PoliticsBreaking
DOJ Investigates Texas PAC After Video Shows Staffer Describing Paid Voting Program
By Mantle News
Coverage spectrum
Covered by 3 outlets, all right-leaning.
4 articles in total, 1 of them opinion. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias
The Department of Justice is investigating Texas Majority PAC, a political action committee that funds Democratic campaigns in Texas, after an undercover video showed organizing manager Sky McAdams describing a program that paid people $25 to attend a one-hour Zoom class about the importance of voting. In the video, first published by Townhall on September 16, McAdams called the arrangement a “roundabout way of paying people for their votes” and used profanity to describe it as questionable. Texas Majority PAC fired McAdams the next day and said he mischaracterized the program. On September 18, Republican Rep. Pat Fallon asked Attorney General Todd Blanche to investigate. Fox News reported on September 30 that the DOJ had opened a probe; a source confirmed it to other outlets.
Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works
What happened
Key points
Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.
Texas Majority PAC organizing manager Sky McAdams was recorded in an undercover video describing a program paying $25 for attendance at a one-hour Zoom class about voting.
Reported byRight
McAdams called the arrangement a “roundabout way of paying people for their votes” and privately called it “shady as f**k.”
Reported byRight
Texas Majority PAC fired McAdams the day after the video surfaced and said he mischaracterized the program.
Reported byRight
Rep. Pat Fallon sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche on September 18 asking the DOJ to investigate the PAC.
Reported byRight
The DOJ has opened an investigation into Texas Majority PAC, first reported by Fox News on September 30.
Reported byRight
Texas Majority PAC was founded by veterans of Beto O’Rourke’s past campaigns and has received funding tied to George Soros, according to RedState.
Reported byRight
What is contested
Where accounts differ
Points the coverage does not agree on, and who says what.
Whether the Texas Majority PAC’s $25 Zoom class program amounted to paying people for their votes
McAdams, in the undercover video, described it as a “roundabout way of paying people for their votes” and called it legally questionable; Texas Majority PAC said after firing him that he mischaracterized the program, according to Townhall and RedState.
How each side tells it
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the left
No coverage yet
No left-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.
the center
No coverage yet
No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.
the right
3 outlets · 1 opinion
Fox News and the New York Post report the DOJ investigation as a straightforward news development, while Townhall highlights its own role in breaking the story and RedState adds overtly partisan commentary describing the PAC’s tactics as “shady” and noting its funding ties.
DOJ investigating Texas Dem group after operative suggests it’s ‘paying people’ for votes in viral video
New York PostRightAll right-leaning headlines
The words they chose
Language to notice
Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.
Left
Has not covered this story.
Center
Has not covered this story.
Right5
dumps millionsmassive uproarUsual Suspectsagitprop maestro
In the outlets’ own words
Loaded verb
dumps millionsMore neutral: spends millions
Casts routine political spending in a negative, excessive light.
EXCLUSIVE: A Texas PAC that dumps millions into Democrat campaigns in the Lone Star state is under a Department of Justice…
Used byFox News (Far Right)
Sensational language
massive uproarMore neutral: significant reaction
Adds dramatic emphasis about public reaction without quantifying it.
Trump DOJ investigating Dem group in Texas after viral undercover video sparks massive uproar
Used byFox News (Far Right)
Delegitimizing label
Usual SuspectsMore neutral: various donors
Implies the PAC’s funders are a predictable cast of wrongdoers without evidence.
The committee, called the Texas Majority PAC, is funded by all sorts of the Usual Suspects, including billionaire agitprop maestro George Soros, and was founded by veterans…
Used byRedState (Far Right)
Loaded modifier
agitprop maestroMore neutral: political donor
Characterizes a donor with a dismissive, politically loaded label rather than neutral description.
…PAC, is funded by all sorts of the Usual Suspects, including billionaire agitprop maestro George Soros, and was founded by veterans of Beto O’Rourke’s failed Senate,…
Used byRedState (Far Right)
Show 1 more phrasesShow fewer
Loaded modifier
Shady TacticsMore neutral: disputed tactics
Presents a contested characterization of the PAC’s program as an established fact rather than an allegation.
Report: Townhall's Undercover Video of Shady Tactics by TX Dem PAC Prompts DOJ Investigation
Used byRedState (Far Right)
See for yourself
Side by side
What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.
From the left
0 outletsNo left-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.
From the center
0 outletsNo center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.
From the right
3 outlets · 1 opinionLeads with
- the undercover video and McAdams’ quoted remarks
- the DOJ investigation as validation of Republican complaints
- Townhall’s credit for breaking the story
- the PAC’s political and financial ties to Democratic figures
Leaves out
- Texas Majority PAC’s response that McAdams mischaracterized the program is omitted from the Fox News and New York Post articles
Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.
See the 4 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
- New York PostRight
DOJ investigating Texas Dem group after operative suggests it’s ‘paying people’ for votes in viral video
“If I was a Republican, I would be pissed. I would be like, that’s shady as f–k," said Sky MacAdams, a since-fired organizing manager for Texas Majority PAC.
- TownhallFar Right
Thanks to Townhall's Undercover Video, DOJ Announces Investigation Into Texas Majority PAC
On September 16, Townhall shared exclusive undercover video featuring Sky McAdams, an organizing manager for Texas Majority PAC. McAdams said the organization was paying people $25 to attend a one-hour Zoom class. …
- Fox NewsFar Right
Trump DOJ investigating Dem group in Texas after viral undercover video sparks Sensational language“massive uproar”Adds dramatic emphasis about public reaction without quantifying it.More neutral: significant reactionDisagree with this highlight?
A viral undercover video showing a Texas Majority PAC employee describing a "Paid Relational Program" has now triggered a DOJ investigation.
Report: Townhall's Undercover Video of Loaded modifier“Shady Tactics”Presents a contested characterization of the PAC’s program as an established fact rather than an allegation.More neutral: disputed tacticsDisagree with this highlight? by TX Dem PAC Prompts DOJ Investigation
A hat tip is owed to our sister site Townhall, because the undercover video they shared in mid-September that captured a manager for a Democrat political action committee seemingly admitting to paying people for their votes has now reportedly prompted a Department of Justice …
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Who reported it when
How the coverage built up
Left
No report yet
From the outlets Mantle follows
Center
No report yet
From the outlets Mantle follows
Right
First to report
Fox News, Sep 30, 12:16 PM EDT
See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
- Fox NewsFar RightSep 30, 12:16 PM EDT
- TownhallFar RightSep 30, 1:55 PM EDT
- New York PostRightSep 30, 8:15 PM EDT
Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.
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