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Also see:
Soft money; black money;
Jump to: 2018; 2019;
2020;
Undated:
In the
politics of the United States, dark money refers to political
spending by
nonprofit organizations—for example,
501(c)(4) (social welfare)
501(c)(5) (unions) and
501(c)(6) (trade association) groups—that are not required to disclose their
donors.[3][4]
Such organizations can receive unlimited donations from corporations,
individuals and unions. In this way, their donors can spend funds to influence
elections,
without voters knowing where the money came from. Dark money first entered
politics with
Buckley v. Valeo (1976) when the
United States Supreme Court laid out
Eight Magic Words that define the difference between electioneering and
issue advocacy.
According to the
Center for Responsive Politics, "spending by organizations that do not
disclose their donors has increased from less than $5.2 million in 2006 to well
over $300 million in the
2012 presidential cycle and more than $174 million in the
2014 midterms."[3]
The
New York Times editorial board has opined that the 2014 midterm
elections were influenced by "the greatest wave of secret, special-interest
money ever raised in a congressional election."[5]
"There are other groups now free to spend unrestricted funds advocating the
election or defeat of candidates. These groups contend that they are not
required to register with the FEC as any sort of PAC because their primary
purpose is something other than electoral politics. This spending itself isn’t
new. But the use of funds from a virtually unrestricted range of sources,
including corporations, began with the most recent court rulings."(Open Secrets)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_money
-- 2018 --
July 20: Trump just made it easier for
groups like the NRA to hide dark money donors. The timing couldn't be worse.
The Treasury Department's change in policy will have (at least) two negative
impacts on our democracy.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-just-made-it-easier-groups-nra-hide-dark-money-ncna893191
November 11: Before he became Jeff Sessions'
chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker worked as the executive director of the
Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a Washington nonprofit funded
almost entirely by dark money.
On its website, the group proclaims it is 'dedicated to promoting
accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas.' But
the accountability it has sought is almost exclusively related to Democrats.
Since its founding, FACT has filed complaints and called for investigations into
dozens of Democrats, and in the group's early days, Whitaker focused his efforts
on Hillary Clinton.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/09/politics/matthew-whitaker-dark-money/index.html
November 28: San Antonio Adman Brad
Parscale’s ‘Dark Money’ Group Spent $4.3 Million Last Year to Back Pro-Trump
Candidates
https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2018/11/28/shadow-master-san-antonio-adman-brad-parscales-dark-money-group-spent-43-million-last-year-to-back-pro-trump-candidates
December 9: Nick Ayers Turns Down Trump,
Eyes Dark Money Group
Ayers’ rise through the Trumpworld ranks was meteoric for an aide his age, and
his reputation for loyalty and hard work earned him the trust of the president
and those around him.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/nick-ayers-turns-down-trump-expected-to-land-at-pro-trump-dark-money-group
December 12: The Senate on Wednesday voted
50 to 49 to overturn a Trump administration policy that allows politically
active nonprofits to withhold from the government the identities of their
donors, underscoring a growing unease among Democrats over the influence of
wealthy donors and foreign actors in U.S. elections.
The Senate move is unlikely to survive the GOP-led House, which must vote on the
resolution before the end of the year, or receive the support of President
Trump, whose Treasury Department enacted the rule earlier this year.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/senate-votes-to-overturn-trump-administration-donor-disclosure-rule-for-dark-money-groups/2018/12/12/92d8d93a-fe3d-11e8-ad40-cdfd0e0dd65a_story.html?utm_term=.14d1a09f63ef
-- 2019 --
January 7: Top Trump Backer Financed Supreme
Court Confirmation Fights Through Shadowy Network
Leonard Leo is the top judicial lobbyist in the country and a well-known booster
of the president. But the reach of his influence is just starting to come into
focus.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-trump-backer-financed-supreme-court-confirmation-fights-through-shadowy-network
January 23: Dark money groups spent $150
million in the 2018 midterms. And unlike super PACs, which must disclose their
donors to the Federal Election Commission, these politically active nonprofits
are not required to do so.
Liberal groups spent about 54 percent of that total in the 2018 cycle, with
conservative groups only spending 31 percent. Nonpartisan or bipartisan groups
made up the remaining 15 percent. The liberal dominance is a marked shift. In
2016, conservative groups that don’t have to disclose their donors outspent
liberal groups 4-to-1, according to Issue One.
https://www.rollcall.com/news/campaigns/liberal-dark-money-groups-spent-2018-conservative-groups
February 13: The influence of “dark money”
in American politics that allows billionaires to fund political campaigns
through third-party groups without disclosing their involvement was put under
the spotlight at a congressional hearing on Thursday, as
Democrats use their newfound majority to crank up a
sweeping new anti-corruption measure.
... soon after [Wisconsin Governor Scott] Walker won the election, the
Republican-controlled legislature in Wisconsin changed state law. Under the rule
change, it became much more difficult for victims of lead paint poisoning, most
of them children, to sue NL Industries and other former lead paint manufacturers
for the damage inflicted on them.
The bill is likely to be put to a House vote next month and is assured of
passage through overwhelming Democratic support. It is almost certain to
flounder, however, in the Republican-controlled Senate, given the
virulent opposition from the party.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/13/political-funding-dark-money-anti-corruption-trump
March 6:A pro-Trump nonprofit organization called the
45Committee raised nearly half of its funding during its 2017 tax year from a
single donor who gave the group $6 million, according to a new
tax return
obtained by CREW. Overall, three anonymous donors who wrote checks of $2 million
or more provided nearly 90 percent of the group’s more than $13 million haul.
The dark money group’s revenue dropped significantly from its 2016 tax year,
which covered the end of the 2016 election, when the group raised
more than $46 million
and acknowledged spending $21.6 million on political activity, largely in
support
of President Trump’s election
https://www.citizensforethics.org/45committee-funding/
March 27:Trump-linked US Christian ‘fundamentalists’ pour millions of ‘dark money’
into Europe, boosting the far right
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/revealed-trump-linked-us-christian-fundamentalists-pour-millions-of-dark-money-into-europe-boosting-the-far-right/
-- 2020 --
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