Total dark money spending since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 will soon eclipse $1 billion, according to an Issue One analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics. This ominous milestone in political spending comes as secretive liberal groups are matching their conservative counterparts nearly dollar-for-dollar ahead of the 2020 election — and may potentially
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Issue One and the Center for Responsive Politics hosted a press call today to discuss the dangers of secret spending as well as the commonsense, bipartisan solutions to bring more transparency to our elections. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 opened the floodgates for dark money spending, these groups — which do not disclose their donors
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Shell companies that give money to super PACs could be conduits for foreign money in the 2020 election, warns a new report published today by Issue One. Under current law, super PACs are permitted to collect contributions of unlimited amounts, but must disclose their donors. In some cases, their campaign finance disclosures list opaque shell companies as contributors. As a
Read MoreCampaign Legal Center and Issue One today sent a letter to recently confirmed FEC Chair Trey Trainor urging him to take action on the flood of secret or “dark” money flooding U.S. elections, drowning out the voices of everyday Americans. The letter is a response to a recent interview with Trainor where he dismissed the threat posed by “dark money”
Read MoreIn the wake of the news that the Treasury Department and IRS this week implemented a rules change that allows many 501(c) organizations — including politically active dark money groups organized under Secs. 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) of the tax code — to keep their donors secret, Issue One Executive Director Meredith McGehee issued the following statement: “It is both disappointing
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According to a new Issue One analysis of campaign finance data, roughly $20 million has poured into the special election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, which voters will decide on Tuesday. Outside groups — including super PACs and dark money groups — have been major players in the race, spending nearly as much money in the race as the
Read MoreThe 2018 midterms are wrapping up, and political players have already begun gearing up for the 2020 presidential election. President Trump has already raised $100 million in preparation. But there are still dozens of questions about the top dark money groups in 2018 — groups who will continue to be active in elections to come. In 2020, dark money spending
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Today, Issue One and the Campaign Legal Center called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to enforce penalties against Americans for Job Security — one of the top spenders of political “dark money” in recent years — for failing to file three years’ worth of mandatory tax returns. For this, Americans for Job Security could be punished with the loss
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Today marks the day that Theodore Roosevelt would have turned 159 years old. If he were still alive, the Republican from New York who served as our 26th president would likely be dismayed at the role corporations are playing in elections today. 110 years ago, in 1907, Roosevelt signed into law an anti-corruption measure known as the Tillman Act. This
Read MoreMEDIA CONTACTS: William Gray, Issue One, wgray@issueone.org; O: 202-204-8553 Corey Goldstone, Campaign Legal Center, cgoldstone@campaignlegalcenter.org, O: 202-856-7912 *** Today, Issue One and Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed six complaints with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against two Atlanta-based television stations in the aftermath of the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, which was the most expensive U.S. House election
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