Illinois Democrats denounce as ‘deceitful’ a pipeline used in last year’s elections to right-wing local news sites

A publisher of far-right websites and mailings designed to look like newspapers created a special online portal for top Illinois GOP candidates and activists to directly seek favorable coverage during last year’s elections, according to a newspaper report that prompted state Democrats to denounce the actions as “deceitful” to voters.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Brian Timpone, an ally and business partner of right-wing radio talk show host Dan Proft, used a password-protected portal that allowed Republicans to pitch stories, provide questions for interviews, place campaign announcements and run “verbatim” op-eds...