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Research Guide

The investigative journalists' cheat sheet to the best places on the web and beyond to find the facts and documents you need.

National Association of State Lobbying Administrators (NASL)

Federal Records

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Use NASL to search for lobbyists and lobbying firms around the country. Various lobbying firms around the country are members of NASL, and they represent a range of clients, from small local organizations to large Fortune 500 companies.

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Lobbying

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National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Legislator Gift Restrictions

State and Local Records

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NCSL's Legislator Gift Restrictions provides information on the laws and regulations surrounding gifts to elected officials in all 50 states. Reference this to understand what the restrictions, prohibitions, definitions, and exceptions are for gifts to legislators at the state level. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Legislator Gifts

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Nevada Legislature Lobbyist Site

State and Local Records

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Use Nevada Legislature's Lobbyist Site to search for lobbyist reports at the state level. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Lobbying

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Oklahoma Ethics Commission Lobbyist Disclosure System

State and Local Records

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Use Oklahoma Ethics Commission's Lobbyists Public Disclosure System to search for reports and data filed by both registered and non-registered lobbyists in Oklahoma. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Lobbying

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Open Corporates

Media and Other Open Sources

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Open Corporates is a free database of U.S. and foreign companies. You can search it by company name and director name, and if you register and log in, you can search by registered address and other information. You can verify any information gathered from Open Corporates by obtaining copies of original documents from the relevant secretaries of state.

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Associated People, Personal Finances

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OpenSecrets

Media and Other Open Sources

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OpenSecrets is a government transparency group working to track money in politics and how it impacts elections and policy. You can also see connections between candidates on this database. The second link above will take you to a page on OpenSecrets’ site that describes the primary types of information that candidates and members must include on personal financial disclosures.

It also provides detailed insights into lobbying expenditures, including ranked lists of top spenders, industries, and individual lobbyists. The website also has a breakdown of spending trends over time, allowing for year-to-year and quarter-to-quarter comparisons. Lastly, you can also find recent registrations to monitor new lobbying activities. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Campaign Finance, Associated People, Personal Finances, Lobbying

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OpenSecrets Foreign Lobby Watch

Media and Other Open Sources

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The Foreign Lobby Watch on OpenSecrets uses the reports foreign agents are required to file according to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) to calculate the spending of different countries around the world. By looking at this data, you can learn more about different registrants acting on behalf of foreign interests. 


Area of Investigation:

Lobbying, Political History

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OpenSecrets State Lobbying Disclosure Scorecard

State and Local Records

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Use the OpenSecrets State Lobbying Disclosure Scorecard to see the lobbying disclosure quality in a particular state. Based on a 20-point scale OpenSecrets ranks states according to compensation, lobbyist and client identification, timely disclosure, and a user-friendly transparency site. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Lobbying

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Other Professional and Business Licensing Bodies

State and Local Records

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States require many professionals to obtain licenses. These include realtors, CPAs, barbers, general contractors, private investigators and many others. Restaurants, bars and other businesses generally require a municipal license to operate. You can use licenses and applications for licenses (often available via publica information requests) to determine who owns a business; check for criminal cases or civil judgments the licensee disclosed on their application; verify a license; identify someone’s business associates; and check for disciplinary actions and complaints against a licensee, among other things. After reviewing what’s online about a license, consider calling the state or local licensing authority to learn what else is publicly available.

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Associated People

Link will vary depending on jurisdiction.

PACER

Federal Records

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PACER is the database of civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases in federal trial and appeals courts. You can search the PACER case index by case number or party name, and and you can also search bankruptcy filings by the debtor’s Social Security Number or EIN (all bankruptcies are filed in federal court). In most federal cases, all court records are publicly available through PACER, although some records may be sealed, and older records are not online. After searching, access court records by clicking on the case link from the results page and then run the docket report. When you run the docket report, set the time frame to include the entire length of the case. You can use court records to find an individual’s associates, litigation adversaries, assets and other information. To understand a case, begin by reading the complaint or charging document, any opinions and orders on motions to dismiss, any answers filed by defendants and any records related to the resolution of the case.

Area of Investigation:

Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Associated People

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Parler

Media and Other Open Sources

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Parler is a social media platform geared toward conservatives and the ‘alternative web,’ similar to Telegram and Truth Social. The platform was previously shut down by Amazon Cloud Services and removed from the Apple and Google app stores in 2021 for failing to moderate mass incitements to violence. Parler was shut down again in 2023 before new ownership relaunched it. The app may be useful for identifying connections to an individual and finding online discussion of them among groups that do not openly post on mainstream social media.

Area of Investigation:

Social Media, Associated People

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Patriots.win

Media and Other Open Sources

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In 2020, Reddit banned the r/The_Donald subreddit alongside thousands of other communities following an update to the site’s policies on hate speech and targeted harassment. The community now exists on an externally hosted forum at patriots.win, where users post political discussion alongside incendiary content, hate speech and racism. Neither the community nor the website is connected to former president Donald Trump or the Trump campaign. Use the site search to find posts mentioning specific individuals.

Area of Investigation:

Social Media, Associated People

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Personal Financial Disclosures

Federal Records

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Most candidates for and members of elected office are required to submit personal financial disclosures. The U.S. Senate and House each maintain a database of financial disclosures, which include both annual financial disclosures and periodic transaction reports. Annual disclosures present a somewhat comprehensive but imprecise summary of a candidate’s assets and liabilities, while periodic transaction reports disclose transactions in publicly traded securities. Candidates who have previously served in the executive branch may have filed annual financial disclosures, periodic transaction reports and documents related to potential conflicts of interest with the Office of Government Ethics. Candidates who have held state-level elected office will have filed financial disclosures with their state-level election authority, often the secretary of state. The level of detail in these reports will vary from state to state. These disclosures can be used to verify information against other public records, identify potentially omitted assets or debts, and provide additional details on a candidate’s or member’s finances. They may also reveal financial transactions, spousal assets and income, gifts and business interests that could identify potential business partners or associates.

Area of Investigation:

Personal Finances, Nonprofits, Associated People

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Pimeyes.com

Media and Other Open Sources

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Pimeyes reverse image search option, unlike other searches, uses facial recognition technology. Use it to find online content connected to an individual at any age, even if the individual did not post it themselves or their name is not associated with it.

Area of Investigation:

Social Media

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Pinterest Visual Search Tool

Media and Other Open Sources

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The Pinterest Visual Search tool allows you to take a picture of an item and use it to search for products on Pinterest.

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Professional History, Political History, Social Media, Associated People

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Politwoops

Media and Other Open Sources

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Politwoops was a tracker documenting tweets by public officials, first created and maintained by the Sunlight Foundation and then by Propublica. Because of changes to Twitter’s API, ProPublica is no longer updating this database. Use it to find deleted tweets from the past.

Area of Investigation:

Social Media

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ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer

Media and Other Open Sources

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The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer provides access to many of the same records as the IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search, but it also offers a full-text search across IRS Form 990s. Use it to search for nonprofits in which a specific person has served as an officer, director or key employee or contractor. You can also use it to find organizations that received grants from nonprofits and individuals who made significant contributions to private foundations. The ProPublica database sometimes has copies of Form 990s that are not in the IRS database. Additionally, you can use it to identify individuals who have participated in the same nonprofits as the individual in question, along with addresses and other details associated with them.

Area of Investigation:

Nonprofits, Associated People

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ProPublica's Lobbying Data Explorer

Media and Other Open Sources

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ProPublica's 527 Explorer allows you to search the finances of 527 organizations, which are nonprofits that can raise unlimited amounts for political spending. In the 527 Explorer, search by organization, contribution, expenditure, or leadership. Learn more about 527s and what they are required to report. On the Explorer, it's also possible to see activity by state and the organizations which received the highest total contributions. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Lobbying

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ProPublica: Tracking PPP

Media and Other Open Sources

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This ProPublica search tool collects and presents information concerning businesses that applied to and received monetary relief from the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program, otherwise known as PPP loans. This also provides information concerning how much was paid out and how much of the loans are outstanding, have been paid down or have been forgiven.

Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Nonprofits, Personal Finances, Associated People

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Public Records Requests

Federal Records

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Area of Investigation:

Professional History, Associated People, Political History, Background and Family, Personal Finances, Nonprofits

This is an offline resource.

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