:Center for Public Integrity

CPI was founded on March 30, 1989, by Charles Lewis, a former producer for ABC News and CBS News 60 Minutes.{{Cite web | title = Faculty Profile: Charles Lewis | url = http://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/charlesl.cfm | work = American University | access-date = June 9, 2012}}{{cite news|url=http://www.iwatchnews.org/about/our-organization/annual-reports|title=Annual Reports|publisher=The Center for Public Integrity|access-date=June 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415104602/http://www.iwatchnews.org/about/our-organization/annual-reports|archive-date=April 15, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} By the late 1980s Lewis observed that fewer resources—time, money and space—were being invested in investigative reporting in the United States by established news outlets and major publications.

In his book entitled 935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America's Moral Integrity Lewis recounted how he recruited two trusted journalists, Alejandro Benes and Charles Piller—whom he had met through his television work— to serve on the board of directors of the nascent CPI. All three had grown dissatisfied with what was being done in the name of investigative journalism by established news organizations. They chose the name public integrity as a way of underlying the "ultimate purpose of investigative journalism" which is "to hold those in power accountable and to inform the public about significant distortions of the truth."{{cite web | url=https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/06/20/14948/25-years-countless-investigations-and-935-lies | title=25 years, countless investigations and 935 lies | publisher=CPI | date=June 20, 2014 | access-date=April 7, 2016 | author=Lewis, Charles}}{{cite book |title=935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America's Moral Integrity |first=Charles |last=Lewis |date=2014 |isbn=9781610391177 |publisher=PublicAffairs |url=http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/hardcover/935-lies/9781610391177 |access-date=April 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406104448/http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/hardcover/935-lies/9781610391177 |archive-date=April 6, 2016 |url-status=dead }} In their tenth anniversary Annual Report Piller described their first meetings in their "Boardroom—the cheap seats at the Baltimore Orioles game.

In May 1990, Lewis used the money he had raised and his house as collateral to open an {{convert|1800|sqft|m2|-1|adj=on}} office in Washington, D.C. In its first year, the CPI's budget was $200,000. In 1996, CPI launched its first website, although CPI did not begin to publish reports online until 1999.

In August 2000 the CPI published a story entitled "Cheney Led Halliburton to Feast at Federal Trough: State Department Questioned Deal With Firm Linked to Russian Mob", in which the authors argued that while Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton—from 1995 to 2000—the company received "$3.8 billion in federal contracts and taxpayer-insured loans".{{cite web | url=http://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/1100web/lewis.html | title=An "i" Toward Tough Journalism | work=Johns Hopkins Magazine | date=November 2000 | access-date=April 7, 2016 | author=Keiger, Dale}}{{cite web | title=Cheney Led Halliburton to Feast at Federal Trough: State Department Questioned Deal With Firm Linked to Russian Mob | publisher=CPI | date=August 2000 |first1=Knut |last1=Royce |first2= Nathaniel |last2=Heller|url=https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/cheney-led-halliburton-to-feast-at-federal-trough/}}

In 2001, Global Integrity, an international project, was launched to systematically track and report on openness, accountability and the rule of law in various countries. It has since been incorporated independently.

{{cite web | title = Our Story | url = http://www.globalintegrity.org/about/story | publisher = Global Integrity | access-date = June 9, 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120617181047/http://www.globalintegrity.org/about/story | archive-date = June 17, 2012 }}

In 2004, CPI's The Buying of the President book was on The New York Times Best Seller list for three months.{{cite news | last = Lewis | first = Charles| url = http://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2007_03_lewis.pdf | title = The Growing Importance of Non-Profit Journalism | publisher = The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy | date = April 1, 2007 | access-date = April 6, 2016}}

Lewis served as CPI's director until January 2005. As of his departure, CPI had published 14 books and more than 250 investigative reports. In 2005, CPI had a staff of 40 full-time Washington-based reporters who partnered with a network of writers and editors in more than 25 countries. Years later, Lewis said he decided to leave his position at CPI because "he didn't want it to become 'an institution that was Chuck's Excellent Adventure".{{cite news| last = Hartmann| first = Anath| title = Center of Attention| publisher = American Journalism Review| date = December 2007| url = http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4442| access-date = November 29, 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130628180128/http://ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4442| archive-date = 2013-06-28| url-status = dead}} Lewis' departure surprised and upset philanthropists Herb and Marion Sandler, who had partially funded the CPI's activities.{{cite news| last = Nocera| first = Joe| title = The Money Issue| work=The New York Times| date = March 9, 2008| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/magazine/09Sandlers-t.html}}

In December 2004, CPI's board of directors chose television journalist Roberta Baskin as Lewis's successor. Baskin came to CPI after directing consumer investigations for ABC News's 20/20 and serving as Washington correspondent for PBS's NOW with Bill Moyers.{{cite news | url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/08/roberta_baskin_joins_hhs.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307053817/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/08/roberta_baskin_joins_hhs.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=March 7, 2012| title=Roberta Baskin Joins HHS as Adviser | newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 3, 2009|access-date=June 10, 2012}} Lewis wrote that "most of the Center's carefully assembled, very talented, senior staff had quit by the fall of 2005".

In September 2005, CPI announced that it had discovered a pattern of plagiarism in the past work of a staff writer for CPI's 2002 book Capitol Offenders. CPI responded by hiring a copy editor to review all work, issuing a revised version of Capitol Offenders, sending letters of apology to all reporters whose work was plagiarized, authoring a new corrections policy, and returning an award the book received from Investigative Reporters and Editors.{{cite news | last = Baskin | first = Roberta | title = Taken Aback | publisher = American Journalism Review | date = March 2008

| url = http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4468 | access-date = 2008-03-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130511214846/http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4468 | archive-date = May 11, 2013

| url-status = dead }} He went on to work for a political consulting firm that specializes in opposition research.{{cite news |last = Prince |first = Richard |title = What's in the Floodwater? |publisher = Maynard Institute |date = September 14, 2005 |url = http://www.maynardije.org/richardprince/whats-floodwater|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130415082910/http://www.maynardije.org/richardprince/whats-floodwater|url-status = dead|archive-date = April 15, 2013}}{{cite news |last = Bice |first = Daniel

|title = Integrity washout finds niche dredging muck in court race |publisher = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date = March 28, 2007 |url = http://milwaukee-journal-sentinel.vlex.com/vid/integrity-washout-niche-dredging-muck-74398525|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130209010056/http://milwaukee-journal-sentinel.vlex.com/vid/integrity-washout-niche-dredging-muck-74398525

|url-status = dead|archive-date = February 9, 2013}} In March 2007, he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the center's official version "is not accurate in telling the full story of why I left the center," but did not elaborate.

Baskin led the organization until May 24, 2006.

Baskin was followed by Wendell Rawls Jr., who was named the center's interim executive director.{{cite news | title = Takings Initiatives Accountability Project ... About This Project

| publisher = CPI | date = September 1, 2006 | url = https://www.publicintegrity.org/2006/09/01/9031/about-project}} Rawls had previously worked as the center's managing director — being named to that post by Baskin on December 19, 2005. He joined CPI in August 2005.{{cite news |title = Pulitzer Winner Rawls Named Managing Director of the Center for Public Integrity |publisher = PR Newswire |date = December 19, 2005 |url = http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pulitzer-winner-rawls-named-managing-director-of-the-center-for-public-integrity-55591362.html

|access-date = 2017-01-22 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170202030231/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pulitzer-winner-rawls-named-managing-director-of-the-center-for-public-integrity-55591362.html |archive-date = 2017-02-02 |url-status = dead}}

In 2007, Rawls was succeeded by William Buzenberg, a vice president at American Public Media/Minnesota Public Radio.{{cite news | title=Alumni News Archives: Fall 2006 | publisher=University of Michigan | date=Fall 2006 | access-date=June 12, 2012 | url=http://www.mjfellows.org/alumni/geniuses_fall2006.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809021337/http://www.mjfellows.org/alumni/geniuses_fall2006.html | archive-date=August 9, 2011 }} Buzenberg was first interviewed for the position in 2004 during the hiring process that ultimately led to the selection of his predecessor, Roberta Baskin.

According to a report by Lewis, "the number of full-time staff was reduced by one-third" in early 2007. By December 2007, the number of full-time staff had dropped to 25, down from a high of 40. At the time, Buzenberg said "It's a great, great place, but I will not mislead you... [Lewis] quite frankly left the center in great shape financially, but when you have a visionary who leaves, how do you continue? 'With difficulty' is the answer."

Baskin publicly disputed Buzenberg's claims in a letter to the American Journalism Review where she wrote, "contrary to the statement from current Executive Director Bill Buzenberg, the center was not left 'in great shape financially' by my predecessor. Much of the money raised during the year prior to my tenure was used to offset budget overruns on several previous projects. I replaced our director of development and made fundraising my number one priority, much as Buzenberg has done. As a rookie fundraiser, I take pride in the fact that I was able to raise millions of dollars."

In 2008, Lewis reflected on the transition period following his resignation and said, "I regret what happened to my staff and the condition of the Center. It's no secret it had a less than enviable few years. But that's one of the reasons I thought it was important to leave. I had founded it and run it for 15 years, and at some point the founder does have to leave the building...I don't regret it, I think it was important that I left, but I do feel badly about the hardship it brought to people I think the world of."{{cite web |first=Mark |last=Glaser |url=https://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/06/charles-lewis-tries-to-solve----not-bemoan----state-of-investigative-journalism170.html |title=Charles Lewis Tries to Solve -- Not Bemoan -- State of Investigative Journalism |work=PBS |date=June 18, 2008 |access-date=June 12, 2012 |archive-date=August 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810171914/http://mediashift.org/2008/06/charles-lewis-tries-to-solve----not-bemoan----state-of-investigative-journalism170.html |url-status=dead }}

In 2010, The Huffington Post Investigative Fund merged into the CPI, and eight Huffington Post journalists moved to CPI.{{cite web | url=http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/center-for-public-integrity-to-start-new-site-for-investigative-journalism/ | title=Center for Public Integrity to Start New Site for Investigative Journalism | work=The New York Times| date=April 3, 2011 | access-date=November 27, 2015 | author=Vega, Tanzina | author-link=Tanzina Vega}}

In 2011, CPI eliminated 10 staff positions in order to compensate for a $2 million budget shortfall. Buzenberg and other senior staffers also took salary cuts. CPI board chairman Bruce Finzen said the budget would be "reduced between $2 million and $3 million, more like $2.5 million. The budget for next year will be in the 6 to 7 million range."

In April 2011, with support from the Knight Foundation, CPI launched iWatchnews.org as its main investigative reporting website.{{cite news|url=http://www.knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2011/4/21/center-public-integrity-launches-new-investigative-reporting-site/|title=Center for Public Integrity launches new investigative reporting site|publisher=John S. and James L. Knight Foundation|date=April 12, 2012|access-date=June 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913103624/http://knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2011/4/21/center-public-integrity-launches-new-investigative-reporting-site/|archive-date=September 13, 2014|url-status=dead}} In August 2012, CPI stopped using iWatchnews.org and returned to its original domain.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/iWatch|title=iWatchnews|publisher=Twitter|date=August 14, 2012|access-date=June 19, 2013}}

Buzenberg stepped down from CPI at the end of 2014, at which time Peter Bale was named CEO.{{cite news|last1=Ehley|first1=Brianna|title=Former CNN International's Peter Bale to Lead the Center for Public Integrity|url=http://www.adweek.com/fishbowldc/former-cnn-internationals-peter-bale-to-lead-the-center-for-public-integrity/136458|access-date=March 24, 2015|work=FishBowlDC|publisher=AdWeek|date=December 2, 2014}} In November 2016, Bale resigned from the center to "pursue other international media opportunities" and John Dunbar assumed the role of chief executive officer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/11/15/20470/change-leadership-center-public-integrity|title=Change of leadership at the Center for Public Integrity|date=November 15, 2016|website=Center for Public Integrity|access-date=December 21, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222001528/https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/11/15/20470/change-leadership-center-public-integrity|archive-date=December 22, 2016|url-status=dead}}

In 2019, Susan Smith Richardson was named chief executive officer, becoming the first African-American CEO in the center's history.{{Cite web|url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/04/as-the-new-ceo-of-the-center-for-public-integrity-susan-richardson-wants-to-serve-communities-far-beyond-washington/|title=As the new CEO of the Center for Public Integrity, Susan Smith Richardson wants to serve communities far beyond Washington|last=Owen|first=Laura Hazard|date=April 4, 2019|website=Nieman Lab|access-date=April 4, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/susan-smith-richardson-chicago-center-for-public-integrity.php|title=Susan Smith Richardson to head Center for Public Integrity|last=McCormick|first=Andrew|date=April 4, 2018|website=Columbia Journalism Review|language=en|access-date=April 4, 2019}}

In February 2024, CEO Paul Cheung resigned. The board also acted to eliminate the position of editor-in-chief, a post that had been held by Matt DeRienzo.{{cite news |last1=Mullin |first1=Benjamin |title=Center for Public Integrity Weighs Merger or Shutdown Amid Dire Financial Straits |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/business/media/center-for-public-integrity-financial-problems.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=New York Times |date=February 28, 2024}}

CPI had a revenue goal of $6 million for 2023, and fell about $2.5 million short of that. According to the New York Times, this shortfall created a situation of financial peril that threatened "to extinguish a newsroom of about 30 journalists that has watchdogged powerful institutions for decades." Due to the organization's financial difficulties, CPI considered merging with a competitor or shutting down.

In March 2024, CPI laid off 11 newsroom employees.{{Cite web |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |date=2024-03-12 |title=News media job cuts 2024 tracked: At least 980 redundancies in January and 615 in February |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/journalism-job-cuts-2024/ |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}}{{cite news |last1=Schuman |first1=Daniel |author-link1=Daniel Schuman |title=Open-Government Nonprofits Are Dying Off Just When They're Needed Most |url=https://www.thebulwark.com/p/open-government-nonprofits-are-dying-off-just-when-needed-most |work=The Bulwark |date=16 December 2024}} That same month, Richard Tofel, the former president of ProPublica, wrote a Substack piece entitled "What Went Wrong at the Center for Public Integrity?" in which he discussed "what seems likely to be the end, one way or another, of CPI." Tofel identified considerable turnover at the top of the organization, cultural shortcomings of its board of directors, and strategic missteps as the three major factors which led to the organization's demise.{{cite web |last1=Tofel |first1=Richard J. |title=What Went Wrong at the Center for Public Integrity? |url=https://dicktofel.substack.com/p/what-went-wrong-at-the-center-for |publisher=Substack |access-date=25 March 2025 |date=21 March 2024}} In May 2024, a mass layoff saw almost all CPI workers lose their jobs.{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Katherine Reynolds |title=The reality of layoffs, beyond the national numbers |url=https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/reality-layoffs-behind-national-jobs-numbers-reynolds-lewis.php |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=Columbia Journalism Review |date=October 14, 2024 |language=en}}

CPI's last major piece was co-published in June 2024 and the organization had no staff by November 2024. In March 2025, CPI announced it had officially ceased operations and was in talks to give its archive to the Project on Government Oversight.{{Cite web |last=Chan |first=Sewell |title=Center for Public Integrity Is Shutting Down |url=https://www.cjr.org/news/center-for-public-integrity-shutting-down.php |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Columbia Journalism Review |language=en}}

In its first year, CPI's budget was reported to be $200,000. In 2010, CPI had $9.2 million in revenue and $7.7 million in expenses.{{cite news|url=http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=7166|title=Center for Public Integrity|publisher=Charity Navigator|access-date=June 10, 2012}} By 2022, annual revenues had declined to $5 million.{{cite web |title=IRS 990 Center for Public Integrity |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/search?q=Center+for+Public+Integrity |website=Pro Publica Nonprofit Explorer | date=May 9, 2013 |access-date=March 19, 2024}}

CPI reported receiving foundation support from a number of foundations, including the Sunlight Foundation, the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Omidyar Network, the Open Society Foundations, and the Pew Charitable Trusts.{{cite news|url=http://www.iwatchnews.org/about/our-work/supporters|title=How the Center for Public Integrity is Funded|publisher=The Center for Public Integrity|access-date=June 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428145423/http://www.iwatchnews.org/about/our-work/supporters|archive-date=April 28, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} The Barbra Streisand Foundation reported that it had funded CPI.{{cite news|url=http://www.barbrastreisand.com/us/streisand-foundation#6|title= The Streisand Foundation|publisher=Barbra Streisand Foundation|access-date=June 27, 2012}}

In July 2014, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation donated $2.8 million to CPI to launch a new project focused on state campaign finance. According to the International Business Times, "as CPI was negotiating the Arnold grant, Arnold's name was absent from a CPI report on pension politics". Arnold has spent at least $10 million on a campaign to roll back pension benefits for public workers.{{cite news|last1=Sirota|first1=David|title=Enron Mogul John Arnold Funds State Politics... And Now Journalism About Money in State Politics|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/enron-mogul-john-arnold-funds-state-politics-now-journalism-about-money-state-politics-1650110|access-date=August 12, 2014|work=International Business Times|date=August 6, 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Reid|first1=Tim|title=Texas hedge fund billionaire seeks California pension reform|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-pensions-arnold-idUSL2N0F01Z820130625|access-date=August 12, 2014|work=Reuters|date=June 25, 2014|archive-date=August 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813011125/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/25/usa-pensions-arnold-idUSL2N0F01Z820130625|url-status=live}}

As of March 2025, CPI's board of directors included chairman Wesley Lowery and members Jamaal Glenn, Olivier Kamanda, Jennifer 8. Lee, Sue Suh, Daniel Suleiman, and Andres Torres. Emeritus board members include Charles Lewis and Craig Newmark.{{cite news | url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/about/our-people/board-of-directors | title=Board of Directors | publisher=Center for Public Integrity}} In March 2025, Lowery stepped down as board chair amid allegations that he made inappropriate sexual comments and unwanted sexual advances at his full time job at American University. At the same time, CPI announced that it had officially ceased operations.{{cite news |last1=Sommer |first1=Will |title=Star journalist Wesley Lowery faced Title IX complaints before leaving American University |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/03/17/wesley-lowery-sexual-misconduct-allegations/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=18 March 2025 |language=en}}

{{Main|International Consortium of Investigative Journalists}}

File:ICIJ logo.svg

In 1997, CPI launched the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), based in Washington, D.C.{{cite news |title=News Group Claims Huge Trove of Data on Offshore Accounts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/04/03/world/europe/ap-panama-papers.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 3, 2016 |access-date=April 4, 2016 |first1=Natalya |last1=Vasilyeva |first2=Mae |last2=Anderson}} In 2016, the ICIJ spun off from CPI and became its own nonprofit due to financial difficulties with CPI.{{cite news |last1=Fandos |first1=Nicholas |title=Watchdog That Shepherded Panama Papers Now Constrained by Finances (Published 2016) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/business/media/watchdog-that-shepherded-panama-papers-now-constrained-by-finances.html?_r=0 |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=5 June 2016 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Berry |first1=Anna |title=ICIJ to Separate from Center for Public Integrity |url=https://nonprofitquarterly.org/icij-separate-center-public-integrity/ |access-date=25 March 2025 |work=Non Profit News {{!}} Nonprofit Quarterly |date=24 October 2016}}

{{Main|Panama Papers}}

In April 2016, the ICIJ made headlines worldwide with the announcement that it and the German newspaper {{lang|de|Süddeutsche Zeitung}} had received a leaked set of 11.5 million confidential documents from a secret source, created by the Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca. The Panama Papers provided detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, including the identities of shareholders and directors.{{cite news |title=News Group Claims Huge Trove of Data on Offshore Accounts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/04/03/world/europe/ap-panama-papers.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 3, 2016 |access-date=April 4, 2016 |first1=Natalya |last1= Vasilyeva |first2=Mae |last2=Anderson}} The documents named the leaders of five countries — Argentina, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates — as well as government officials, close relatives and close associates of various heads of government of more than 40 other countries, including Brazil, China, France, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Malta, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Syria and the United Kingdom.{{cite web |title=Panama Papers: The Power Players |url= https://panamapapers.icij.org/the_power_players/ |publisher=International Consortium of Investigative Journalists |access-date=April 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404042238/https://panamapapers.icij.org/the_power_players/ |archive-date= April 4, 2016 |url-status=live}}

The ICIJ and {{lang|de|Süddeutsche Zeitung}} received the Panama Papers in 2015 and distributed them to about 400 journalists at 107 media organizations in more than 80 countries. The first news reports based on the set, along with 149 of the documents themselves,{{cite web|title=DocumentCloud 149 Results Source: Internal documents from Mossack Fonseca (Panama Papers) – Provider: Amazon Technologies / Owner: Perfect Privacy, LLC USA|url=https://www.documentcloud.org/public/search/Source:%20%22Internal%20documents%20from%20Mossack%20Fonseca%20(Panama%20Papers)%22/p3|publisher=Center for Public Integrity|access-date=April 4, 2016|archive-date=April 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406024901/https://www.documentcloud.org/public/search/Source:%20%22Internal%20documents%20from%20Mossack%20Fonseca%20(Panama%20Papers)%22/p3|url-status=dead}} were published on April 3, 2016.{{cite web|url=http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/articles/56febff0a1bb8d3c3495adf4/ |access-date=April 3, 2016 |title=About the Panama Papers |last1=Obermaier |first1=Frederik |last2=Obermayer |first2=Bastian |last3=Wormer |first3=Vanessa |last4=Jaschensky |first4=Wolfgang |date=April 3, 2016 |work=Süddeutsche Zeitung |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403182015/http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/articles/56febff0a1bb8d3c3495adf4/ |archive-date=April 3, 2016 |url-status=live }} Among other planned disclosures, the full list of companies is to be released in early May 2016.{{cite web |title=The Panama Papers: Data Methodology |url=https://panamapapers.icij.org/graphs/methodology/ |work=ICIJ |date=April 3, 2016 |access-date=April 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405054659/https://panamapapers.icij.org/graphs/methodology/ |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}

A 2012 The New York Times editorial described the CPI as a "nonpartisan watchdog group".{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/opinion/the-states-get-a-poor-report-card.html | title=The States Get a Poor Report Card | newspaper=The New York Times| date=March 19, 2012 | access-date=November 27, 2015}}

In relation to a story in February 1996, CPI was characterized as a "liberal group" by the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.{{Cite news | last = Broder | first = John | title = Buchanan Aide Suspended Over Hate Group Ties | work =Los Angeles Times | date =February 16, 1996 | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-02-16-mn-36754-story.html | access-date = January 31, 2001}}{{Cite news | title = Mr. Buchanan Stumbles | work = The New York Times | date = 1996-02-17 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/17/opinion/mr-buchanan-stumbles.html | access-date = January 31, 2001}} Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, a progressive media watchdog, has described CPI as "progressive."{{Cite web|url=http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1149|title=Spectrum Narrows Further in 2002: Progressive, domestic think tanks see drop|date=August 2003|work=Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting|access-date=June 9, 2012}}

CPI's first report, America's Frontline Trade Officials, reported that nearly half of White House trade officials studied over a fifteen-year period became lobbyists for countries or overseas corporations after retirement. According to Lewis, it "prompted a Justice Department ruling, a General Accounting Office report, a Congressional hearing, was cited by four presidential candidates in 1992 and was partly responsible for an executive order in January 1993 by President Clinton, placing a lifetime ban on foreign lobbying by White House trade officials."

{{main|Lincoln Bedroom for contributors controversy}}

In 1996, CPI released a report called Fat Cat Hotel: How Democratic High-Rollers Are Rewarded with Overnight Stays at the White House. This report, written by Margaret Ebrahim, won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists. The report was an examination of the connection between overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom during the Clinton presidency and financial contributions to the Democratic Party as well as the Clinton re-election campaign.{{cite web | url = http://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/ebrahim.cfm | title = Profile Margaret Ebrahim| publisher = School of Communications, American University | location = Washington, DC | access-date = June 10, 2012}}

In 2003, CPI published Windfalls of War, a report arguing that campaign contributions to George W. Bush affected the allocation of reconstruction contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq.{{cite web|url=http://www.iwatchnews.org/2003/10/30/5628/winning-contractors|title=Winning contractors|publisher=The Center for Public Integrity|date=October 30, 2003|access-date=June 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615170752/http://www.iwatchnews.org/2003/10/30/5628/winning-contractors|archive-date=June 15, 2012|url-status=dead}} Slate ran a piece arguing that due to a statistically insignificant correlation coefficient between campaign donations and winning contracts, "CPI has no evidence to support its allegations."{{cite web | url = http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2003/11/fables_of_the_reconstruction.html | title = Fables of the Reconstruction: Bush isn't really favoring Halliburton and Bechtel | work = Slate| date = November 3, 2003 | access-date = June 12, 2012}}

CPI's LobbyWatch series of reports started with its first reports in 2005.{{cite report| url = http://www.publicintegrity.org/files/manual/pdf/corporate/2005_CPI_Annual_Report.pdf| title = Center for Public Integrity Annual Report 2005| location = Washington DC| date = 2006| access-date = April 4, 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130729121404/http://www.publicintegrity.org/files/manual/pdf/corporate/2005_CPI_Annual_Report.pdf| archive-date = 2013-07-29| url-status = dead}} In their January 2005 publication entitled Pushing Prescriptions, CPI revealed that major pharmaceutical companies were the number one lobbyist in the United States spending $675 million over seven years on lobbying. They continued with this series in 2005 revealing how pharmaceutical companies had contacts even within the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Trade Representatives.

CPI's report, Who's Behind the Financial Meltdown?,{{citation |url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/accountability/finance/corporate-accountability/whos-behind-financial-meltdown |title=Who's Behind the Financial Meltdown? |date=2009 |work=CPI |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407035614/http://www.publicintegrity.org/accountability/finance/corporate-accountability/whos-behind-financial-meltdown |archive-date=April 7, 2013 }} looking at the roots of the global financial crisis, was featured in numerous media outlets, leading Columbia Journalism Review to ask, "Why hasn't a newspaper or magazine done this?"{{cite report | date = 7 May 2009 | title = Center for Public Integrity Puts the Subprime Puzzle Together

| first = Ryan | last = Chittum | url = https://www.cjr.org/the_audit/center_for_public_integrity_pu.php?page=all | publisher = Columbia Journalism Review | access-date = April 4, 2013}}

More than 100 newspapers, magazines, wire services and websites cited CPI's report, The Climate Change Lobby Explosion, an analysis of Senate records showing that the number of climate lobbyists had grown by three hundred percent, numbering four for every Senator.{{cite news | url = http://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=1a333a64-802a-23ad-4acb-3ca7b58cbc49 | publisher = U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works | series = Minority Page | location = Washington, DC | title = Inhofe Exposes Cap and Tax Scheme in Obama Budget | date = March 18, 2009 | access-date = April 4, 2013}}

Tobacco Underground, an ongoing project tracing the global trade in smuggled cigarettes,{{cite web

| url = https://reportingproject.net/underground | title = Tobacco Underground | publisher = Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project | access-date = 2013-06-17}} produced by CPI's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, was honored with the Renner Award for Crime Reporting from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), and the Overseas Press Club Award for Best Online International Reporting.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} The Tobacco Underground Project was funded by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health. It is a cooperative project between the Center for Public Integrity's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) with journalists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. Journalists in Brazil, Belgium, Canada, China, Italy, Paraguay and the UK also participated.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/business/global/19montenegro.html | title = Montenegro Reaches for Respectability With Port

| work=The New York Times | date = 2010-08-18}} that won the Overseas Press Club Award and Investigative Reporters and Editors's Tom Renner Award for crime reporting.{{Cite web | url = http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=4884 | publisher = American Journalism Review | title = Playing Defense | date = June 2010 | access-date = 2013-04-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130722050814/http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4884 | archive-date = 2013-07-22 | url-status = dead }}{{Cite web| url = https://www.reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/projects/tobacco-project/1-latest-projects/245-icij-wins-tom-renner-award| title = ICIJ Wins Tom Renner Award| publisher = OCCRP| date = 2009-04-02| access-date = April 5, 2013| archive-date = October 11, 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141011154444/https://www.reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/projects/tobacco-project/1-latest-projects/245-icij-wins-tom-renner-award| url-status = dead}}

In 2010, CPI partnered with National Public Radio to publish "Sexual Assault on Campus",{{cite web|url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/campus_assault/|title=Sexual Assault on Campus|work=Center for Public Integrity|date=March 2, 2021 }} a report which showcases the failures of colleges and government agencies to prevent sexual assaults and resolve sexual assault cases.

{{cite web | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124001493 | title = Campus Rape Victims: A Struggle For Justice | publisher = National Public Radio | date = 2010-02-24 | access-date = 2012-06-09}}

The year long investigation by CPI, Toxic Clout, produced in partnership with the PBS NewsHour, "unmasked the deep, sometimes hidden, connections entangling the chemical industry, scientists and regulators, revealing the industry's sway and the public's peril."{{Citation| access-date = 2019-09-22| url = https://s3.amazonaws.com/iw-files/documents/pdfs/CPI+Toxic+Clout.pdf |title=Toxic Clout |date=2013}} Investigative journalists examined the work of the then California Department of Public Health's John Morgan who had been working since 1995, to debunk allegations that chromium had contributed to the cancer cluster attributed to Hinkley groundwater contamination. The CPI found glaring weaknesses in Morgan's analysis that challenge the validity of his findings. "In his first study, he dismisses what others see as a genuine cancer cluster in Hinkley. In his latest analysis, he excludes people who were exposed to the worst contamination."{{citation |title=Erin Brockovich's Biggest Debunker, Debunked: A closer look finds serious flaws in the research of a scientist trying to disprove an infamous California cancer cluster |first=David |last=Heath |date=3 June 2013 |url=http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/05/erin-brockovich-hinkley-california-junk-science |work=Center for Public Integrity via Mother Jones|access-date=April 13, 2013}} PBS Newshour broadcast the series which included "EPA Contaminated by Conflict of Interest", "Ouster of Scientist from EPA Panel Shows Industry Clout", starting in early 2013.{{Cite web| title = EPA Contaminated by Conflict of Interest |date=February 13, 2013 |work=PBS NewsHour | access-date = 2019-09-22| url = https://www.pbs.org/newshour/spc/multimedia/epa-corporate/}}{{Cite web| title = Ouster of Scientist from EPA Panel Shows Industry Clout| work = PBS NewsHour| access-date = 2019-09-22| date = 2013-02-13| url = https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/ouster-of-scientist-from-epa-panel-shows-industry-clout}} CPI published a series of articles including "Toxic clout: how Washington works (badly)" and "How industry scientists stalled action on carcinogen."{{Cite web| title = Toxic clout: how Washington works (badly)| work = Center for Public Integrity| access-date = 2019-09-22| url = https://publicintegrity.org/inside-publici/toxic-clout-how-washington-works-badly/ |first=Bill |last=Buzenberg |date=February 27, 2013}}{{Cite web| title = How industry scientists stalled action on carcinogen| work = Center for Public Integrity| access-date = 2019-09-22| url = https://publicintegrity.org/environment/how-industry-scientists-stalled-action-on-carcinogen/ |date=March 13, 2013 |first=David |last=Heath}}

In 2013, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the results of a 15-month-long investigation based on 260 gigabytes of data regarding the ownership of secret offshore bank accounts. The data was obtained by Gerard Ryle as a result of his investigation into the Firepower scandal. The ICIJ partnered with the Guardian, BBC, Le Monde, The Washington Post, SonntagsZeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung and NDR to produce an investigative series on offshore banking.{{cite news | last = Pitzke | first = Marc | title = Offshore Leaks: Vast Web of Tax Evasion Exposed | url = http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/icij-journalists-expose-mass-web-of-global-tax-evasion-a-892505.html

| newspaper = Spiegel Online | access-date = 4 April 2013| date = 2013-04-04 }}{{cite news | title = Offshore secrets: what is the Guardian investigation based on? | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/nov/25/offshore-secrets-guardian-investigation|publisher=guardian.co.uk | access-date = April 4, 2013 | location = London | date = 25 November 2012}} ICIJ and partnering agencies used the ownership information to report on government corruption across the globe, tax avoidance schemes used by wealthy people, the use of secret offshore accounts in Ponzi schemes, the active role of major banks in facilitating secrecy for their clients, and the strategies and actors that make these activities possible.{{cite report | series = Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze | url = http://www.icij.org/offshore/who-uses-offshore-world | publisher = International Consortium of Investigative Journalists| access-date = February 17, 2015 | title = Who Uses the Offshore World | first1 = Marina Walker | last1 = Guevara | first2 = Nicky | last2 = Hager|first3=Mar | last3 = Cabra | first4 = Gerard | last4 = Ryle | first5 = Emily | last5 = Menkes}}

In early 2014 the ICIJ revealed as part of their "Offshore Leaks" that relatives of China's political and financial elite were among those using offshore tax havens to store wealth.{{cite news|title=China's elite linked to secret offshore entities|url=http://www.icij.org/blog/2014/01/chinas-elite-linked-secret-offshore-entities|access-date=January 21, 2014|newspaper=ICIJ|date=January 21, 2014|first=Gerard|last=Ryle}}

The 2016 series entitled Science for Sale included, the February 8, 2016 article "About Science for Sale",{{Cite web| title = About 'Science for Sale'| work = Center for Public Integrity| access-date = September 23, 2019 |date=February 8, 2016| url = https://publicintegrity.org/environment/about-science-for-sale/ |first=Jim |last=Morris }} the February 8, 2016 article "Meet the 'rented white coats' who defend toxic chemicals", the February 10, 2016 article "Making a cancer cluster disappear", the February 16, 2016 article "Ford spent $40 million to reshape asbestos science", the February 18, 2016 article "Brokers of junk science?",{{Cite web| title =Brokers of junk science?| work = Center for Public Integrity| access-date = September 23, 2019 |date=February 18, 2016 | url = https://publicintegrity.org/environment/brokers-of-junk-science/ |first=Jie Jenny |last= Zou |series=Science for Sale}} and the March 31, 2016 article "Senators seek better conflict disclosures for scientific articles."{{Cite web| title = Science for Sale Archives| work = Center for Public Integrity| access-date = September 24, 2019 |date=2016| url = https://publicintegrity.org/topics/environment/public-health/science-for-sale/}} In this investigative series which was co-published with Vice, journalist revealed how research backed by industry has opened debates on asbestos and arsenic with some of the paid scientists saying that "there are 'safe' levels of asbestos despite statements to the contrary from the World Health Organization and many other august bodies".

In December 2017, CPI journalist Sarah Kleiner published a report on professional fundraisers who use telemarketing to collect donations for US military veterans, then keep 90 percent of the funds collected.{{cite news |url=https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/12/06/21360/donors-give-millions-help-veterans-most-goes-telemarketers |title=Veterans charity raises millions to help those who've served. But telemarketers are pocketing most of it: Professional fundraisers keep $9 out of every $10 generated by Virginia outfit that's now entering politics |first=Sarah |last=Kleiner |date=December 12, 2017 |access-date=December 13, 2017 |publisher=Center for Public Integrity (CPI) |archive-date=December 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214015150/https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/12/06/21360/donors-give-millions-help-veterans-most-goes-telemarketers |url-status=dead }} According to the December 12, 2017 article, Brian Arthur Hampton co-founded two Falls Church, Virginia-based non-profit organizations: the Circle of Friends for American Veterans (COFAV)—also known as "American Homeless Veterans"—in 1993 and then the Center for American Homeless Veterans—also known as the "Association for Homeless and Disabled Veterans". During the 2000s, Hampton said he had "hosted more than 100 members of Congress across 196 veterans shelter-themed forums in 46 cities" in rallies for these non-profits. Kleiner revealed that according to the 2015 Center for American Homeless Veterans' tax returns, "it provided just $200 in grants to other organizations out of $2.5 million in overall expenditures, the vast majority of which paid telemarketers." This report confirms findings from the investigation by the Saint Louis, Missouri Better Business Bureau (BBB){{citation |title=Center For American Homeless Veterans Raises BBB Concern Over Fundraising Solicitations |url=https://www.bbb.org/stlouis/news-events/bbb-warnings/2017/06/american-homeless-veterans/ |via=Better Business Bureau (BBB) |date=June 27, 2017 |access-date=December 13, 2017 |location=Saint Louis }}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and CharityWatch.{{cite web |url=https://www.charitywatch.org/ratings-and-metrics/circle-of-friends-for-american-veterans/691 |agency=CharityWatch|date=September 2016 |access-date=December 13, 2017 |title=Ratings and metrics for Circle of Friends for American Veterans}} The BBB had advised "consumers to exercise caution when deciding whether to contribute money" to Hampton's non-profit.

BBB also found that "[c]ontracts between the Center for American Homeless Veterans and "its two main fundraisers"{{snd}}Reno, Nevada-based Outreach Calling and Phoenix, Arizona-based Midwest Publishing{{snd}}revealed that "just 10 percent of all donations" go to the Center for American Homeless Veterans. The BBB investigation also revealed that from September 2014 to September 2016, Outreach Calling and Midwest Publishing "collected nearly $5 million, with about $508,000 going to the [Center for American Homeless Veterans] and "almost all the money retained" by the center, "went to pay salaries, legal fees and office-related expenses."

According to New York state regulators, "a wealthy 49-year-old New Jersey businessman", Mark Gelvan (b.1978), is the "driving force behind Outreach Calling."{{cite news |url=https://www.publicintegrity.org/2017/12/13/21395/charities-employ-controversial-telemarketers-tug-heartstrings-and-loosen-purse |title=Charities employ controversial telemarketers to tug on heartstrings — and loosen purse strings |quote=Businessman banned in New York still raking in millions from unsuspecting donors, regulators say |first=Sarah |last=Kleiner |date=December 13, 2017 |access-date=December 20, 2017 |publisher=Center for Public Integrity (CPI) |location=Montville, New Jersey }} Outreach Calling collects money for "homeless veterans," "breast cancer survivors", "disabled police officers", and "children with leukemia", among others. According to a 2017 CPI analysis, "Outreach Calling, raised more than $118 million on behalf of about two dozen charities from 2011 to 2015", retaining $106 million. This left c. 10.3 percent or $12.2 million, for the non-profit charities and those they serve - homeless veterans, breast cancer survivors, disabled police officers, and children with leukemia. In the United States, it is legal {{not a typo|for for}}-profit telemarketers to keep 90% of the donations they solicit as long as they to not "mislead prospective donors" or "lie to them about how their contributions will be used", according to Jim Sheehan, "head of the charities bureau for the office of New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman."

The CPI, USA TODAY, and The Arizona Republic undertook a collaborative two-year investigation into copycat bills,{{Cite web| title = How we uncovered 10,000 times lawmakers introduced copycat model bills — and why it matters| work = Center for Public Integrity| date = April 4, 2019| access-date = 2020-01-13| url = https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-politics/copy-paste-legislate/how-we-uncovered-10000-times-lawmakers-introduced-copycat-model-bills-and-why-it-matters/}} involving 30 investigative reporters across the United States, which culminated in a series of articles published in 2019.{{Cite web| title = Copycat bills: How Ohio compares| access-date = January 13, 2020| url = https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/04/copycat-bills-how-ohio-compares/3355957002/ |first=Jackie |last=Borchardt |newspaper=Cincinnati Enquirer |location=Cincinnati |date=April 4, 2019}}{{cite book |title=The Climate Crisis and Corrupt Politics: Overcoming the Powerful Forces that Threaten our Future |first=Larry J. |last=Schweiger |isbn=978-1627342803 |pages=362 |publisher=Universal Publishers |date=November 15, 2019}}{{rp|110}}{{Cite web| title = How we uncovered 10,000 times lawmakers introduced copycat model bills — and why it matters| work = Center for Public Integrity|date=April 4, 2019| access-date = January 13, 2020| url = https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-politics/copy-paste-legislate/how-we-uncovered-10000-times-lawmakers-introduced-copycat-model-bills-and-why-it-matters/}} Specifically, their investigation examined the role of organizations, such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), in the American legislative process through the use of so-called "model bills" or copycat bills. Data journalists, using a "unique-data analysis engine built on hundreds of cloud computers", compared "millions of words of legislation" from the LegiScan service,{{cite web |title=Welcome to LegiScan |publisher=LegiScan |url=https://legiscan.com/about |access-date=2023-10-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010024034/https://legiscan.com/about |archive-date=2023-10-10 |quote=Report: Generate dynamic status reports of monitored bills with numerous reporting and formatting options that can also be shared with clients or other interested parties.}} found that, from 2010 through 2018, legislators have introduced ALEC model bills 2,900 times. Six hundred of these became law.{{Cite web| last1 = O'Dell| first1 = Yvonne |last2=Wingett |first2=Sanchez |last3=Wingett |first3=Rob| title = What is ALEC? 'The most effective organization' for conservatives, says Newt Gingrich| work = USA TODAY |date=April 3, 2019| access-date = January 13, 2020| url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/04/03/alec-american-legislative-exchange-council-model-bills-republican-conservative-devos-gingrich/3162357002/}} The data identified about 10,000 bills introduced in all American states, that included almost identical language.{{Cite web| title = Some Minnesota bills copied from other states, even written by special interests|first1=Jessie |last1=Van Berkel |first2=Torey |last2=Van Oot |date=July 22, 2019| newspaper = Star Tribune| access-date = January 13, 2020 |location=Minnesota| url = http://www.startribune.com/copycat-laws-hold-sway-in-minnesota-legislature/512988622/}} The investigation called the widespread successful use of these model bills spanning an eight-year period—which the report described as "fill-in-the-blank legislation"—amounts to "perhaps the largest unreported special-interest campaign in American politics." Journalists wrote that copycat bills drive agendas in almost "every statehouse" and touch almost every area of public policy.{{rp|110}} The data revealed how the traditional way of writing legislation "from scratch" had been supplanted by the use of ALEC bills in many states.{{rp|110}} Mississippi—with a total population of less than three million—has had more "model bills", that were written outside Mississippi, introduced into its Legislature than in any other state" in the United States.{{Cite news|first=Giacomo |last=Bologna| title = How copycat bills become your laws| access-date = January 13, 2020| url = https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2019/04/04/model-bill-investigation-mississippi-copycat-legislation-leads-nation/3204987002/ |date=April 4, 2019 |newspaper=Clarion Ledger |location=Mississippi}}

Kevin Phillips of National Public Radio has said, "no other investigative organization shines so many probing flashlights into so many Washington dirty-laundry baskets."

In 2006, Slate media critic Jack Shafer described CPI as having "broken as many stories as almost any big-city daily in the last couple of decades".{{cite news | first=Jack | last=Shafer |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/2006/10/if_you_dont_buy_this_newspaper_.html| title=If You Don't Buy This Newspaper ... We'll shoot your democracy. | work=Slate.com | date=October 23, 2006}}

Writing in The Wall Street Journal in March 2005, commentator John Fund accused CPI of being a member of what he termed the "campaign finance lobby."{{cite news|last=John Fund |title=Astroturf Politics | work = The Wall Street Journal |date=March 21, 2005 |url= http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110006449 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060314185523/http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110006449 |archive-date=March 14, 2006}} Citing a speech by Sean Treglia, former program manager at Pew Charitable Trusts, Fund argued that a "stealth campaign" by "eight liberal foundations" fomented a false sense of public demand for new restrictions on the financing of public campaigns. Fund singled out CPI as a front group pushing Pew's agenda, arguing that "reporters are used to attempts to hoodwink officials into thinking an issue is genuinely popular, and they frequently expose them. But when "good government" groups like the Center for Public Integrity engage in the same tactics, journalists usually ignore it."

CPI's Bill Allison responded to criticisms arising from Tregalia's speech by emphasizing that Pew's contributions to the CPI's work on campaign finance have always been forthrightly disclosed.{{cite news | first = Bill | last = Allison | title = Puzzling Evidence | publisher = The Center for Public Integrity | date = March 23, 2005 | url = http://www.iwatchnews.org/2005/03/23/3123/commentary-puzzling-evidence | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130415040749/http://www.iwatchnews.org/2005/03/23/3123/commentary-puzzling-evidence | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 15, 2013}} In a published argument with blogger Ryan Sager, Allison also disputed the notion that the CPI's work amounted to advocacy. Allison stated, "the purpose of our grants is to do things like code hundreds of thousands of public records, put them in a database and post them on our Website so anyone can use them. The amount of money we've gotten to push campaign finance reform is $0.{{cite news|first=Ryan |last=Sager |title=Allison Responds |publisher=Miscellaneous Objections |date=March 23, 2005 |url= http://www.rhsager.com/mo/2005/03/allison_respond.html |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060513063513/http://www.rhsager.com/mo/2005/03/allison_respond.html |archive-date=May 13, 2006}}

In another essay on CPI's website, Allison challenged CPI's critics, and Fund specifically, arguing that:{{cite news | title = No Good Deed Goes Unpunished | publisher = The Center for Public Integrity | date = March 22, 2005 | url = http://www.iwatchnews.org/2005/03/23/3123/commentary-puzzling-evidence | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130415040749/http://www.iwatchnews.org/2005/03/23/3123/commentary-puzzling-evidence | url-status = dead | archive-date = April 15, 2013}}{{blockquote|[Fund] doesn't cite a single instance in which the Center has attempted to "hoodwink" government officials (or anyone else, for that matter) into thinking campaign finance is a genuinely popular issue, because he can't. We simply don't operate that way. We don't do public relations campaigns. We don't lobby Congress. We don't petition the Federal Election Commission. We don't pretend we have legions of individuals contributing money to support our work. Our paid membership amounts to around six thousand people; we'd certainly be happy to have more... as for Mr. Fund, back in the days when campaign finance issues were of concern to him, he sought us out to lend authority to his writings on John Huang and quoted us in an Oct. 29, 1996, column on the subject. Is it Mr. Fund's view that when he wrote about various DNC campaign finance violations, he was trying to hoodwink federal officials into thinking that people cared about the issue?}}

In November 2010, CPI published a report on bluefin tuna overfishing entitled "Looting the Seas".{{cite web|title=Looting the Seas |url=http://www.pewtrusts.org/events_detail.aspx?id=61407&selectedDate=09/01/2011&nav=past |publisher= Pew Charitable Trust|date= November 9, 2010 |access-date= June 9, 2012|url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110506000034/http://www.pewtrusts.org/events_detail.aspx?id=61407 |archive-date= 6 May 2011}} Politico reported that "to obtain key information for the project, reporters accessed a database maintained by an intergovernmental fisheries regulatory body with a password given by a source, likely breaking the law." CPI's own lawyer and an outside law firm both determined that CPI's staff likely broke the law in obtaining information for the report. In addition, one of the experts quoted in the associated documentary was paid $15,000 as a project consultant to CPI.{{cite web|title=Tuna and turmoil at CPI|url= http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69763.html| work =Politico|date= December 5, 2011|access-date=June 9, 2012}} The investigative methods used to produce the report became a point of contention within the organization when CPI employee John Solomon made a number of accusations against the team that had worked on the series.

CPI board member and former The New York Times Washington bureau chief Bill Kovach was asked by then-CPI president William Buzenberg to look into the matter. Kovach concluded that CPI's reporting was "sound, ethical and fully in the public interest."{{cite web|title=Something fishy?|url= https://www.cjr.org/feature/something_fishy.php | work =Columbia Journalism Review |date=July–August 2012|access-date= 16 July 2012}} In addition, the board hired an outside law firm to answer the legal questions. Columbia Journalism Review reported: "As for the legality of using the password to access data, the lawyers concluded that, in theory, a prosecutor might argue it violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. But whether it actually did was open to debate. And, in any case, it was highly unlikely that charges would ever be brought." In the wake of the controversy, David Kaplan and John Solomon resigned from CPI. CPI officials also withdrew their entry of the tuna story for a Pulitzer Prize. Andy Revkin of The New York Times wrote, "the relationship of the television production to a United Nations agency and an environmental group can prompt questions about objectivity, but the package, over all, appears robust."{{cite news|title=Report Reveals Forces Destroying Atlantic Bluefin Tuna|url=http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/report-reveals-forces-destroying-atlantic-bluefin-tuna/|work=The New York Times|date=November 8, 2010 |access-date=June 9, 2012|first= Andrew C.|last=Revkin}} The Looting the Seas series won two journalism awards: the Renner Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors{{cite web|title=2010 IRE Awards winners|url=http://ire.org/awards/ire-awards/winners/2010-ire-awards-winners/|publisher=Investigative Reporters and Editors|access-date=June 9, 2012|archive-date=May 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530041144/http://ire.org/awards/ire-awards/winners/2010-ire-awards-winners/|url-status=dead}} and the 2010 Whitman Bassow Award from the Overseas Press Club of America.{{cite web|title=The Whitman Bassow Award 2010 |date=April 11, 2011 |url=http://opcofamerica.org/awards/whitman-bassow-award-2010|publisher=Overseas Press Club of America|access-date=June 16, 2012}}

In 2011, Politico called into question CPI's collaboration with advocacy organizations. Politico reported that CPI had coordinated the release of a report on Koch Industries with Greenpeace. Politico also reported that Pew Charitable Trusts, a funder of the Looting the Seas report, hosted a screening of a CPI documentary and then organized a call to action with other NGOs for the protection of bluefin tuna. In 2008, CPI published a report on tobacco that was both funded by and promoted by an advocacy group called Tobacco Free Kids.{{cite news|title=Is the Center for Public Integrity's work advocacy or journalism?|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/is-the-center-for-public-integritys-work-advocacy-or-journalism/2011/03/29/gIQAJEnrwJ_blog.html |newspaper= The Washington Post|date=September 2, 2011|access-date=June 9, 2012|first= Jennifer |last=Rubin}}{{cite web|title=CPI's other coordination with advocacy groups|url= http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0911/CPIs_other_coordination_with_advocacy_groups.html| work =Politico|date= September 2, 2011|access-date=June 9, 2012}}{{cite web|title=Did CPI coordinate with Greenpeace?|url= http://www.politico.com/blogs/onmedia/0811/Did_CPI_coordinate_with_Greenpeace.html | work =Politico|date=August 29, 2011|access-date=June 9, 2012}}

In 1996, the CPI received the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Online Journalism (Independent) for their report entitled "Fat Cat Hotel: How Democratic High-Rollers are Rewarded with Overnight Stays at the White House" by the Public i staff and Margaret Ebrahim.{{cite web | url=http://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=488 | title=1996 Sigma Delta Chi Award Winners | publisher=SPJ News | date=1997 | access-date=April 7, 2016}}

CPI received the George Polk Award in 2003 for its investigation of US military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan ("Windfalls of War: U.S. Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan").{{cite web|url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/national-security/windfalls-war|title=Windfalls of War|work=Center for Public Integrity|access-date=April 12, 2013|archive-date=April 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429180636/http://www.publicintegrity.org/national-security/windfalls-war|url-status=dead}} Its work led to widespread media coverage that increased congressional scrutiny of military spending.{{cite news|title=L.A. Times Journalists Honored With Two Polk Awards|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-feb-17-me-polk17-story.html|access-date = April 13, 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=February 17, 2004|author=Staff writer}}{{cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|title=Journalists Who Braved Iraq and African Wars Are Among 14 Polk Award Winners|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/17/nyregion/journalists-who-braved-iraq-and-african-wars-are-among-14-polk-award-winners.html| access-date = April 4, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 17, 2004}}

In 2011, CPI won a James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism for their investigation of weak inspections endangering factory workers and surrounding communities.{{cite news|url=http://brie.hunter.cuny.edu/aronson/?p=1416|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212170619/http://brie.hunter.cuny.edu/aronson/?p=1416|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 12, 2012|title=2011 Aronson Award winners expose "pink" fundraising fraud, widespread abuse of the developmentally disabled, refineries loosely inspected and bad cops undisciplined|publisher=Hunter College|date=April 4, 2012|access-date=June 10, 2012}}

In 2012, CPI reporter Michael Hudson won a "Best-in-Business" award for digital investigative reporting from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Hudson won the award for his report entitled The Great Mortgage Cover-Up.{{cite news | url=http://sabew.org/2012/03/2012-bib-award-winners/|title=Complete list of winners in SABEW's 17th annual Best in Business Awards|publisher=Society of American Business Editors and Writers|access-date=June 10, 2012}}

CPI's work has also received awards from PEN USA, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, the National Press Foundation, the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy and others.{{cite news|url=http://www.iwatchnews.org/about/our-work/awards|title=Awards|publisher=The Center for Public Integrity|access-date=June 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415110140/http://www.iwatchnews.org/about/our-work/awards|archive-date=April 15, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}

CPI reporter Chris Hamby won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. Hamby's story reported that doctors and lawyers working for the coal industry helped defeat benefit claims of coal miners who had contracted black lung disease.{{cite news | url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/04/14/14593/center-wins-first-pulitzer-prize|title=Center wins first Pulitzer Prize|publisher=Center for Public Integrity|access-date=April 14, 2014}} After CPI's Pulitzer win, Politico reported that "ABC News has accused The Center for Public Integrity of downplaying the network's contributions to a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative report, setting off a bitter public dispute between two news organizations that once worked as partners." CPI executive director Bill Buzenberg said that ABC News overstated its contributions to the story.{{cite news|last1=Byers|first1=Dylan|title=Pulitzer prize fight|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/04/abc-news-says-center-for-public-integrity-misled-pulitzer-186945.html|access-date=July 30, 2014|work=Politico|date=April 16, 2014}}

In 2022, the Center for Public Integrity and Transmitter Media was nominated for a Podcast & Radio Peabody Award for their episode The Wealth Vortex.{{Cite web |title=83rd Peabody Award Nominees |url=https://peabodyawards.com/awards/nominees/ }}

• {{cite book | last1 = Borders | first1 = Rebecca | last2 =Dockery | first2 = C.C. | title = Beyond the Hill: A Directory of Congress from 1984 to 1993 | publisher = University Press of America | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0-8191-9820-4}}
• {{cite book | author1 = Lewis, Charles |author2=Benes, Alejandro |author3=O'Brien, Meredith|author4=The Center for Public Integrity | title = The Buying of the President | publisher = Avon Books | year = 1996 | isbn = 978-0-380-78420-2}}
• {{cite book |author1 = Fagin, Dan | last2 = Lavelle | first2 = Marianne |author3 = The Center for Public Integrity |title = Toxic Deception: How the Chemical Industry Manipulates Science, Bends the Law and Endangers Your Health |publisher = Carol Publishing Corp. |year = 1997 |isbn = 978-1-55972-385-5

|url = https://archive.org/details/toxicdeceptionho00fagi_0

}}

• {{cite book

| author1 = Lewis, Charles

| author2 = The Center for Public Integrity

| title = The Buying of the Congress: How Special Interests Have Stolen Your Right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

| publisher = Avon Books

| year = 1998

| isbn = 978-0-380-97596-9

| url = https://archive.org/details/buyingofcongress00lewi

}}

• {{cite book

| author = Green, Alan

| title = Animal Underworld: Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species

| url = https://archive.org/details/animalunderworld0000gree

| url-access = registration

| publisher = Public Affairs

| year = 1999

| isbn = 978-1-58648-374-6

}}

• {{cite book

| author1 = Lewis, Charles

| author2 = The Center for Public Integrity

| title = The Buying of the President 2000

| publisher = Harper Perennial

| year = 2000

| isbn = 978-0-380-79519-2

| url = https://archive.org/details/buyingofpreside00lewi

}}

• {{cite book

| author = The Center for Public Integrity

| title = Citizen Muckraking: Stories and Tools for Defeating the Goliaths of Our Day

| year = 2000

| publisher = Common Courage Media

| isbn = 978-1-56751-188-8

}}

• {{cite book

| author1 = Lewis, Charles |author2=Allison, Bill |author3=the Center for Public Integrity

| title = The Cheating of America: How Tax Avoidance and Evasion by the Super Rich Are Costing the Country Billions, and What You Can Do About It

| publisher = William Morrow & Company

| year = 2001

| isbn = 978-0-380-97682-9

}}

• {{cite book

| author1 = Renzulli, Diane |author2= Center for Public Integrity, The | title = Capitol Offenders: How Private Interests Govern Our States | year = 2002 |publisher= Public Integrity Books | isbn = 978-1-882583-14-0}}

• {{cite book | publisher = The Center for Public Integrity | title = Harmful Error | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-1-882583-18-8}}
• {{cite book | publisher = The Center for Public Integrity | title = The Water Barons: How a Few Powerful Companies are Privatizing Our Water | year = 2003}}
• {{cite book | author1 = Lewis, Charles |author2=the Center for Public Integrity | title = The Buying of the President 2004: Who's Really Bankrolling Bush and His Challengers—and What They Expect in Return | publisher = Harper Paperbacks | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-0-06-054853-7}}
• {{cite book | publisher = The Center for Public Integrity | title = The Corruption Notebooks | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-1-882583-19-5}}
• {{cite book | title = Networks of Influence: The Political Power of the Communications Industry | publisher = Center for Public Integrity | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-1-882583-20-1}}
• {{cite book | author = Center for Public Integrity, The | title = City Adrift: New Orleans Before & After Katrina | publisher = Louisiana State University Press | year = 2007

| isbn = 978-0-8071-3284-5

| url-access = registration

| url = https://archive.org/details/cityadriftneworl0000unse

}}

• Institute for Nonprofit News

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