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
2025-09-04DOJ Opens Criminal Investigation Into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for Alleged Mortgage Fraud 3 src
Department of Justice · Lisa Cook · Pam Bondi · Bill Pulte · +3
reported
2025-09-04Federal Reserve Nominee Plans Unprecedented Dual Role With White House 3 src
Stephen Miran · Donald Trump · Federal Reserve Board · White House
reported
2025-09-04WLFI Blacklists Justin Sun's Wallet — 595 Million Tokens ($107M) Frozen via guardianSetBlacklistStatus; Rupture Begins in Captured-X Relationship 8 src
Justin Sun · World Liberty Financial · Eric Trump · Tron Foundation
confirmed
2025-09-02Supreme Court Allows Trump to Remove FTC Commissioner, Gutting Agency Independence 2 src
John Roberts · Donald Trump · Rebecca Slaughter · U.S. Supreme Court · +1
reported
2025-09-01Mass Inspector General Firings Implement Project 2025 Plan 3 src
Donald Trump · Chuck Grassley · Chuck Schumer · Elizabeth Warren · +2
confirmed
2025-08-29Federal Prosecutors Charge Veteran for Flag Burning Following Trump DOJ Directive Despite Supreme Court Precedent 3 src
Department of Justice · Trump · Federal Prosecutors
reported
2025-08-29SSA whistleblower Charles Borges forced to resign after exposing data breach 3 src
Charles Borges · Social Security Administration · Department of Government Efficiency
confirmed
2025-08-29Trump Revokes Secret Service Protection for Former VP Kamala Harris Effective September 1 3 src
Trump · Kamala Harris · U.S. Secret Service
reported
2025-08-28White House Fires Surface Transportation Board Member Via Email Without Cause 3 src
Trump · White House
reported
2025-08-27Silicon Valley Launches $200 Million Super PAC to Block AI Regulations Ahead of Midterms 3 src
Meta · Andreessen Horowitz · Greg Brockman · OpenAI
reported
2025-08-21SCOTUS shadow-docket stay in NIH v. American Public Health Association clears DEI-flagged grant terminations (Tucker Act routing) 3 src confirmed
2025-08-20Trump Purchases Over $100 Million in Bonds from Companies He Regulates 3 src
Donald Trump · Wells Fargo · Citigroup · Morgan Stanley · +1
confirmed
2025-08-19Fired DOJ Antitrust Official Accuses Bondi Leadership of Corruption in $14B Merger 3 src
Pam Bondi · Chad Mizelle
confirmed
2025-08-18DOJ Escalates Investigation of Senator Adam Schiff: Ed Martin Appointed Special Attorney, Investigation Stalls, Then Grand Jury Probes the Investigators 8 src
Adam Schiff · Pam Bondi · Ed Martin · Bill Pulte · +3
confirmed
2025-08-18GSA Seeks to Outsource $110 Billion Federal Procurement to AI Systems 3 src
General Services Administration · Tech companies · Defense contractors
confirmed
2025-08-15FHFA Director Pulte Uses Mortgage Data to Target Fed Governor Lisa Cook 3 src
William Pulte · Lisa Cook · Federal Reserve · FHFA · +1
confirmed
2025-08-14Trump Eliminates SpaceX Environmental Safeguards via Executive Order 3 src
Donald Trump · Elon Musk · SpaceX · Department of Transportation · +1
confirmed
2025-08-13Trump Revokes Executive Order on Competition 5 src
Donald Trump · Department of Justice Antitrust Division · Federal Trade Commission
confirmed
2025-08-11Military preparing to activate hundreds of D.C. National Guard members 4 src
Donald Trump · D.C. National Guard
confirmed
2025-08-11Texas Public Utility Commission sues AG Ken Paxton to block release of Bitcoin miner facility data; invokes terrorism threat to shield SB 1929 registration records from journalists 2 src
Public Utility Commission of Texas · Ken Paxton
confirmed
2025-08-11Trump Opens $12.5 Trillion in Retirement Savings to Cryptocurrency and Private Equity Risk 3 src
Donald Trump · U.S. Department of Labor · Private Equity Industry
confirmed
2025-08-10About 120 FBI agents assigned to patrol Washington, D.C. streets 4 src
Donald Trump · Federal Bureau of Investigation · DC Metropolitan Police
confirmed
2025-08-08EPA Terminates Union Contracts Following Appellate Stays 3 src
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-08-07EPA Cancels Solar for All Grants Program 4 src
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
confirmed
2025-08-07Trump Issues 202 Executive Orders with Two-Thirds Matching Project 2025 Blueprint 3 src
Donald Trump · Heritage Foundation · Project 2025
confirmed
2025-08-06Trump announces federal takeover of DC police citing Coristine attack 3 src
Donald Trump · National Guard · Edward Coristine
confirmed
2025-08-06Trump Imposes 50% Tariff on Brazil to Punish Prosecution of Bolsonaro 3 src
Donald Trump
confirmed
2025-08-05DOJ Launches Mortgage Fraud Investigation Targeting Senator Adam Schiff 3 src
Department of Justice · Adam Schiff · Federal Housing Finance Agency · Donald Trump
confirmed
2025-08-05Federal Judge Strikes Down Key Parts of California's Deepfake Laws 4 src
X · Twitter · California
confirmed
2025-08-01ICE detention deaths reach 14 in FY2025 amid reports of medical neglect and overcrowding 3 src
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · CoreCivic · GEO Group · U.S. Department of Homeland Security
confirmed
2025-07-30California Judicial Council Establishes First Comprehensive AI Transparency Regulations 3 src
xAI
confirmed
2025-07-30Twelve House Democrats sue Trump administration for blocking detention facility oversight 4 src
Jason Crow · Jamie Raskin · Democracy Forward
confirmed
2025-07-30White House Releases Comprehensive Crypto Policy Roadmap 3 src
Donald Trump · Scott Bessent · David Sacks · U.S. Treasury Department · +2
confirmed
2025-07-29EPA Proposes Rescinding Endangerment Finding at Indiana Truck Dealership: Zeldin Calls It 'Largest Deregulatory Action in History' 6 src
Lee Zeldin · U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · Donald Trump
confirmed
2025-07-28EPA Delays Methane Pollution Rules for Oil and Gas Industry, Adding Equivalent of 25 Million Cars' Emissions 4 src
EPA · Lee Zeldin · Donald Trump
confirmed
2025-07-28ICE blocks members of Congress from detention facilities, violating oversight law 3 src
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · U.S. Department of Homeland Security · Jason Crow · Chris Van Hollen
confirmed
2025-07-28SEC chair attended Don Jr.'s party before SEC granted Don Jr.-backed gun company approval to go public 4 src
Donald Trump Jr. · Paul Atkins · Trump Administration · Securities and Exchange Commission
confirmed
2025-07-26DOGE Uses AI to Target Elimination of 50% of Federal Regulations 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Elon Musk · Department of Government Efficiency
confirmed
2025-07-26Trump Appoints Nicholas Kent, For-Profit College Insider, as Education Under Secretary 4 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-07-25Trump Administration Accepts Qatar's Luxury Jet, Uses Missile Program Funds for Retrofit 3 src
Donald Trump · Pete Hegseth
confirmed
2025-07-24DOE selects four federal sites for AI datacenter buildout — Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Savannah River Site — implementing Section 3 of the July 23 EO 5 src
Chris Wright · Department of Energy
confirmed
2025-07-24UnitedHealth Confirms DOJ Criminal and Civil Investigation for Medicare Advantage Upcoding Fraud 3 src
UnitedHealth Group · UnitedHealthcare · Department of Justice · Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
confirmed
2025-07-23Columbia agrees to $200 million fine to settle fight with Trump 6 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-07-23Senate Investigation Reveals Epstein's Billion-Dollar Russian Bank Transfers Linked to Trafficking 4 src
U.S. Senate Finance Committee · Ron Wyden · U.S. Treasury Department · Jeffrey Epstein · +4
confirmed
2025-07-23Trump signs Executive Order 'Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure' — 100 MW threshold, NEPA categorical-exclusion creation directive, <50% federal-financial-assistance carve-out from NEPA 'major Federal action' 7 src
Donald Trump · Howard Lutnick · Chris Wright · Doug Burgum · +5
confirmed
2025-07-23White House releases 'Winning the Race: America's AI Action Plan' — 90+ federal policy initiatives across innovation, infrastructure, and international diplomacy pillars; companion to datacenter permitting EO 5 src
Donald Trump · David Sacks · Howard Lutnick · Chris Wright · +1
confirmed
2025-07-21Trump Media buys $2 billion in bitcoin for crypto Treasury plan 6 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-07-18EPA Announces Largest Workforce Reduction in History — 3,707 Employees Cut, Office of Research and Development Eliminated 6 src
Lee Zeldin · Donald Trump · DOGE
confirmed
2025-07-15Grok AI Suffers Catastrophic Safety Failure, Exposing Critical AI Governance Gaps 3 src
Elon Musk · xAI · Samuel Marks · Boaz Barak
confirmed
2025-07-15Vultron AI Raises $22M Series A led by Greycroft with Craft Ventures — Sharpest Post-Appointment Sacks Conflict Point (Sacks AI Czar at Close) 4 src
David Sacks · Craft Ventures · Elizabeth Warren
confirmed
2025-07-14Defense Department Awards $200M Contract to Elon Musk's xAI for Grok AI 3 src
Elon Musk · xAI · U.S. Department of Defense
confirmed
2025-07-14Pam Bondi ousts DOJ ethics director Joseph Tirrell amid mass prosecutor dismissal 3 src
Pam Bondi · Donald Trump · Jack Smith · Todd Blanche
confirmed
2025-07-12Bondi Fires 20 Justice Department Employees Tied to Trump Prosecutions 3 src
Pam Bondi · Department of Justice · Jack Smith
confirmed
2025-07-11Justin Sun Pledges $100M in $TRUMP Memecoin as TRON Bridges Trump Token — Foreign-Money-into-Presidential-Crypto Conflict Escalates 5 src
Justin Sun · World Liberty Financial · Donald Trump · Sean Casten · +1
confirmed
2025-07-10Senate Appropriators Reject House Proposal to Halve GAO Budget 4 src
U.S. Senate · Government Accountability Office (GAO)
confirmed
2025-07-10Trump Foreign Aid Policy Sparks Global Lobbying Surge 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Marco Rubio
confirmed
2025-07-10Trump's Inaugural Fund Received $19M from Fossil Fuel Industry 4 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Chevron · ExxonMobil · +1
confirmed
2025-07-04Trump Signs "One Big Beautiful Bill" Slashing $863 Billion from Medicaid, Devastating US Territories 3 src
Donald Trump · U.S. Congress · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
confirmed
2025-07-02CDC Deactivates H5N1 Emergency Response Despite Ongoing Outbreak 3 src
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
confirmed
2025-07-01DHS ends sensitive locations policy allowing ICE arrests at churches and schools 5 src
DHS (Department of Homeland Security) · Kristi Noem · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · Donald Trump
confirmed
2025-07-01DOGE Pushes SEC to Loosen Wall Street Regulations on SPACs and Reporting 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Department of Government Efficiency · Securities and Exchange Commission
confirmed
2025-07-01Tennessee Enacts Broad Healthcare Refusal Law Allowing Denial of Contraception 3 src confirmed
2025-07-01USAID Completely Shuttered - Exceeds Project 2025 Timeline 3 src
United States Agency for International Development · State Department · Marco Rubio
confirmed
2025-06-30Federal Judiciary Admits Systemic Failure in Presidential Accountability Mechanisms 3 src
Senate Judiciary Committee
confirmed
2025-06-30Kristi Noem Secretly Took $80,000 from Dark Money Group Without Disclosure 4 src
Kristi Noem
confirmed
2025-06-30Senate Passes $4.5 Trillion Tax Cuts with $1 Trillion Medicaid Cuts, 12 Million to Lose Insurance 20 src
United States Senate · J.D. Vance · Ron Wyden · Congressional Budget Office
confirmed
2025-06-26Brookings warns on legal limits of putting soldiers on Los Angeles streets 4 src
U.S. Department of Defense · U.S. Department of Homeland Security · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-06-24Emergency contractor donates $10,000 to Florida GOP, receives $6.2 million in contracts hours later 3 src
Ron DeSantis
confirmed
2025-06-24Trump Fires Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner, Raising Concerns About Regulatory Capture 3 src
Donald Trump
confirmed
2025-06-23House Proposes Nearly 50% Budget Cut for GAO 4 src
U.S. House of Representatives · Government Accountability Office (GAO) · U.S. Congress
confirmed
2025-06-21Trump systematically dismantles post-Watergate institutional safeguards 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · U.S. Supreme Court · U.S. Congress
confirmed
2025-06-20Texas Gov. Abbott signs SB 6 — large-load (≥75 MW) interconnection reform; mandatory remote-disconnect / curtailment for entrants post Dec 31 2025; bellwether state model for the federal FERC ANOPR 6 src
Greg Abbott · Public Utility Commission of Texas · ERCOT · Texas Legislature
confirmed
2025-06-16Trump Media seeks SEC approval for bitcoin and ethereum ETF 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Crypto.com
confirmed
2025-06-15Federal Judicial System Faces Unprecedented Integrity Challenge 3 src
Supreme Court Justices · Cory Booker · Department of Justice · Executive Branch
confirmed
2025-06-15Legal Resistance Digital Coordination Platform 5 src confirmed
2025-06-12Ex-Congressman Billy Long Confirmed as IRS Commissioner Despite Controversy 3 src
Donald Trump · Ron Wyden · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-06-12Israel Conducts Major Strikes on Iran Nuclear Infrastructure 3 src
Israeli Defense Forces · Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps · U.S. Military
confirmed
2025-06-12Senator Alex Padilla Forcibly Removed and Handcuffed by FBI 3 src
U.S. Secret Service
confirmed
2025-06-10CFPB Enforcement Chief Resigns, Condemns Trump Administration's Agency Deconstruction 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Russell Vought · Mark Paoletta
confirmed
2025-06-10Justice Dept. Issues Narrow Guidelines for Prosecuting Corporate Bribery Abroad 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Todd Blanche
confirmed
2025-06-10Project 2025 Personnel Audit: Reformed-Evangelical Stream Achieves Highest Chapter-Author-to-Role Placement Rate; Three Parallel Pipelines Confirmed 7 src
Russell Vought · Brendan Carr · Peter Navarro · Pete Hegseth · +3
confirmed
2025-06-09DOJ Issues Transformative FCPA Guidelines Prioritizing U.S. National Interests 4 src
Department of Justice · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-06-09Lindsey Burke — Project 2025 Education Chapter Author — Named Education Department Deputy Chief of Staff 4 src
Linda McMahon · Heritage Foundation
confirmed
2025-06-09USNI: Marines deploy to downtown Los Angeles 5 src
U.S. Northern Command · California National Guard
confirmed
2025-06-05Thiel Foundation CEO Jim O'Neill Confirmed as HHS Deputy Secretary (52-43) 6 src
Jim O'Neill · Peter Thiel · Thiel Capital · Robert F. Kennedy Jr. · +4
confirmed
2025-06-05This is how much Trump has made from crypto—so far 5 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-06-0459,000 Federal Jobs Officially Eliminated by June 2025, True Scope Far Larger as DOGE Campaign Transforms Government Workforce 4 src
Donald Trump · DOGE · Elon Musk · Office of Personnel Management · +1
confirmed
2025-06-03Some of Trump’s biggest inaugural donors benefit from early government actions 6 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-06-02Trump Organization Launches 21 International Projects During Second Presidential Term 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Organization · Eric Trump · Jared Kushner
confirmed
2025-06-01MVM Inc. detains mother and infant at O'Hare Sonesta hotel for five days 4 src
MVM Inc. · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
confirmed
2025-06-01Palantir builds $30M AI surveillance system linking IRS, Social Security, and immigration data for ICE 3 src
Palantir Technologies · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · Peter Thiel · Ron Wyden
confirmed
2025-06-01Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem directive demands 3,000 daily ICE arrests 5 src
Stephen Miller · Kristi Noem · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · DHS (Department of Homeland Security)
confirmed
2025-05-29CMS Rescinds EMTALA Guidance Requiring Emergency Abortion Care 3 src
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · Department of Justice · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · 22 State Attorneys General
confirmed
2025-05-29SEC dismisses lawsuit against Binance 6 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-05-28Trump Pardons Criminals with MAGA Credentials or Big Money 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Ed Martin
confirmed
2025-05-28Who won a seat at Trump's crypto dinner? 3 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration · Justin Sun
confirmed
2025-05-27Donald Trump’s media conglomerate is becoming a bitcoin reserve 5 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-05-22FTC probes Media Matters over Musk's X boycott claims, document shows 5 src
Donald Trump · Trump Administration
confirmed
2025-05-22SCOTUS 6-3 shadow-docket stay in Trump v. Wilcox greenlights presidential removal of NLRB and MSPB members, effectively narrowing Humphrey's Executor 3 src confirmed
2025-05-22Trump Hosts Controversial $TRUMP Memecoin Crypto Dinner 4 src
Donald Trump · Justin Sun · Sean Casten · Adam Smith · +1
confirmed