[TheBiv]

"Whether or not this is true, it’s outrageous that small businesses are forced to spend money that does not go to the state nor help with incorporation."

How does a journalist end a story with "whether or not this is true"?

[evacuationdrill]

"Madhani speculates it could be due to the newspaper lobby."

That's the end of the previous sentence and the antecedent to "this".