After the New York Times story about Wei-Hock Soon (Willie Soon) secretly taking money from fossil fuel interests to produce discredited scientific research denying climate change, there was some discussion about undisclosed conflicts of interest in scientific research.
Our own research, however, reveals that virtually all of the full-throated Koch Brothers defenders in the media have one or more undisclosed conflicts of interest. In other words, they either benefit or have allegedly benefited financially from Koch's network of "think tanks", "foundations", and other piles of cash. It's kind of sad that seemingly the only people willing to publicly defend the Kochs are secretly taking money from them.
Larry Kudlow
Larry Kudlow, a CNBC senior contributor, and host of a syndicated radio show, recently landed an exclusive interview with David Koch in which he promoted Koch's donation to cancer research (and overstated it by a factor of 1,000). What Kudlow neglected to mention on his show, or in conjunction with his Investors' Business Daily article about the Koch Brothers' "fight against collectivism" was that he was alleged to have received $332,500 from the Koch-funded Mercatus Center back in a 2011 Counterpunch article.
Mark R. Levin
In addition to being a radio personality that publicly attacked Harry Reid in direct response to his criticism of the Koch Brothers, Levin has continued to post supportive content about his seemingly favorite models of "capitalism." What Levin's listeners and followers may not know is that he was also the President of the Landmark Legal Foundation, which was allegedly partially funded by the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. Not to mention his alleged former $757,000 sponsorship from Koch-affiliated Americans for Prosperity.
R. Emmett Tyrrell
Tyrrell is a syndicated columnist with Creators' Syndicate and the author of a August 2014 American Spectator article entitled "Philanthropy Over Politics", which defended the Koch's reputation amidst criticism over their "philanthropic" activities. That article was subsequently syndicated to Examiner.com, where Tyrrell was originally listed as a columnist. In neither location did it mention that Tyrell is founder and editor in chief of the American Spectator, which allegedly received $20,000 from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation.
John Hinderaker
The Koch Industries social media team was so enamored by Hinderlaker's defense of Koch and criticism of Democratic donors that it tweeted his recent article on PowerlineBlog from their official corporate account. In neither place did Hinderlaker disclose the allegation "that his law firm counts Koch Industries as a...client" as of a 2011 expose by ThinkProgress.
Glenn Beck
TheBlaze.com founder Glenn Beck went so far as to compare the Koch Brothers to the founding fathers shortly before leaving Fox to found TheBlaze. Given that Beck's new company received a million dollar sponsorship from Koch-funded FreedomWorks in its early days (generating a negative return to FreedomWorks), that comparison probably seemed appropriate from his perpsective. Later, former FreedomWorks executive Dick Armey alleged that Glenn Beck was explicitly paid "to say nice things."
Deroy Murdock
Murdock's defense of Koch philanthropy in a March 2014 article in the National Review contains no disclosures. However, his bio on the same website shows loose affiliation with multiple Koch-affiliated groups. In fact, the "National Review Institute", itself, allegedly received $10,000 from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation.