WaPo: How Renee Good ended up in a fatal encounter with ICE in Minneapolis

A recording released Friday by Alpha News appears to show the moments immediately before the shooting from the perspective of the ICE officer who shot Good. In the video, Renee Good can be heard speaking to an ICE officer through the open driver’s side window, saying, “That’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you,” as the officer circles her vehicle while filming with a phone camera in his hand.

[2015] At some Minnesota news sites, partisans write the checks

Alpha News

While Watchdog.org and The UpTake get money from partisan donors, the money trail behind five-month-old Alpha News is much more difficult to track.

Its website says nothing about its donors or editorial process, but does carry ads and asks readers to donate. One thing is certain: Alpha News has ties to a prominent Republican donor and the political group he founded years ago.

Business filings show that Alex Kharam incorporated Alpha News. Kharam also works as executive director for the Minnesota Freedom Club, a political group that supports conservative candidates and  was founded by and largely bankrolled by Republican donor Robert Cummins.

Kharam did not respond to emails or phone calls to discuss Alpha News.

InfluenceWatch: Alpha News

Alpha News was founded in 2015, and has ties to conservative and Republican donors. Filings with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office show Alex Kharam, executive director of the conservative-leaning Minnesota Freedom Club, incorporated Alpha News. The Minnesota Freedom Club was bankrolled by Republican donor Robert Cummins, Minnesota Public Radio reported. Alpha News is not a project of the Freedom Club, according to a Freedom Club spokesperson. 

Kharam was listed as the registered agent for the nonprofit entity. The first public filing listed the Alpha News address at a UPS Store in Minnesota.

The first promotion of Alpha News came from the Minnesota Tea Party Alliance on Facebook, and many of the issues the website covered were those advocated by the right-leaning group.

The Deep Ties and Deeper Pockets of Minnesota’s Far-Right

John H Hinderaker (Power Line), Center of the American Experiment, State Policy Network, American Legislative Exchange Council, Americans for Prosperity, Cato Institute, DonorsTrust, Federalist Society, Heritage Foundation, Bradley Foundation, Minnesota Parents Alliance, American Experiment Foundation, Minnesota Freedom Club, etc.

[John] Hinderaker has sat on the board of directors for the Freedom Club, a Minnesota-based 501(c)(4) non-profit. Its political action committee, since its founding in 2011, has been a major contributor to Republican candidates in Minnesota. The Freedom Club’s executive director is Alex Kharam, the president of Alpha News.

From 2019 to 2023, the Center provided Alpha News with 15% of its total revenue through grants. Alpha News includes a tag for the Center on its website and regularly receives favorable coverage from the news organization.

Media Bias/Fact Check rates Alpha News’ factual reporting as low and places them on the extreme right of political bias.

John Hinderaker (Claremont Institute, Koch Network)

John Hinderaker is “a lawyer in Minneapolis who occasionally writes stuff on the web” for Powerlineblog.com, according to his Twitter profile biography. Hinderaker’s litigation practice spans the United States and for twenty years he has written on public policy issues “including income inequality, income taxes, campaign finance reform, affirmative action, welfare reform, and race in the criminal justice system.” His articles, which were co-written with law partner Scott W. Johnson, have been published in The American Enterprise, National Review, The Weekly Standard, American Experiment Quarterly, “and newspapers from Florida to California.”

…

According to Hinderaker’s Sourcewatch profile, he was the chairman of the Center for the American Experiment, a Minneapolis-based think tank, in the year 2000, and is a fellow at the Claremont Institute conservative think tank.

Blogger From Koch’s Law Firm Defends Koch, Doesn’t Disclose Ties

Fighting back against public scrutiny, Koch Industries is relying on a small army of conservative bloggers, reporters, and lobbyists. Chief among them is John Hinderaker, a blogger at the “Powerline Blog.” However, in his now daily defense of the Koch brothers, Hinderaker has failed to disclose that his law firm counts Koch Industries as a major client.

InfluenceWatch: Center of the American Experiment

State Policy Network, Bradley Foundation, Minneapolis Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Heartland Institute, Charles Koch Institute, Teach For America, Heritage Foundation, etc.

John Hinderaker works as president of the Center of the American Experiment and formerly was its board chair (1998-2000). Hinderaker is a former lawyer and the founder of the conservative blog Power Line.