsDepartment of Justice321 eventsElon Musk185 eventsU.S. Congress221 eventsGeorge W. Bush67 eventsFood and Drug AdministrationFederal Reserve
Capture lanecorruptiondemocraticexecutivefinancialintelligencejudiciallaborlegislativemediamilitaryotherregulatory Status confirmed alleged disputed
DateEventLanesStatus
1994-09-26Clinton Healthcare Reform Dies After Insurance Industry Lobbying Campaign 4 src
Bill Clinton · Hillary Clinton · Health insurance industry · Health Insurance Association of America · +1
confirmed
1994-01-01Jack Abramoff Joins Preston Gates - Launches Tribal Lobbying Practice 3 src
Jack Abramoff · Preston Gates & Ellis · Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians · Nell Rogers · +1
confirmed
1993-12-08Clinton Signs NAFTA Creating Corporate Tribunals to Override National Laws 4 src
Bill Clinton · Al Gore · Robert Rubin · NAFTA Corporate Lobbies · +2
confirmed
1993-01-14CFTC Chair Wendy Gramm Exempts Enron from Derivatives Regulation, Joins Board Five Weeks Later 4 src
Wendy Gramm · Phil Gramm · Enron Corporation · CFTC Commodity Futures Trading Commission · +1
confirmed
1992-10-29FDA Prescription Drug User Fee Act Creates Financial Dependence on Pharmaceutical Industry 3 src
Food and Drug Administration · PhRMA · U.S. Congress · Pharmaceutical companies
confirmed
1992-01-01Christian Coalition Distributes 40 Million Voter Guides Through Churches: Electoral Infrastructure Embedded in Religious Institutions 2 src
Pat Robertson · Ralph Reed · Christian Coalition
confirmed
1992-01-01SEC Investigates Madoff Feeder Fund Avellino & Bienes, Misses $65 Billion Ponzi Scheme in First Regulatory Failure 3 src
Securities and Exchange Commission · Bernie Madoff · Avellino & Bienes · H. David Kotz
confirmed
1991-11-20Keating Five Ethics Findings: Cranston Reprimanded, Systemic Corruption Exposed 3 src
Alan Cranston · Dennis DeConcini · Donald Riegle · John Glenn · +3
confirmed
1991-06-05Trump Plaza Fined $200,000 for Removing Black Employees from Gaming Floor 3 src
Donald Trump · Robert LiButti · Kip Brown
confirmed
1991-06-04Minnesota Enacts First Charter School Law, Creating Template for Education Privatization 3 src
Governor Arne Carlson · Minnesota Legislature · Citizens League · Ted Kolderie · +1
confirmed
1991-01-01George C. Marshall Institute Becomes Central Node in Fossil Fuel-Funded Climate Denial 4 src
George C. Marshall Institute · Frederick Seitz · Fred Singer · Robert Jastrow · +3
confirmed
1990-11-15Clean Air Act Amendments Pass with Industry-Preferred Market Mechanisms Over Direct Regulation 3 src
George H.W. Bush · Environmental Defense Fund · Edison Electric Institute · American Petroleum Institute · +2
confirmed
1990-10-01Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly Begins Lobbying for Kashmiri American Council, Later Revealed as Pakistani ISI Front 5 src
Paul Manafort · Black Manafort Stone and Kelly · Kashmiri American Council · Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai · +2
confirmed
1990-05-01Putin's Transition from KGB to St. Petersburg Government: Early Regulatory Personnel Shift 4 src
Vladimir Putin · Anatoly Sobchak · KGB Personnel · St. Petersburg City Administration
confirmed
1990-01-01Federal Reserve Begins Systematic Dismantling of Glass-Steagall Restrictions 3 src
Federal Reserve Board · Alan Greenspan · JP Morgan & Co. · Morgan Stanley
confirmed
1990-01-01Hoover Institution Organizational Profile: Leveraging Stanford Prestige for Conservative Policy Legitimacy 4 src
Hoover Institution · Herbert Hoover · Stanford University · Ronald Reagan · +5
confirmed
1990-01-01S&L Crisis Lessons Documented But Ignored: Stage Set for 2008 Repeat 3 src
Financial regulators · U.S. Congress · Banking industry · Economics profession
confirmed
1989-08-09FIRREA Signed: $160 Billion Taxpayer Bailout of S&L Industry Fraud 4 src
George H.W. Bush · U.S. Congress · Resolution Trust Corporation · Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
confirmed
1989-05-25Reagan HUD Scandal Exposed, Samuel Pierce Influence Peddling Investigation 3 src
Samuel Pierce · Deborah Gore Dean · James Watt · Thomas Demery · +1
confirmed
1989-01-20Reagan Leaves Office: Domestic Corruption and Policy Failure Legacy 3 src
Ronald Reagan · George H.W. Bush · American public
confirmed
1989-01-01Federal Reserve Expands Section 20 Powers to Include Corporate Debt Securities 5 src
Federal Reserve Board · JP Morgan & Co. · Section 20 subsidiaries
confirmed
1989-01-01S&L Industry Collapse: Over 1,000 Institutions Failed by 1989 3 src
Savings and Loan institutions · Federal Home Loan Bank Board · Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation · Resolution Trust Corporation
confirmed
1988-12-01Silverado S&L Collapses: Neil Bush Conflict of Interest Costs Taxpayers $1 Billion 4 src
Neil Bush · George H.W. Bush · Silverado Savings and Loan · Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation · +2
confirmed
1988-11-23IBP Settles Record OSHA Case for Systematic Injury Underreporting at Dakota City Meatpacking Plant 3 src
IBP Inc. · Occupational Safety and Health Administration · United Food and Commercial Workers · Congressional Investigators
confirmed
1988-08-01Rush Limbaugh National Syndication Begins - Conservative Talk Radio Ecosystem Created 3 src
Rush Limbaugh · Edward F. McLaughlin · EFM Media Management · ABC Radio Network
confirmed
1988-01-01S&L Crisis Prosecutions: 1,000+ Bankers Convicted, Contrasts Sharply with 2008 3 src
Department of Justice · Federal Bureau of Investigation · Office of Thrift Supervision · S&L executives
confirmed
1987-10-23Senate Rejects Robert Bork Supreme Court Nomination 42-58, First Ideological Rejection in Nearly a Century 4 src
Robert Bork · Ronald Reagan · Edward Kennedy · Lewis Powell · +5
confirmed
1987-08-04Reagan FCC Abolishes Fairness Doctrine in 4-0 Vote, Eliminating Balanced Coverage Requirements for Broadcasters 6 src
Dennis R. Patrick · Federal Communications Commission · Ronald Reagan · Mark S. Fowler · +4
confirmed
1987-04-01Federal Reserve Approves Section 20 Subsidiaries for JP Morgan, Citicorp, and Bankers Trust 3 src
Federal Reserve Board · JP Morgan & Co. · Citicorp · Bankers Trust · +2
confirmed
1987-01-01Cato Institute Organizational Profile: 'Libertarian' Cover for Corporate Deregulation Agenda 4 src
Cato Institute · Charles Koch · Ed Crane · Murray Rothbard · +4
confirmed
1986-11-06Immigration Reform and Control Act Grants Amnesty to 3 Million, Employer Sanctions Fail 3 src
Ronald Reagan · Alan Simpson · Romano Mazzoli · U.S. Congress
confirmed
1986-10-22Tax Reform Act of 1986 - Corporate Lobbying Secures Massive Rate Reductions 3 src
Ronald Reagan · Corporate lobbyists · U.S. Senate Finance Committee · U.S. Congress
confirmed
1986-04-07EMTALA Passes as Unfunded Mandate, Enabling Insurance Industry to Shift Emergency Care Costs to Hospitals 3 src
Ronald Reagan · American Hospital Association · Health Insurance Association of America · Pete Stark
confirmed
1985-05-01Carl Icahn TWA Hostile Takeover - Asset Stripping Blueprint 3 src
Carl Icahn · Trans World Airlines · American Airlines
confirmed
1985-01-01Murdoch Strategic Media Empire Expansion and U.S. Media Regulatory Navigation 3 src
Rupert Murdoch · John Kluge · Marc Rich
confirmed
1984-12-03Bhopal Disaster Kills Thousands, Exposes Union Carbide Safety Negligence and Regulatory Failure 3 src
Union Carbide Corporation · Warren Anderson · Indian government · U.S. chemical industry · +1
confirmed
1984-10-30Cable Communications Policy Act - Media Deregulation and Consolidation Enabled 3 src
Ronald Reagan · Barry Goldwater · Federal Communications Commission · Cable industry
confirmed
1984-09-24Hatch-Waxman Act Grants Pharma Patent Extensions While Creating Loopholes to Block Generics 3 src
Orrin Hatch · Henry Waxman · Ronald Reagan · PhRMA
confirmed
1984-01-01ALEC Corporate Membership Explodes as Major Corporations Overwhelm Organization with Requests for Legislative Access 3 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · Kathleen Teague · Edison Electric Institute · Procter & Gamble · +6
confirmed
1983-12-01Rita Lavelle Convicted of Perjury: EPA Superfund Corruption Confirmed 4 src
Rita Lavelle · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · Aerojet-General Corporation · Ronald Reagan · +1
confirmed
1983-10-09James Watt Resigns After Racist Remarks: Interior Department Corruption Ends 4 src
James Watt · Ronald Reagan · Department of Interior · Beach Boys
confirmed
1983-07-01South Dakota abolishes Rule Against Perpetuities, enabling dynasty trusts and tax haven status 3 src
South Dakota Legislature
confirmed
1983-04-20Medicare Adopts DRG Prospective Payment System Creating Hospital Profit Incentives for Reduced Care 3 src
Ronald Reagan · Richard Schweiker · American Hospital Association · Federation of American Hospitals
confirmed
1983-03-09Anne Gorsuch Resigns EPA After Contempt of Congress: Regulatory Capture Exposed 4 src
Anne Gorsuch Burford · Ronald Reagan · U.S. Congress · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · +1
confirmed
1982-11-17SEC Adopts Rule 10b-18, Legalizing Stock Buybacks and Creating Major Wealth Extraction Mechanism 3 src
Securities and Exchange Commission · John Shad · Ronald Reagan
confirmed
1982-10-14Reagan Declares Intensified War on Drugs: Federal Drug Enforcement Budget Skyrockets as Incarceration Becomes National Policy 3 src
Ronald Reagan · Nancy Reagan · Edwin Meese · DEA
confirmed
1982-04-22Berkeley Pit Mine Closes on Earth Day, Pumps Shut Off, Creating Toxic Lake Superfund Site 3 src
Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) · Anaconda Copper Mining Company · Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) · Montana Department of Environmental Quality · +1
confirmed
1982-02-09Reagan Appoints Robert Bork to DC Circuit Court of Appeals, Positioning Antitrust Revolution Author for Supreme Court 3 src
Robert Bork · Ronald Reagan · DC Circuit Court of Appeals · Federalist Society · +2
confirmed
1982-01-01S&L Deregulation Creates Moral Hazard: Recipe for Systematic Fraud 3 src
Ronald Reagan · Savings and Loan industry · Federal Home Loan Bank Board · Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation
confirmed
1981-08-13Reagan Signs Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA) - Top Rate Slashed from 70% to 50%, Corporate Tax Cuts Total $150 Billion Over Five Years 5 src
Ronald Reagan · Jack Kemp · William Roth · David Stockman · +4
confirmed
1981-05-01Council for National Policy Founded - Secret Conservative Coordination Network 3 src
Tim LaHaye · Paul Weyrich · Nelson Bunker Hunt · Howard Phillips · +2
confirmed
1981-05-01Tim LaHaye Founds Council for National Policy: The Shadow Network That Coordinates the American Right 3 src
Tim LaHaye · Paul Weyrich · Richard Viguerie · Howard Phillips · +2
confirmed
1981-04-13Reagan 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
1981-04-01Epstein leaves Bear Stearns amid SEC insider trading investigation 3 src
Jeffrey Epstein · Bear Stearns · Securities and Exchange Commission · Edgar Bronfman · +1
confirmed
1981-01-28Reagan Appoints James Watt as Interior Secretary - Oil Industry Capture 5 src
Ronald Reagan · James Watt · Mountain States Legal Foundation · Coors Company · +1
confirmed
1981-01-20Reagan Inauguration Begins Antitrust Revolution: Eight Years of Systematic Enforcement Collapse and Corporate Consolidation 4 src
Ronald Reagan · William F. Baxter · Douglas Ginsburg · Robert Bork · +4
confirmed
1981-01-01ALEC Establishes Cabinet Task Forces and Partners with Reagan's Task Force on Federalism 4 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · Ronald Reagan · Paul Laxalt · Tom Stivers · +1
confirmed
1981-01-01Heritage Foundation's "Mandate for Leadership" Becomes Reagan Administration Blueprint 4 src
Heritage Foundation · Ronald Reagan · Edwin Meese · James Watt · +1
confirmed
1981-01-01Supply-Side Economics Failure: Empirical Evidence Debunks Trickle-Down Theory 4 src
Ronald Reagan · Arthur Laffer · David Stockman · Greg Mankiw · +1
confirmed
1980-12-11Superfund Law Passes But Industry Successfully Builds In Weaknesses and Delays 3 src
Jimmy Carter · Chemical Manufacturers Association · American Petroleum Institute · U.S. Chamber of Commerce · +1
confirmed
1980-07-01Carter Signs Motor Carrier Act, Completing Bipartisan Transportation Deregulation 2 src
Jimmy Carter · U.S. Congress
confirmed
1980-01-07Carter Signs Chrysler Bailout, Corporate Welfare Precedent Set 3 src
Jimmy Carter · Lee Iacocca
confirmed
1980-01-01Banking Industry Launches Systematic Campaign to Erode Glass-Steagall Act 3 src
Major commercial banks · Banking lobbyists · Federal regulators · Academic economists · +2
confirmed
1980-01-01Black, Manafort & Stone lobbying firm founded, nicknamed 'Torturers' Lobby' 3 src
Charlie Black · Paul Manafort · Roger Stone
confirmed
1980-01-01NLRB Systemic Underfunding and Weak Enforcement Enables Corporate Union-Busting 3 src
National Labor Relations Board · U.S. Congress · Corporate lobbying groups · Reagan administration
confirmed
1979-12-27Soviet Afghanistan Invasion Positions BCCI for CIA Covert Operations Expansion 4 src
Central Intelligence Agency · ISI Pakistan · General Zia ul-Haq · BCCI · +2
confirmed
1979-10-06Volcker Shock - Federal Reserve Raises Rates to 20%, Recession Begins 3 src
Paul Volcker · Jimmy Carter
confirmed
1979-01-08Vietnam Veterans File Agent Orange Class Action Lawsuit Against Dow Chemical and Monsanto - Corporations Deny Liability Despite Evidence 3 src
Lawyer Victor Yannacone · Dow Chemical Company · Monsanto Company · Vietnam Veterans · +2
confirmed
1979-01-02Federation for American Immigration Reform Founded, Launching Modern Nativist Movement Infrastructure 3 src
John Tanton · Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) · Pioneer Fund · Cordelia Scaife May · +1
confirmed
1979-01-01ALEC Begins Tobacco Industry Partnership for Legislative Influence 3 src
American Legislative Exchange Council · Tobacco Institute · ALEC Executive Director
confirmed
1978-11-09Natural Gas Policy Act Begins Energy Sector Deregulation 3 src
Jimmy Carter
confirmed
1978-10-24Carter Signs Airline Deregulation Act, Neoliberal Turn Begins 5 src
Jimmy Carter · Alfred Kahn · Edward Kennedy · Stephen Breyer
confirmed
1978-10-05Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy Established, Framework for 1986 Reform 3 src
Jimmy Carter · Theodore Hesburgh · U.S. Congress · Alan Simpson · +1
confirmed
1978-08-07Love Canal Disaster Exposes Decades of Corporate Toxic Dumping Cover-Up 3 src
Hooker Chemical Company · Occidental Petroleum · Niagara Falls Board of Education · Lois Gibbs · +2
confirmed
1978-06-22Labor Law Reform Act Killed by Filibuster After Business Roundtable Lobbying Blitz 3 src
Business Roundtable · U.S. Chamber of Commerce · National Association of Manufacturers · AFL-CIO · +2
confirmed
1978-01-01Clark Clifford and Robert Altman Begin Representing BCCI in US Operations 3 src
Clark Clifford · Robert Altman · Bert Lance · Agha Hasan Abedi · +1
confirmed
1978-01-01Manhattan Institute Founded by CIA Director William Casey - Intelligence-Policy Crossover 3 src
William J. Casey · Antony Fisher · Charles Murray · George Kelling · +1
confirmed
1977-10-12Community Reinvestment Act Passed to Combat Redlining, Banking Industry Resists 3 src
President Jimmy Carter · Senator William Proxmire · American Bankers Association · Federal Reserve · +2
confirmed
1977-08-31J.P. Stevens Found Guilty of Massive NLRB Violations, Creates Corporate Union-Busting Playbook 3 src
J.P. Stevens & Company · Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union · National Labor Relations Board · Corporate Campaign Inc.
confirmed
1977-08-12Weinberger v. Equifax: Fifth Circuit Guts Anti-Pinkerton Act, Clearing Path for Private Intelligence Industry 5 src
U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · Equifax Inc. · Government Accountability Office
confirmed
1977-07-01Exxon Internal Climate Research Program Confirms Human-Caused Global Warming 3 src
James Black · Roger Cohen · ExxonMobil · Exxon Corporation · +1
confirmed
1977-01-01American Enterprise Institute Organizational Profile: Transforming Industry Lobby into 'Scholarly' Think Tank 4 src
American Enterprise Institute · Irving Kristol · Jeane Kirkpatrick · Dick Cheney · +4
confirmed
1977-01-01BCCI Establishes Partnership with Pakistan's Zia ul-Haq Military Regime 6 src
General Zia ul-Haq · Agha Hasan Abedi · Pakistan military · BCCI Pakistan operations · +1
confirmed
1977-01-01Department of Justice Announces Abandonment of Robinson-Patman Act Enforcement, Adopting Chicago School Critique 4 src
Department of Justice · Robert Bork · Federal Trade Commission · Chicago School of Economics
confirmed
1977-01-01Edwin Feulner Becomes Heritage Foundation President, Beginning 36-Year Tenure Building Conservative Policy Infrastructure 4 src
Edwin Feulner · Heritage Foundation · Paul Weyrich · Richard Scaife · +4
confirmed
1976-09-30Hart-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
1976-02-18Ford Executive Order 11905 Bans Political Assassination: Executive Self-Regulation Substitutes for Legislative Reform 3 src
Gerald Ford · CIA · Church Committee
confirmed
1976-01-01Francis Schaeffer's "How Should We Then Live?" Convinces Evangelicals That Political Engagement Is Christian Duty 3 src
Francis Schaeffer · C. Everett Koop · Jerry Falwell · Tim LaHaye
confirmed
1976-01-01Tobacco Industry 'Operation Berkshire' and global coordination to resist smoking regulation 3 src
British American Tobacco · Philip Morris · RJ Reynolds · Imperial Tobacco
confirmed
1975-10-29Ford Refuses NYC Bailout, "Drop Dead" Headline, Austerity Era Begins 3 src
Gerald Ford · William Simon · Alan Greenspan · Donald Rumsfeld · +2
confirmed
1975-07-16Pike Committee Investigation: House Intelligence Findings Suppressed After CIA and White House Obstruction 3 src
Otis Pike · CIA · Gerald Ford · Daniel Schorr · +3
confirmed
1975-04-22Church Committee: Landmark Democratic Resistance Framework Against Intelligence Abuses 3 src
Senator Frank Church · Senator John Tower · US Senate · Central Intelligence Agency · +3
confirmed
1975-04-14Federal Election Commission Begins Operations, Institutionalizing Corporate PAC Framework 2 src
Federal Election Commission · President Gerald Ford
confirmed
1975-01-27Church Committee begins exposing illegal intelligence activities 4 src
Senator Frank Church · Church Committee · Mike Mansfield · Seymour Hersh · +4
confirmed
1974-10-28Equal Credit Opportunity Act and RESPA Pass After Industry Lobbying Weakens Enforcement 3 src
U.S. Congress · President Gerald Ford · American Bankers Association · Mortgage Bankers Association · +1
confirmed
1974-06-08US-Saudi Economic Commission Agreement Signed 3 src
Henry Kissinger · Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz · Richard Nixon · Saudi Arabia · +2
confirmed
1974-01-01American Enterprise Institute Establishes Center for Health Policy Research 2 src
American Enterprise Institute
confirmed
1973-12-28Endangered Species Act Signed, Industry Groups Immediately Begin Weakening Campaign 3 src
Richard Nixon · American Mining Congress · National Forest Products Association · American Farm Bureau Federation · +2
confirmed
1973-10-01Trilateral Commission Founded by David Rockefeller 3 src
David Rockefeller · Zbigniew Brzezinski · Jimmy Carter · Chase Manhattan Bank · +1
confirmed
1973-09-11CIA-Backed Coup Overthrows Salvador Allende in Chile: Corporate and Intelligence Interests Align to Destroy Democracy 3 src
CIA · Richard Nixon · Henry Kissinger · Salvador Allende · +3
confirmed