Sludge

While the Hudson River Park Trust decided it would not end its ICE contract early, the city of Hartford, CT decided it would. Sludge viewed a letter from Mayor Arunan Arulampalam requesting a Hartford agency to terminate its ICE contract "immediately." readsludge.com/2026/02/11/the…

More info at Hell Gate — thanks for the shout: "Under the contract, which was initially reported by Sludge and which began June 30, 2021, the trust received..." hellgatenyc.com/hudson-river-p…

Follow-up: @HellGateNY reports that despite community protests, the Hudson River Park Trust will not cancel its ICE contract earlier than June 30, when the deal was set to expire. The Trust says it will not renew parking for ICE vehicles at Pier 40.

NEW: Big spending, mixed results: AIPAC splits in Illinois after spending more than $20 million on Democratic primaries. readsludge.com/2026/03/18/aip…

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Democrats Criticizing ICE Are Paying Consultants Tied to Palantir readsludge.com/2026/03/12/dem…

Mark Penn announced that Stagwell's partnership with Palantir enables clients to combine their data with third-party data with AI, what he called the "holy grail of marketing." Stagwell owns Democratic firms that could use Palantir's platform. New: readsludge.com/2026/03/12/dem…

NEW: The corporate parent of Democratic consulting firms SKDK and Wavelength Strategy is partnering with ICE contractor Palantir on an AI-powered campaign targeting system. readsludge.com/2026/03/12/dem…

New: A little-known group formed by Senate Dem fundraisers and a slew of AI industry lobbyists has been sending congressional staffers on junkets to S.F., London, and elsewhere to tour companies like Palantir. readsludge.com/2026/03/11/ai-…

Senate Dem fundraisers, and AI industry lobbyists, are flying congressional staffers to visit the MAGA-aligned contractors Palantir and Anduril. Our latest: readsludge.com/2026/03/11/ai-…

NEW: A little-known group packed with AI industry lobbyists—the Innovative Future Collective—has been sending congressional staffers on upscale trips to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London. readsludge.com/2026/03/11/ai-…

As AIPAC cheers the Trump admin's war in Iran, here are the lobby group's tens of millions in PAC donations to every member of Congress so far this cycle: readsludge.com/2026/03/01/her…

Four House Dems voted last week against the Iran war powers resolution, which was shot down 219–212. AIPAC is the top contributor to three of them: Reps. Jared Golden, Greg Landsman, and Juan Vargas, giving them $1.9 million in PAC donations through January, per our analysis.

We found more than 50 members of Congress invested in defense contractors (September 2024)—names, stocks, and amounts: readsludge.com/2024/09/12/her…

Experts with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (@CSIS) will appear on your media and say they're concerned about munitions stockpiles. They won't say that the defense contractors that give them millions spent lavishly on stock buybacks. readsludge.com/2026/03/05/def…

NEW: As Trump prepares $50 billion supplemental for munitions depleted by Iran strikes, experts from defense contractor-funded think tanks are amplifying shortage warnings to reporters. readsludge.com/2026/03/05/def…

Senate Republicans who voted down the Iran war powers resolution have received more than $6.1 million from AIPAC's PAC this cycle. The top two recipients are both GOP members up for re-election in 2026. See AIPAC donations for everyone in Congress: readsludge.com/2026/03/01/her…

SCOOP: Trump quietly invested as much as $20 million in bank securities last year and violated the STOCK Act by failing to publicly disclose the transactions. readsludge.com/2026/03/04/tru…

AIPAC is the top career contributor to Reps. Gottheimer, Landsman, and Moskowitz. The lobbying group is cheering lawmakers who supported the Trump admin's strikes on Iran. We dove into FEC data to get the latest totals for everyone in Congress: readsludge.com/2026/03/01/her…

Four House Dems publicly oppose the Iran war powers resolution: Reps. Josh Gottheimer, Greg Landsman, Jared Moskowitz, and Tom Suozzi. The four have received $1.5 million in donations from AIPAC PAC this cycle alone, and more than $1.8 million before...