Mapping Kochtopus [The Cato Arms]

Muckety writes:

Last year, after a highly publicized court battle, the Koch brothers and the Cato Institute came to an agreement.

Charles and David Koch would drop their lawsuits against the libertarian think tank, longtime CEO Ed Crane would step down, David Koch would serve as a director, and the Kochs would name three people to the board.

Muckety received some criticism back then for declaring it a Koch win. There was no proof that the Kochs would take control of the organization, objectors said.

So we waited.

Here’s a new Muckety map based on the board members currently listed on the Cato web site.

The map shows Koch connections both direct and indirect. (Dotted lines are former relations; solid lines are current. Roll your mouse over connecting lines to see relationships.)

By our count, a majority of the board is one or two connections away from a Koch-backed group.

Some will undoubtedly complain that we’ve included roundabout links.

But let’s face it, that’s one of the ways the Kochs, who prefer much of their influencing to be done in secret, operate.