Midwest

What HBO's 'The Dark Money Game' won't tell you about the left

Published

8 months ago

April 26, 2025

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What HBO's 'The Dark Money Game' won't tell you about the left

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“The Dark Money Game” – two new feature-length documentaries from Alex Gibney that debuted this week on HBO make it sound like the network’s initials stand for Helping Bernie on Oligarchy. Some leftist journalists and filmmakers have suggested Donald Trump represents the end of American democracy, but the bitterest socialists suggest democracy was ended by the Supreme Court in the 2010 Citizens United decision.

To paraphrase a famous bank commercial, it’s apparently the worst decision in the history of decisions.

Radical documentarian Gibney – dyspeptic enough that he told the Daily Beast in 2013 that Pope Benedict XVI was a “criminal” – made two films under the heading “The Dark Money Case.” They debuted this week on HBO. In the two documentaries, he uncorked a large conspiracy theory, that religious conservatives and rapacious corporate capitalists have overthrown democracy since 2010. This conspiracy was realized with the help of those evil conservatives at the Federalist Society.

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The first of the two Gibney documentaries, “Ohio Confidential,” is about a bribery scheme within the Republican Party, but to Gibney the “corruption” in Ohio included the passage of a pro-life bill. “Flush with campaign cash from dark money donors, the anti-abortion side was all smiles, like a team that plays the game knowing the fix is in.”

All the journalism exposing dark money from George Soros or Reid Hoffman or Arabella Advisors or Act Blue is never going to get a minute on HBO. Ohio’s scandal is presented as a national scandal for the GOP. But, any local scandal for the Democrats is never national.

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Gibney was inspired by leftist New Yorker writer Jane Mayer and her 2017 book “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.” She echoed the thought that a pro-life bill in Ohio represented “private interests” taking over politics. When the Left loses, the “public interest” loses.

In ‘The Dark Money Game,’ Alex Gibney uncorks a large conspiracy theory, that religious conservatives and rapacious corporate capitalists have overthrown democracy since 2010. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Journalists should expose bribery when it happens in politics, of course, but Gibney and HBO proceed as if one side of the democracy is corrupt, and that “dark money” is somehow something that is never scandalous when employed on behalf of the Left. So, all the journalism exposing George Soros or Reid Hoffman or Arabella Advisors or Act Blue is never going to get a minute on HBO. Ohio’s scandal is presented as a national scandal for the GOP. But any local scandal for the Democrats is never national.

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The second Gibney documentary, “Wealth of the Wicked,” focuses on the origin of the Citizens United case, how the McCain-Feingold “campaign reform” bill made it illegal for the group Citizens United to air ads for its film “Hillary: The Movie” within 60 days of an election. “Campaign reform” was designed to prevent conservatives from going around the liberal media elite with critical films about Democrats. Now they try to suppress that information as a “misinformation” offense.

Mayer complained that in 90% of races, the candidate spending the most money is the winner. “And if you have so much more money than the other side has, you can completely drown out the other side.”

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The problem with an argument like this is that many House and Senate races are not competitive. According to Ballotpedia, in 2024, 43 House and Senate candidates won an election by five percentage points or fewer, representing 9% of all congressional elections. Eighty candidates won an election by ten percentage points or fewer, representing 17% of all congressional elections. Candidates who aren’t expected to have a chance won’t get funded.

Then there’s the umbrage about “completely drowning out the other side.” This is unintentionally hilarious, because these Gibney films for HBO always drown out the other side. In this case, Gibney offered “conservatives” like former pro-lifer Rob Schenck, who is now in favor of abortion. Hence, they are no longer conservatives.

Schenck underlined the Gibney thesis: “We have a little aphorism built on a Bible verse: ‘The wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous.’ So, yeah, let’s baptize the billionaires’ money. We can do that and it eventually brought together this alliance.”

The leftist critique of big money in politics, and their demands to somehow remove it, is utopian wishful thinking. Trying to take money out of politics is like trying to take the bark out of dogs. It can’t be done. It’s especially near-sighted because it doesn’t acknowledge the centrality of TV advertising and the news media in campaigns.

The Left complains that speech is money, but leftist journalists can propagandize on HBO and that somehow doesn’t count as “money in politics,” which it certainly is. What’s the advertising equivalent of that kind of airtime? The Left doesn’t see it that way, because dominating the national discussion is what they define as democracy.

“Non-commercial” non-capitalist media outlets like PBS and NPR promote a lot of leftist messaging and drown out conservatives, which represents Gibney’s radical goal of “taking the money out.” But they’re taking the money out of conservative pockets and using it to smear them. That’s somehow the antonym of “oligarchy.” Documentaries like these imply the political system is unfair when conservatives win anything.

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Cleveland, OH

37 individuals indicted in Northeast Ohio drug ring, more than 6 kilograms of drugs seized

Published

2 minutes ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

37 individuals indicted in Northeast Ohio drug ring, more than 6 kilograms of drugs seized

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley announced that the Cuyahoga County grand jury returned an indictment of 37 individuals for their involvement in a drug trafficking organization.

The drug trafficking organization is also linked to three overdose deaths.

The investigation led to over six kilograms of drugs seized, over $240,000 in cash was seized and 15 firearms were taken, which some of the firearms were reported stolen, according to a press release from the prosecutor’s office.

On Aug. 16, 2024, John Lee, 56, was found dead in a home from a suspended overdose near E 71st Street and Indiana Avenue in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Division of Police Narcotics Unit investigated and learned the supplied narcotics were linked to the drug trafficking organization, the release said.

On Sept. 17, 2024, Angela Staehr, 41, was found dead in a home from a suspected overdose near Sackett Avenue and Rhodes Court in Cleveland.

The CPD Narcotics Unit also investigated and found the supplied narcotics were also linked to the same drug trafficking organization that supplied Lee.

According to the press release, the investigation was conducted by the CPD Narcotics Unit and was assisted by the Euclid Police Department, the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and the U.S. Marshals.

Following the investigation, 37 individuals involved in the drug trafficking organization’s supply chain were identified.

The release said the drug trafficking organization was utilizing multiple locations to store, manufacture and distribute narcotics.

Throughout the investigation, search warrants were conducted in 12 locations that resulted in the seizure over over six kilograms of fentanyl, xylazine, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Additionally, resulting in the seizures of over $240,000 in cash and the 15 firearms, several of which were reported stolen.

The investigation also linked a third previously unsolved overdose case that happened in 2022, the over dose death of Amanda Garrison, 26, in Cleveland, the release said.

“This indictment reflects the strong collaboration between the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and our law enforcement partners. By dismantling this organization, we are removing dangerous individuals, lethal narcotics, and stolen firearms from our community. These arrests will save lives throughout northeast Ohio,” Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley said.

On Nov. 25, 2025, the 37 individuals were indicted on a total of 180 charges, some of which included:

Engaging in a Pattern of Corrupt Activity
Involuntary Manslaughter
Aggravated Drug Funding
Drug Trafficking
Drug Possession
Illegal Manufacturing
Having Weapons Under Disability

On Saturday, an arrest operation was held by the U.S. Marshals Service and CPD.

The individuals will be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center at a later date, the press release said.

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Illinois

Illinois officials investigating death connected to Rock Co. homicide

Published

1 hour ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Illinois officials investigating death connected to Rock Co. homicide

PRINCETON, Ill. (WMTV) – The Illinois State Patrol is investigating a death after officials found a suspect’s vehicle wanted in connection to a Wisconsin homicide, Illinois State Police reported.

Just before 10 p.m. on December 10, ISP troopers and several other agencies attempted to pull a vehicle over in Princeton, Illinois, that was wanted in a Rock County homicide.

Officials did not specify which Rock Co. case this incident is connected to.

Princeton is about an hour and 45 minutes away from Rock County, Wisconsin.

After the driver did not pull over, police chased the vehicle into the Great Sauk Trail Rest Area on I-80 westbound.

When officers went up to the vehicle, authorities stated the driver was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Authorities did not identify the driver.

ISP is working with the Bureau County State’s Attorney’s Office in this investigation.

Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.

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Indiana

Central Indiana schools announce closures, delays planned for Tuesday

Published

2 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Central Indiana schools announce closures, delays planned for Tuesday

INDIANAPOLIS — Some schools in central Indiana are planning to close or delay the start of their classes on Tuesday.

The closures and delays come in the wake of a difficult weekend of severe winter weather in the Hoosier State. On Saturday, a wintry system dumped more than six inches of snow in some portions of the state.

Points north of Indianapolis like Lafayette received between three and four inches of snow. Towns south of the Circle City like Seymour saw similar snowfall totals. As for Indianapolis itself, more than five inches of snow were recorded in some portions of the city.

After Saturday’s snow, frigid temperatures took hold in the area. A Cold Weather Advisory was issued for much of the state as wind chill values dipped well below zero.

The cold and snow triggered a bevy of school closings and delays for Monday. Schools began to announce delays and closures for Tuesday late Monday night as snow removal crews across the state continued to try to keep roadways clear.

Though some schools plan to close or delay the start of classes on Tuesday, temperature improvements are forecasted. High temperatures are anticipated to exceed the 32-degree freezing threshold and hit 36 degrees. The warming trend is expected to continue on both Wednesday and Thursday, with high temperatures forecasted to reach 40 and 50 degrees, respectively.

Precipitation is forecasted for Thursday, though temperatures are expected to remain warm enough for Indiana to get rain instead of snow.

FOX59/CBS4 is tracking the closures and delays schools plan to implement on Tuesday. Check out the latest available list of closings below:

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