Mystery Ohio news site boosting Ramaswamy's Amy Acton ad tied to California GOP nonprofit – Los Angeles Times

Mystery Ohio news site boosting Ramaswamy’s Amy Acton ad tied to California GOP nonprofit  Los Angeles Times

As Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy came under fire for releasing an attack ad featuring his Democratic competitor's estranged mother, a mysterious news site was running a Facebook ad boosting the controversial video. The Buckeye Bulletin, which bills itself as an Ohio-based news platform committed to "reliable journalism" and "strong editorial standards," popped up suddenly this spring and began pumping out a steady stream of pro-Ramaswamy content. The publication's articles have no bylines. There is no list of staff. The website does not feature digital advertisements, nor does it prompt readers to subscribe, but there is also no disclosure of who is funding it. A closer look at the Buckeye Bulletin's Meta advertising data shows that its Facebook and Instagram accounts are managed by the Lincoln Media Foundation, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Orange County-based Lincoln Club — the oldest and largest conservative donor organization in California.

IRS documents show that the club and foundation are associated organizations and share at least two key executives. The Buckeye Bulletin, Lincoln Club and Lincoln Media Foundation did not respond to requests for comment. The Bulletin appears to be a partisan site posing as a local news outlet ahead of the midterm elections, a strategy political scientists refer to as "pink-slime" journalism. This is not the first time a pink-slime outlet