Mitt Romney is leaning heavily on several think tanks, including the Hoover Institution, the Heritage Foundation and the Center for Security Policy - to advise his presidential campaign.

Ryan Crocker will leave his post as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan this summer, authorities said Tuesday.

To those outside legal circles, Sidley Austin is probably best known as the Chicago law firm where Barack Obama and Michelle Obama met.

The man behind the man behind the so-called “Ricketts proposal” is longtime Republican strategist Fred Davis.

We’re trying to imagine conversation around the Ricketts dining room table.

While attention is often focused on former members of Congress who now work as Washington lobbyists, less is paid to those who head trade groups.

Rebekah Brooks, former Rupert Murdoch confidant and editor of the News of the World, is being charged with trying to obstruct an investigation into the News Corp. phone hacking scandals.

Ron Paul announced Monday that he was ending his active campaign in the Republican presidential primaries.

Ina Drew, one of the most senior women execs on Wall Street, has resigned as chief investment officer of JPMorgan Chase.

The tumult at Yahoo continues, with the departure of CEO Scott Thompson, undone by a resume that cited a nonexistent degree in computer science.

President Obama raked in $15 million Thursday with a fundraising dinner at the Los Angeles home of actor George Clooney.

Our earlier post about Mitt Romney’s days at the elite Cranbrook Schools in Michigan has taken on new significance in light of a report about Romney’s tormenting another student.

As more millions pour into the presidential campaign of Mitt Romney and the super PACs supporting him, it’s time to revisit the investment activities of his eldest son, Tagg.

Billionaire George Soros is making his first big (public) donation of the current election.

Karl Rove and the Koch brothers are “contract killers out there in super PAC land,” David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s political director, told reporters Monday.

It can’t be easy being Jean-Victor Meyers.

Billionaire hedge funder David Einhorn caused a stir in financial circles this week with a Huffington Post column criticizing the Fed’s policy of easy money.

Appropriately, the world’s most expensive piece of art is called “The Scream.”

Why would a major defense contractor such as Boeing want to contribute to a candidate in a Republican primary for California Assembly?

Americans for Prosperity has launched another advertising drive criticizing President Obama’s energy policies, Bloomberg Businessweek points out.

Since retiring at the end of last year as president and CEO of the New York Times Co., Janet Robinson has moved into leadership positions with organizations regularly covered by the newspaper.

Billionaire offspring on boards can spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E. See our post on Forbes.

Heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon is ever-present in the criminal trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards.

Many paths, going through Washington and Ohio, link Steve Ricchetti to the Obama camp.

The Oregonian reports that a member of the state House of Representatives has returned a $3,000 donation from Koch Industries after coming under harsh criticism from Democrats and union leaders.

While he might have had a temporary setback with his “Etch A Sketch” comment, Mitt Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom continues to wield considerable influence in the 2012 campaign.

We can take you from street protests to an international comglomerate in four easy steps.

An impressive group of prospectors plans to mine space.

Of the 87 bundlers joining the Obama re-election effort last quarter, actor and director Tyler Perry is probably the best known.

How deep is David Koch’s loyalty to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker?

Broderick Johnson is one of the few people granted exemptions to President Obama’s no-lobbyists rule.

One day, I started to search Google for “a bug that smells like…”

Reuters reports that Chesapeake Corp. Chairman and CEO Aubrey K. McClendon has borrowed as much as $1.1 billion over the last three years, using his stake in the company’s oil and gas wells as collateral.

Wal-Mart is adding some political diversity to its board by nominating Google’s Marissa Mayer as a new director.

The fruits of David Murdock’s labor are many.

Why would the Chickasaw Nation contribute $100,000 to the Rick Perry super PAC just six days before the Texas governor ended his presidential campaign?

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson expanded his sports empire Friday, buying the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets.

FreedomWorks has gone public with its criticism of the Koch brothers’ lawsuit against the Cato Institute.

Much as the GOP would like to turn Hilary Rosen’s swipe at Ann Romney into an all-out attack on stay-at-home moms, it was not.

Whenever the Obama administration calls for more openness in government, we wince a little.