The Supreme Court orders the disclosure of black money, while a new report reveals some donors: NPR

The Supreme Court insisted on Tuesday that many donations to nonprofit, mostly conservative political groups – what is often called black money – will be leaked seven weeks before the elections. mid-term of 2018.

The decision closes, at least for the moment, a loophole that allowed rich donors to finance aggressive advertising while remaining anonymous. Designed by the Federal Electoral Commission almost 40 years ago, the fault has flourished after 2010 United Citizens decision.

The court on Saturday overturned an order of Chief Justice John Roberts. The Crossroads GPS welfare group, charged in the lawsuit, fought to block the disclosure as it prepared to appeal. He failed at the Washington County Court of Appeal and then appealed to the Supreme Court.

The disclosure requirement should apply to explicitly political announcements from nonprofit groups for the remaining weeks of the campaign.

The decisions were made in a lawsuit filed in 2016 against Crossroads and FEC by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Chief Justice Beryl Howell of the Washington, DC federal court last month ruled in favor of CREW. She gave the CEF 45 days to replace the regulation, which was not the case.

CREW's executive director, Noah Bookbinder, said the Supreme Court's ruling "will affect spending for the 2018 elections. The groups that broadcast this kind of ads – to vote for or against another candidate – will have to to disclose their contributors, and that's extremely important. "

The Supreme Court decision comes less than a week after the release of a new research report by the government's reform group, number one, which allocates dollar amounts to what these undeclared donors give. The report, which required a year of research, reveals that the 15 most politically active non-profit organizations mobilized and spent more than $ 600 million in campaigns between 2010 and 2001. United Citizens boosted secret fundraising and 2016.

The secret gift is made possible by a regulatory gap in the FEC. Groups, usually organized into 501 (c) (4) welfare organizations or 501 (c) (6) professional associations, do not register as political committees with the commission. With this loophole, the FEC wants donors to be disclosed only when a donor assigns money to specific ads.

The top four consumers identified by the number one are the US Chamber of Commerce, the mainstream Conservative Crossroads GPS, the US group Americans for Prosperity and the National Rifle Association. First question, we say that collectively, the four groups injected at least $ 357 million in the elections between 2010 and 2016.

"Opaque organizations use the contributions of opaque donors and secretly fund election campaigns and advertisements that encourage viewers to vote for or against candidates," said Michael Beckel, Chief Research Officer at Issue One. "And it remains very difficult to trace the true sources of the black money groups."

Meanwhile, Americans for Prosperity has launched AFP Action – a superPAC that will regularly report its donors to the FEC, avoiding controversy over disclosure.